56 June 4, 1976
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Efforts of Three-Quarters of a Century
Jewish National Fund's Historic Role Continuing
By JACOB TSUR
(Copyright 1976, Inc.)
(Editor's note: The fol-
lowing is an address deliv-
ered by Jacob Tsur, chair-
man of the board of
directors of the Jewish
National Fund, delivered
in Jerusalem on Jan. 8
Marking the 75th anniver-
sary of the JNF.)
It is not always the num-
ber of years which decide
the importance of an event.
At times, a jubilee is only
incidental and at times it is
elevated to the heights of
symbolism. Such is the case
with the occasion before us
— 75 years since the estab-
lishment of the Jewish Na-
tional Fund.
As we gather here, in Je-
rusalem, facing the vicious
attacks from all around us,
it is good to recall the event
which was a turning point
i n the Zionist movement,
setting it on the path of
practical work and giving it
the national and humanitar-
ian values on which it is
based to this day.
At the Fifth Zionist Con-
gress in Basle in 1901,
which historians called a
"grey" Congress — with-
out glitter, in the freezing,
snow-filled nights, it
seemed as if fulfillment
was a far-away dream.
Where were the political
achievements? The tele-
gram written by Ibrahim
Pasha, chief of protocol for
the Sultan of the Ottoman
Empire, then ruler over
the land of Israel, ap-
peared prominently in the
Zionist newspaper "Der
Welt":
"I have placed the Con-
gress's letter of appreciation
before the Throne and I now
convey to you His Majesty's
satisfaction with it." This
and only this.
There was nothing here to
celebrate. The ground did
not tremble, the world did
not shake. In the eyes of the
European press, this was
merely a meeting of some
groups of Jews who re-
peated their demand for a
Jewish homeland. The
young movement was not
yet seen as an international
force to be reckoned with.
Yet, it was at this "grey"
Congress that the first step
towards the actual fulfill-
ment of Zionism was taken,
translating slogans into
practical work. Perhaps
those black-bearded gentle-
men and the ebullient-yoting
ones who peer out at us,
from the yellowed photo-
graphs of that time, did not
realize this as they voted for
the proposal of Theodor
Herzl to carry out the plan
of, in the words of the reso-
lution, "our dear friend
Prof. Hermann Schapira to
set up a fund which will be
the property of the Jewish
people and whose sole task
will be to acquire land in Er-
etz Israel."
The president of the
Congress hurried to add
that the fund should not
become operative before
the sum of 200,000 Pounds
Sterling is at its disposal
and should never expend
all of its resources —
100,000 Pounds Sterling
must always remain in
reserves.
On the surface this was a
purely technical decision to
set up a modest instrument,
even according to the stand-
ards of ,those days. But to-
day we know that this was
the turning point. This was
the signal to the Zionist
movement not to depend on
the results of diplomatic
activities alone but to begin
with practical creative work
in the land of Israel.
Also included in that
modest resolution was the
The annual Jewish
National Fund dinner
in Metropolitan Detroit
will be held June 16.
This year's honorees
are Max and Dorothy
Shaye. Wilfred B.
Doner is the dinner
chairman. Honorary
chairmen are Mrs.
Morris Adler, Louis
Berry, Mr. and Mrs.
Morris J. Brandwine,
Irwin I. Cohn, Dr. Wil-
liam Haber, Dr. and
Mrs. I. Jerome Hauser,
Leonard N. Simons,
Philip Slomovitz, Mr.
and Mrs. Max Stoll-
man, Phillip Stollman
and Paul Zuckerman.
idea which would have the
most far-reaching influence
upon the shaping of Jewish
society in Eretz Israel be-
cause in that same plan put
before the First Zionist Con-
gress by Prof. Schapira,
there was the stipulation
that "the land which was
bought will never be sold --
not even to private Jewish
hands, but will be leased for
49 years." In this way the
idea of a national ownership
of the land was born, based
on the biblical tenet that
"the land will not be sold
forever."
In the crowded streets of
Jewish neighborhoods from
the towns of Galitzia and
Poland to the East Side of
New York, Jewish hearts
filled with pride. He who
had saved his pennies in
order to drop a coin into the
Blue Box or to buy a little
blue stamp; he who had
never owned any piece of
land under his feet, had be-
come a partner in owning a
piece of the Holy Land —
his forever.
The national land was
the instrument which
opened the way for the set-
tlement momentum during
the period of struggle prior
to the declaration of the
state, and during the years
of mass immigration soon
after.
This innovation in social
thinking which at first
seemed like an attempt to
apply abstract ideas, was
the factor that saved the
young Israeli society from
the crises which often go
hand in hand with newly
gained independence: the
tensions between the landed
gentry and the working
class. And this tenet holds
good even today, when the
lands of the JNF and the
lands of the state are ad-
ministered by one land au-
thority on which the repre-
sentatives of the
government and the Zionist
movement jointly lay the
foundation.
Seventy-five years com-
prise almost the entire his-
tory of modern Jewish set-
tlement.
