Misplaced Pages

#462537

148-527: Israel Zangwill (21 January 1864 – 1 August 1926) was a British author at the forefront of Zionism during the 19th century, and was a close associate of Theodor Herzl . He later rejected the search for a Jewish homeland in Palestine and became the prime thinker behind the territorial movement . Zangwill was born in Whitechapel , London on 21 January 1864, in a family of Jewish immigrants from

296-618: A Semitic language which flourished as a spoken language in the ancient Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during the period from about 1200 to 586 BCE, and continued to be used in some parts of Judea during the Second Temple period and up until 200 CE. It is the language of the Hebrew Bible and the Mishnah , central texts in Judaism . Hebrew was largely preserved throughout later history as

444-449: A civil war and the first Arab-Israeli war . Primarily due to expulsions by Zionist forces, and later the Israeli army, only a Palestinian minority would remain in the land over which Israel was established. The Zionist mainstream has historically included liberal , labor , revisionist , and cultural Zionism , while groups like Brit Shalom and Ihud have been dissident factions within

592-518: A settler colonialist movement. Some proponents of Zionism accept the characterization of Zionism as settler-colonial or exceptionalist. The term "Zionism" is derived from the word Zion ( Hebrew : ציון , romanized :  Tzi-yon ) or Mount Zion , a hill in Jerusalem , widely symbolizing the Land of Israel. Mount Zion is also a term used in the Hebrew Bible . Throughout eastern Europe in

740-536: A "pure Jewish settlement" in Palestine on the basis of "100 per cent Jewish labor" and the claim to an exclusively Jewish economy. The Zionist leadership aimed to establish a fully autonomous and independent Jewish economic sector to create a new type of Jewish society. This new society was intended to reverse the traditional economic structure seen in the Jewish Diaspora, characterized by a high number of middlemen and

888-454: A Jewish demographic majority, the Zionist movement was faced with a problem, namely the presence of the local Arab (and primarily non-Jewish) population. The practical issue of establishing a Jewish state in a majority non-Jewish region was an issue of fundamental practical importance for the Zionist movement. Zionists used the term "transfer" as a euphemism for the removal, or ethnic cleansing, of

1036-404: A call to Jews to take it upon themselves to appropriate the land. Zionism saw itself as bringing Jews into the modern world by redefining what it means to be Jewish in terms of identification with a sovereign state, rather than Judaic faith and tradition. Zionism sought to reconfigure Jewish identity and culture in nationalist and secular terms. This new identity would be based on a rejection of

1184-441: A century after the beginnings of emancipation , Jews had moved from the margins to the forefront of European society. In the urban centers of Europe and America, Jews played an influential role in professional and intellectual life, considered in proportion to their numbers. During this period as Jewish assimilation was still progressing most promisingly, some Jewish intellectuals and religious traditionalists framed assimilation as

1332-406: A considerable obstacle to the proposed immigration from Poland and other suffering centers". Zangwill listed the following as his more striking passages: In his writings, Zangwill expressed mixed sentiments about the then-territory of Palestine, parts of which became the modern State of Israel in 1948, two decades after his death. After the establishment of the state, Philip Rubin speculated that

1480-534: A full-fledged teacher. While teaching, he studied for his degree from the University of London , earning a BA with triple honours in 1884. Zangwill published some of his works under the pen-names J. Freeman Bell (for works written in collaboration), and Countess von S. and Marshallik. He had already written a tale entitled The Premier and the Painter in collaboration with Louis Cowen , when he resigned his position as

1628-639: A house named Far End. The couple had three children, two sons and a daughter. The younger of their two sons was the British psychologist Oliver Zangwill . Zangwill died of pneumonia on 1 August 1926 at a nursing home in Midhurst, West Sussex. He had spent two months at the nursing home. As translator: The "of the Ghetto" books: Zionism Zionism is the ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in

SECTION 10

#1732854912463

1776-575: A humiliating negation of Jewish cultural distinctiveness. The development of Zionism and other Jewish nationalist movements grew out of these sentiments, which began to emerge even before the appearance of modern antisemitism as a major factor. In this sense, Zionism can be read as a response to the Haskala and the challenges of modernity and liberalism, rather than purely a response to antisemitism. Emancipation in Eastern Europe progressed more slowly, to

