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RICHARD M. STOBER, M.D.

round trip
to Los Angeles 1 99"

Chaim Herzog

above sat in rows facing a dais
so large it spanned the width of
the ballroom, Burg and his
group sat in a circle on the
floor.
"Something is wrong here,"
he said, referring to the As-
sembly. "It's a tough game out
there. I'm not sure it's Zionism.
The establishment doesn't
bother me and does not reflect
the needs or priorities of the
Jewish people."
The motive behind the
Philadelphia Assembly and
the upcoming World Zionist
Assembly "is for control of a
half-billion bucks for Israel,"
he stated.
"Your way is not through the
old channels," he told his
young listeners.
Despite the conflicts, many
adults welcomed the presence
of the young Zionists.
"They are an extremely im-
pressive, intelligent group of
people," said Steven Goldin, a
Detroit Herut delegate. "I ha-
ven't seen that many young
people in ten years." Goldin be-
lieves that the young activists
will strengthen the movement.
What about the youth's
charge that the older leader-
ship is not really Zionist?
"We comfort ourselves by
saying we are," confessed
Frieda S. Leemon of Naamat.
Still, she defined a clear dif-
ference between the old-time
Zionists and the new pro-Israel
Jewish philanthropists.
"We feel it's more than just
giving money," she said. It is a
willingness to devote "time,
energy and money to institu-
tions which will help guaran-
tee the progress of Israel in a
certain way."
"There is a difference be-
tween the Zionist who sends
his check to Israel and the
Zionist who sends his kid to Is-
rael," emphasized Prof. Ezra
Spicehandler, national
president of the Labor Zionist
Alliance. "These people live
and breathe Israel all the
time."
He cited a major difference
between Zionist and philan-
thropic gatherings: the
freewheeling nature of dis-
cussions and arguments that
prevail at Zionist meetings.
"At UJA you don't want to hurt
the campaign with
arguments."
Prof. Spicehandler added,

MARCUS H. SUGARMAN, M.D.

AND

LAS VEGAS •

"A guy who will write a $1 mil-
lion check to Israel isn't sure
he's for the centrality of Israel.
He just wants to help Jews."
There seemed to be a
genuine desire among the
delegates to redefine who is a
Zionist. It pervaded the
plenaries, workshops and
casual conversations between
delegates. Delegates also felt a
need to confront and define the
relationship between the
Zionist movement and the fund
raisers.
"The UJA and JNF belong
on the agenda of a Zionist con-
ference," argued Jewish Na-
tional Fund treasurer Char-
lotte Jacobson, decrying their
absence. "They are our main
fundraising bodies." She is-
sued a call "to every single per-
son. who says that 'we are not
non-Zionists' to join a Zionist
organization."
But Moshe Kagen of Ameri-
cans for Progressive Israel said
the definition of who is a
Zionist should be simply "ev-
ery Jew calls himself a Zionist.
Then (the World Zionist As-
sembly) will become a congress
of the Jewish people."
He argued against the "poll
tax" of membership dues pro-
posed by Jacobson.
Rabbi Israel Miller, the
AZF's honorary president, said
that for those who are not in-
terested in Zionist ideologies of
left or right, religious or secu-
lar, a general membership to
the AZF should be instituted.
Like the aliyah activists, Dr.
Chaim I. Waxman, associate
professor of sociology at Rut-
gers University, argued for a
narrow definition of Zionism.
"Call a spade a spade. You're
pro-Israel, friends of Israel.
Why do they insist on calling
themselves Zionists when
they're not placing aliyah at
the head of their agenda?"
So the debate raged unre-
solved, and still rages. It is not
so much a tug of war over who
holds the power in American
Zionism as it is over the nature
of Zionism. Is Zionism a revo-
lutionary movement, with an
ever-changing membership
and leadership which ulti-
mately finds ideological ful-
fillment in aliyah? Or is it an
"establishment" movement,
whose veteran leadership
works for the continuity of the
organization, and who's pri-
mary goal is to support Israel?
At present, the Zionist
movement resembles the lat-
ter. So how do these Zionists
differ from the pro-Israel
UJAers and Bond buyers?
The difference, it seems, lies
in history. The old-timers were
Zionists when Israel was noth-
ing but a hope; when to believe
in a Jewish renaissance in the
Land of Israel seemed un-
Jewish and un-American to
most. Many of those Zionists
lived in Israel at one time in
their lives.
Still, it is a curious irony
that this generation of ardent
Zionists and dreamers should
die out, not in Israel, but in
America. ❑

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