It began with first steps,
small land acquisition in
Hulda and Ben-Shemen,
near the Kinneret and at
Degania. It began with a
first loan to set up a gar-
den neighborhood in 'the
sands of Jaffa — which
was to become Tel Aviv.
It began with a first pic-
ture of a sapling in an infor-
mation sheet whose caption
proudly declared: "an olive
tree in Eretz Israel." But
when the day came, land ac-
quisition became the most
important element in the
fateful political struggle:
the settlement of the Jezreel
Valley fired the imagina-
tions of pioneers on the
training farms in Poland or
in the few tent camps in the
plantation villages of the
Sharon Plain; draining the
swamps in the Haifa Bay;
acquisition of Hefer Valley
which completed our hold
on the coastal plain and in-
sured continuous Jewish
settlement along the shore.
Later, when it was clear
to all that time was short,
that the time of decision
was near and the bounda-
ries of our landholdings
would determine the bor-
ders of the country, the
large step to outlying areas
was taken — on to the Beit
Shean Valley, to the north-
ern Galilee, the western
Galilee, the hills of Hanita
and the isolated points that
were set up in the Negev at
the height of the desperate
political struggle. History
books will tell the adven-
tures that accompanied the
buying of these lands in the
midst of the Arab riots and
their settlement in the days
of the "Tower and Stock-
ade."
Everything that today
seems so simple and so ob-
vious was then a revelation,
step by step on the path to
victory. Monetary resources
at that time were few and
insufficient. Who can count
the areas and lands which
slipped through our fingers
because the Jews of the
Diaspora were still indiffer-
ent and our till was empty?
Who knows how changed
our security situation and
borders would be today?
With the establishment
of the state, the Jewish
National Fund, together
with the Zionist movement
which had given birth to
the state, seemed suddenly
obsolete. But all that has
happened during the past
months has proved how
mistaken that was in rela-
tion to the Zionist move-
ment; and the first 28
years of statehood have
proven how mistaken this
concept was in relation to but it is still associated, in
the minds of many, with lit-
the JNF.
This also holds true to the tle things — with the Blue
enterprise of Zionist settle- Box, with tree certificates.
It is my feeling that this
ment. If I should want to de-
fine the JNF's work in a institution has not yet
nutshell, I should say that it managed to awaken peo-
expresses a revolution ple's consciousness to the
against geography. This is fact that the JNF which in
its greatness and this is its the past was a weapon in
the political struggle of
uniqueness.
We all know and are ac- Zionism, has become itself
quainted with the shortcom- a revolutionary factor in
ings geography bestowed the use of land which other
upon this country. Most of countries — older and
the land of Israel is waste richer than Israel — could
and desert unsuitable for learn from if they really
settlement. This was the want to concentrate their
decree of nature but we re- resources for the future of
fused to accept it. We en- mankind and to fight hun-
countered the cold, objective ger and need.
The 750,000 dunams
facts with our willpower,
our power born of national which were developed and
necessity and we withstood turned into living lands and
the challenge. A majority of those stony areas and desert
the settlements set up after plains where, today, the
the establishment of the tractors and bulldozers of
state were situated on lands the. JNF are busy at work,
which we had created our- are the trademark of Zion-
selves with our own hands, ism.
And this too, we must tell
through modern technology
and the dedicated work of those idealists who are so
worried about the future of
our men.
Over and beyond the diffi- the world: many years be-
culties and worries,uf the fore the world began to cry
out against ecological de-
present, let us not forget the
greatness of the vision in the struction, we, here in Israel,
realization of Zionism. The were involved in ecology. It
JNF depends on the loyalty was once said that Israel is
of a wide spectrum of people the only country in the
world where every tree has
a birth certificate. Each
tree, each grove and each
forest, having become a part
of the life pattern of Jewry
in the Diaspora, together
are a patrimony of more
than 120 million trees,
changing the face of the
bare and arid countryside.
Let us take care not to
fall into the trap our ene-
mies have prepared for us.
Let us not be defensive in
our justification of Zi
ism. It has no need
Rather we should spr:
before the entire world anu
the Zionist camp itself, our
map of achievements
which stands on its own
merit: our new approaches
to the problems of man and
society.
In this I see the import-
ance of this jubilee of the in-
stitution which was born in
the first year of this tragic
century. Since then, amid
wars and upheavals while
worlds were being torn
asunder and lain in ruins,
the JNF, in a little corner of
the world, accomplished
feats of constructivity and
development, in changing
the elements of nature. This
is history; but even greater
feats await us in the coming
years.
JNF Celebrates 75th Birthday
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The Jewish National Fund is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year; its part
in Israel's renaissance is one of historic dimensions. With the aid of JNF, two pi-
oneering generations settled in areas which seemed forlorn, on soil which seemed
uncultivable. The top photo was taken during the draining of the Hula swamps for
new settlements; the bottom shows JNF pushing back the desert in the dry Arava.
According to JNF's blueprint for the future, cities are to be intersected with park-
like woods and surrounded by green belts of trees.