1924-556: A humiliating negation of Jewish cultural distinctiveness. The development of Zionism and other Jewish nationalist movements grew out of these sentiments, which began to emerge even before the appearance of modern antisemitism as a major factor. Assimilation progressed more slowly in Tsarist Russia where pogroms and official Russian policies led to the emigration of three million Jews between 1882 and 1914, only 1% of which went to Palestine. Those who went to Palestine were driven primarily by

2072-406: A leading role. The settlements established by Hibbat Zion lacked sufficient funds and were ultimately not very successful but are seen as the first of several aliyahs, or waves of settlement, that led to the eventual establishment of the state of Israel. The conditions in Eastern Europe would eventually provide Zionism with a base of Jews seeking to overcome the challenges of external ostracism, from

2220-472: A liberated, dignified person eager to defend both personal and national pride. The Zionist goal of reframing of Jewish identity in secular-nationalist terms meant primarily the decline of the status of religion in the Jewish community. Prominent Zionist thinkers frame this development as nationalism serving the same role as religion, functionally replacing it. Zionism sought to make Jewish ethnic-nationalism

2368-457: A like attempt to bring to Palestine the Jewish proletariat of Poland, Lithuania, Romania, and the Turkish Empire (1879 and 1882). Reform Jews rejected this idea of a return to Zion. The conference of rabbis held at Frankfurt am Main over July 15–28, 1845, deleted from the ritual all prayers for a return to Zion and a restoration of a Jewish state. The Philadelphia Conference, 1869, followed

2516-427: A major place in the novel, but was reduced for the play. The role of Melchitsedek Pinchas was expanded in the drama by assigning him the actions of several minor characters from the novel, principally Old Hyams. The character of Levi Jacobs, Hannah's brother in the novel, was eliminated for the play, and that of Mrs. Jacobs reduced, to strengthen the relationship between Hannah and her father. Liebler & Company had

2664-609: A mediator and interpreter between the East and the West." In 1902, Zangwill wrote that Palestine "remains at this moment an almost uninhabited, forsaken and ruined Turkish territory". However, within a few years, Zangwill had "become fully aware of the Arab peril", telling an audience in New York, "Palestine proper has already its inhabitants. The pashalik of Jerusalem is already twice as thickly populated as

2812-596: A more active way than most Christians viewed the Second Coming." The religious Judaic notion of being a nation was distinct from the modern European notion of nationalism. Ultra-Orthodox Jews strongly opposed collective Jewish settlement in Palestine, viewing it as a violation of the three oaths sworn to God: not to force their way into the homeland, not to hasten the end times , and not to rebel against other nations . They believed that any attempt to achieve redemption through human actions, rather than divine intervention and

2960-531: A movie with Janet Gaynor . Zangwill's simulation of Yiddish sentence structure in English aroused great interest. He also wrote mystery works, such as The Big Bow Mystery (1892), and social satire, such as The King of Schnorrers (1894), a picaresque novel (which became a short-lived musical comedy in 1979). His Dreamers of the Ghetto (1898) includes essays on famous Jews such as Baruch Spinoza , Heinrich Heine and Ferdinand Lassalle . The Big Bow Mystery

3108-560: A nation is reflected in the nature of the symbolism of the movement, which are drawn from modern sources and appropriated as Zionist, instancing the fact that the melody of the Hatikvah anthem drew on the version composed by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana . The rejection of life in the diaspora was not limited to secular Zionism; many religious Zionists shared this opinion, but not all religious Zionism did. Abraham Isaac Kook , considered one of

SECTION 20

#1732854912463

3256-402: A national liberation movement for the repatriation of an indigenous people (which were subject to persecution and share a national identity through national consciousness ), to the homeland of their ancestors as noted in ancient history . Similarly, anti-Zionism has many aspects, which include criticism of Zionism as a colonialist , racist , or exceptionalist ideology or as

3404-465: A national language was the sense of legitimacy it gave the movement, by suggesting a connection between the Jews of ancient Israel and the Jews of the Zionist movement. These developments are seen in Zionist historiography as a revolt against tradition, with the development of Modern Hebrew providing the basis on which a Jewish cultural renaissance might develop. Zionists generally preferred to speak Hebrew ,

3552-551: A nationalist project. They drew on religious Jewish sources and non-Jewish texts in reconstructing a national identity and consciousness. This new Jewish historiography divorced from and, at times at odds with, traditional Jewish collective memory. It was particularly important in early nation building in Israel, because Jews in Israel are ethnically diverse and the origins of Ashkenazi Jews were not known. Notable proponents of this racial idea included Max Nordau , Herzl's co-founder of

3700-492: A nationalistic context. It adapted traditional Jewish religious concepts, such as the devotion to the God of Israel, reverence for the biblical Land of Israel, and the belief in a future Jewish return during the messianic era, into a modern nationalist framework. To be sure, the yearning for a return to the land of Israel "was entirely quietistic" and the daily prayers of a return to Zion were all accompanied by an appeal to God, rather than

3848-461: A panorama, the appearance of many people in it would be improved…" The Standard Union by contrast gave good notices to the production without reference to the author's personality, its only caveat being the lengthy fourth act discussions of religion in a play that had already lasted over two hours. The Sun also carried a positive review, calling Children of the Ghetto "a play of words and not of deeds". Severe criticism came two days after

3996-399: A people, he was essentially correct, for there is no Arab people living in intimate fusion with the country, utilizing its resources and stamping it with a characteristic impress: there is at best an Arab encampment, the break-up of which would throw upon the Jews the actual manual labor of regeneration and prevent them from exploiting the fellahin , whose numbers and lower wages are moreover

4144-493: A prelude, and incidental music for Act IV, drawing on traditional Hebrew songs. In order to establish the English copyright, the first performance of the play was done in near secrecy at Deal, England , on July 25, 1899. Zangwill arrived in America by August 20, 1899, to begin working with director James A. Herne on staging Children of the Ghetto . Rehearsals began that week; a cast list from then shows actor Wilson Deal started in

4292-473: A reality. The Zionist solution to the perceived deficiencies of diasporic life (or the " Jewish Question ") was dependent on the territorial concentration of Jews in Palestine, with the longer-term goal of establishing a Jewish demographic majority there. Early Zionists were the primary Jewish supporters of the idea that Jews are a race, as it "offered scientific 'proof' of the ethno-nationalist myth of common descent". According to Raphael Falk , as early as

4440-427: A reinterpretation of Messianism along traditionalist lines in which human intervention would prepare (and specifically only prepare) for the final redemption. Accordingly, the Jewish immigration in this vein was intended to be selective, involving only the most devout Jews. Their idea of Jews as a collective was strongly tied to religious notions distinct from the secular movement referred to as Zionism which developed at

4588-529: A response to the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe during the early 20th century. It proposed the establishment of a Jewish homeland outside of Palestine, offering alternative solutions to the ongoing debate about Jewish self-determination and Zionism. After having for a time endorsed Theodor Herzl , including presiding over a meeting at the Maccabean Club, London, addressed by Herzl on 24 November 1895, and endorsing

Israel Zangwill - Misplaced Pages Continue

4736-480: A rock in frustration. Hearing it strike, Mrs. Jacobs says it was a Christian rough. Reb Schmeul, thinking of the labor marchers, replies, "It is worse-- it is some Jewish rough". Hannah, sent to close the shutters, is confronted once more by David, but sends him away, while her father recites a prayer. ( Slow Curtain ) The multi-threaded storyline of the novel was consolidated down to the romance of Hannah Jacobs and David Brandon. The character of Esther Anstell occupied

4884-526: A sacrificial worship under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning a Jewish state". Jewish settlements were proposed for establishment in the upper Mississippi region by W.D. Robinson in 1819. Ideas of Jewish cultural unity developed a specifically political expression in the 1860s as Jewish intellectuals began promoting the idea of Jewish nationalism. Zionism would be just one of several Jewish national movements which would develop, others included diaspora nationalist groups such as

5032-443: A scarcity of productive workers. By developing fundamental sectors such as industry, agriculture, and mining, the goal was to "normalize" Jewish life which had grown "abnormal" as a result of living amongst non-Jews. Most of the Zionist leadership saw it as imperative to employ strictly Jewish workers in order to ensure the Jewish character of the colonies; indeed they sought to minimize mixing with Arabs to, amongst other reasons, avoid

5180-527: A sense of self-determination and Jewish identity, rather than just in response to pogroms or economic insecurity. The arrival of Zionist settlers to Palestine during this period is widely seen as the start of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict . The Zionist claim to Palestine was based on the notion that the Jews' historical right to the land outweighed that of the Arabs. In 1884, proto-Zionist groups established

5328-480: A settlement in Gaza, but moved later to Smyrna . After deposing the old rabbi Aaron Lapapa in the spring of 1666, the Jewish community of Avignon, France , prepared to emigrate to the new kingdom. Proto-Zionist figures in the eighteeenth and nineteenth centuries include the rabbis Yehuda Bibas (1789–1852), Tzvi Kalischer (1795–1874), and Judah Alkalai (1798–1878). Alkalai and Kalischer developed their ideas as

5476-509: A successful production with The Christian , an 1898 drama adapted from a novel by its author, Hall Caine . Looking for another novel to dramatise, partners T. A. Liebler and George C. Tyler came across Children of the Ghetto (1892). Tyler said they had been warned about Zangwill, that he was a polarising figure in the Jewish world and that he had antagonised American drama critics with an 1898 lecture tour. But Liebler & Company were sparing no expense, paying director James A. Herne $ 500

5624-677: A teacher at the Jews' Free School owing to differences with the school managers and ventured into journalism. He initiated and edited Ariel, The London Puck , and did miscellaneous work for the London press. Zangwill's work earned him the nickname "the Dickens of the Ghetto ". He wrote a very influential novel Children of the Ghetto: A Study of a Peculiar People (1892), which the late 19th-century English novelist George Gissing called "a powerful book". The use of

5772-429: A thing? To be sure there is, the ancient and rightful lords of the soil, the Jews!" In his diary that year he wrote "these vast and fertile regions will soon be without a ruler, without a known and acknowledged power to claim dominion. The territory must be assigned to some one or other.... There is a country without a nation; and God now in his wisdom and mercy, directs us to a nation without a country." Shaftesbury himself

5920-444: A week, and casting ten popular stars of the day to woo audiences. There would eventually be forty-one speaking parts, and up to 150 people on stage during the fourth act marketplace scene. The author was very much involved with casting and the play's production. The overall scenic design was by the author's brother, artist Mark Zangwill, while the settings were built by Frank E. Gates and E. A. Morange . William Furst composed

6068-518: Is God's Crucible, the great Melting-Pot where all the races of Europe are melting and reforming...Germans and Frenchmen, Irishmen and Englishmen, Jews and Russians – into the Crucible with you all! God is making the American." Zangwill was also involved with specifically Jewish issues as an assimilationist, an early Zionist, and a territorialist . Jewish territorialism was a political movement that emerged as

Israel Zangwill - Misplaced Pages Continue

6216-601: Is ingrained in the man's 'blood', in his physical-racial type, and only in it." According to Hassan S. Haddad, the application of the Biblical concepts of Jews as the chosen people and the " Promised Land " in Zionism, particularly to secular Jews, requires the belief that modern Jews are the primary descendants of biblical Jews and Israelites. This is considered important to the State of Israel, because its founding narrative centers around

6364-435: Is not a psychosis... nor is it a lie. Anti-Semitism is a necessary outcome of a collision between two kinds of selfhood [or 'essence']. Hate is dependent upon the amount of 'agents of fermentation' that are pushed into the general organism [i.e., the non-Jewish group], whether they are active in it and irritate it, or are neutralized in it. In this sense, Zionism did not seek to challenge anti-semitism, but rather accepted it as

6512-415: Is told by Reb Schmuel he will consider it. Pinchas lingers to press his suit for Hannah, which her father sidesteps. Once Pinchas is gone, Hannah comes downstairs to tell her father of her betrothment with David. Reb Schmeul gives his permission then goes up to bed. Esther drops by next, to solicit Hannah's goodwill for her little brother. As she leaves, David surprises Hannah in the open doorway. She tells him

6660-444: Is viewed as an essentially negative factor, even in religious Zionist ideology, and seen as responsible for the diminishing status of Jews living as a minority. Responding to the challenges of modernity, Zionism sought to replace religious and community institutions with secular-nationalistic ones, defining Judaism in "terms of Christianity." Indeed, Zionism maintained primarily the outward symbols of Jewish tradition, redefining them in

6808-646: The Ashkenazi an augury—" Next year in Jerusalem —which was then included in the thrice-daily Amidah (Standing prayer). The biblical prophecy of Kibbutz Galuyot , the ingathering of exiles in the Land of Israel as foretold by the Prophets , became a central idea in Zionism. The forerunners of Zionism, rather than being causally connected to the later development of Zionism, are thinkers and activists who expressed some notion of Jewish national consciousness or advocated for

6956-459: The Kadimah nationalist Jewish students' movement; he used the term in 1890 in his journal Selbst-Emancipation ( Self-Emancipation ), itself named almost identically to Leon Pinsker 's 1882 book Auto-Emancipation . Fundamental to Zionism is the belief that Jews constitute a nation and have a moral and historic right and need for self-determination in Palestine . This belief developed out of

7104-554: The Kishinev pogrom , in which his entire family is killed. He writes a great symphony named "The Crucible" expressing his hope for a world in which all ethnicity has melted away, and becomes enamored of a beautiful Russian Christian immigrant named Vera. The dramatic climax of the play is the moment when David meets Vera's father, who turns out to be the Russian officer responsible for the annihilation of David's family. Vera's father admits guilt,

7252-611: The Lovers of Zion , and in 1897 the first Zionist Congress was organized. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a large number of Jews immigrated first to Ottoman and later to Mandatory Palestine . The support of a Great Power was seen as fundamental to the success of Zionism and in 1917 the Balfour Declaration established Britain's support for the movement. In 1922, the British Mandate for Palestine would explicitly privilege

7400-598: The Russian Empire . His father, Moses Zangwill, was from what is now Latvia , and his mother, Ellen Hannah Marks Zangwill, was from what is now Poland . He dedicated his life to championing the cause of people he considered oppressed, becoming involved with topics such as Jewish emancipation , Jewish assimilation , territorialism , Zionism , and women's suffrage . His brother was novelist Louis Zangwill . Zangwill received his early schooling in Plymouth and Bristol. When he

7548-583: The State of Israel in 1948, Zionism became Israel's national or state ideology . Zionism initially emerged in Central and Eastern Europe as a secular nationalist movement in the late 19th century, in reaction to newer waves of antisemitism and in response to the Haskalah , or Jewish Enlightenment. During this period, as Jewish assimilation in Europe was progressing, some Jewish intellectuals framed assimilation as

SECTION 50

#1732854912463

7696-586: The "surplus of Jews, the inassimilable residue" from Eastern Europe who had arrived in Germany in response to the pogroms. The pogroms motivated a small number of Jews to establish various groups in the Pale of Settlement and Poland aimed at supporting Jewish emigration to Palestine. The publication of Autoemancipation provided these groups with an ideological charter around which they would be confederated into Hibbat Zion ("Lovers of Zion") in 1887 where Pinsker would take

7844-418: The 1870s Zionist and pre-Zionist thinkers conceived of Jews as belonging to a distinct biological group. This re-conceptualization of Jewishness cast the " volk " of the Jewish community as a nation-race, in contrast to centuries-old conceptions of the Jewish people as a religious socio-cultural grouping. The Jewish historians Heinrich Graetz and Simon Dubnow are largely credited with this creation of Zionism as

7992-532: The 1890s, Theodor Herzl (the father of political Zionism) infused Zionism with a practical urgency and would work to unify the various strands of the movement. His efforts would lead to the First Zionist Congress at Basel in 1897, which created the Zionist Organization (ZO), renamed in 1960 as World Zionist Organization (WZO). The Zionist Organization was to be the main administrative body of

8140-468: The Arab Palestinian population. The concept of "transfer" had a long pedigree in Zionist thought, with moral considerations rarely entering into the discussions of what was viewed as a logical solution-opposition to transferring the Arab population outside Palestine was typically expressed on practical, rather than moral grounds. The concept of forcibly removing the non-Jewish population from Palestine

8288-522: The Article Club, Zangwill pretended to speak as the weary, Ashkenazic folktale character, the Wandering Jew , saying, "restore the country without a people to the people without a country... For we have something to give as well as to get. We can sweep away the blackmailer—be he Pasha or Bedouin—we can make the wilderness blossom as the rose, and build up in the heart of the world a civilization that may be

8436-477: The Bund . Zionism emerged towards the end of the "best century" for Jews who for the first time were allowed as equals into European society. During this time, Jews would have equality before the law and gain access to schools, universities, and professions which were previously closed to them. By the 1870s, Jews had achieved almost complete civic emancipation in all the states of western and central Europe. By 1914,

8584-459: The Ghetto may be, but never in its present form". They felt the superfluous situations and characters of the first two acts, and the lack of dramatic substance until the third act, weakened the play despite the overall excellence of the performances. The production then moved to Ford's Opera House in Baltimore starting September 25, 1899. The Baltimore Sun review said Children of the Ghetto

8732-513: The Great Powers, and would "form part of a defensive wall for Europe in Asia, an outpost of civilization against barbarism." In 1902, Herzl published Altneuland , a utopian novel which portrays a Jewish state where Jews and Arabs live together. In the novel, Jewish immigration had not forced the Arabs to leave, orange exports had multiplied tenfold, and Arab landowners profited from selling land to

8880-606: The Herald Square Theatre. Liebler & Company then took the production company to London, where the play opened on December 11, 1899, at the Adelphi Theatre . It lasted only a week, which producer George C. Tyler ascribed to British gloom over the Second Boer War . English reviewers, though recognizing the play's originality and merit, cited the incongruous accents of the all-American cast in portraying London Jews,

9028-415: The Jewish identity which developed while living amongst non-Jews . Accordingly, the early Zionists sought to develop a nationalist Jewish political life in a territory where Jews constitute a demographic majority. The early Zionist thinkers saw the integration of Jews into non-Jewish society as both unrealistic (or insufficient to address the deficiencies associated with the demographic minority status of

SECTION 60

#1732854912463

9176-460: The Jewish settlers over the local Palestinian population. The British would assist in the establishment and development of Zionist institutions and a Zionist quasi-state which operated in parallel to the British mandate government. After over two decades of British support for the movement, Britain restricted Jewish immigration with the White Paper of 1939 in an attempt to ease local tensions. Despite

9324-539: The Jews in Europe) and undesirable, since assimilation was accompanied by the dilution of Jewish cultural distinctiveness. Moses Hess , a leading precursor of Zionism, commented on the perceived insufficiency of assimilation: "The German hates the Jewish race more than the religion; he objects less to the Jews' peculiar beliefs than to their peculiar noses." Prominent leaders of the Zionist movement expressed an "understanding" of antisemitism , echoing its beliefs: Anti-Semitism

9472-452: The Jews. Walter Laqueur describes Herzl in real life as emphasizing the importance of close relationships between Jews and Muslims on several occasions. Altneuland also reflected Herzl's belief in the importance of technology and progress. The Jewish state in the novel is a highly advanced society, where scientific and technological innovation is celebrated and valued. Before World War I, although led by Austrian and German Jews, Zionism

9620-504: The People's Club, at Purim , 72 days later. ) At the Purim ball Malka decries the secularisation of the modern holiday, as Leah and Milly waltz with men other than their husbands. Soon Michael comes to lead her into the dancing, while Sam Levine greets his old school friend David Borden, just back from Cape Town with a modest fortune from years of prospecting. Simon Wolf leaves the celebration to visit

9768-561: The Spirit ( Reb Schmeul's study, on the Great Sabbath , 25 days later. ) Reb Schmeul, Mrs. Jacobs, and Hannah have finished their Sabbath meal. Mrs. Belcovitch and Shosshi come to discuss a money quarrel, but are turned away as it is the Sabbath. Pinchas and Guedalyah ask Reb Schmeul to head up a fund for Jewish resettlement in Palestine. Hannah takes Mrs. Jacobs upstairs at Pinchas' entry. Guedalyah

9916-561: The Tsarist regime, and internal changes within the Jewish communities there. The groups which formed Hibbat Zion included the Bilu group which began its settlements in 1882. Shapira describes the Bilu as serving the role of a prototype for the settlement groups that followed. At the end of the 19th century, Jews remained a small minority in Palestine. At this point, Zionism remained a scattered movement. In

10064-509: The United States" leaving Zionists the choice of driving the Arabs out or dealing with a "large alien population". He moved his support to the Uganda scheme , leading to a break with the mainstream Zionist movement by 1905. In 1908, Zangwill told a London court that he had been naive when he made his 1901 speech and had since "realized what is the density of the Arab population", namely twice that of

10212-452: The United States. In 1913 he criticized those who insisted on repeating that Palestine was "empty and derelict" and who called him a traitor for reporting otherwise. According to Ze'ev Jabotinsky , Zangwill told him in 1916 that, "If you wish to give a country to a people without a country, it is utter foolishness to allow it to be the country of two peoples. This can only cause trouble. The Jews will suffer and so will their neighbours. One of

10360-633: The White Paper, Zionist immigration and settlement efforts continued during WWII . While immigration had previously been selective, once the details of the Nazi Holocaust reached Palestine in 1942, selectivity was abandoned. The Zionist war effort focused on the survival and development of the Yishuv , with little Zionist resources being deployed in support of European Jews. The State of Israel would be established in 1948 over 78% of mandatory Palestine following

10508-441: The Zionist effort also held similar beliefs regarding Jewish and Arab rights in Palestine. Unlike other forms of nationalism, the Zionist claim to Palestine was aspirational and required a mechanism by which the claim could be realized. The territorial concentration of Jews in Palestine and the subsequent goal of establishing a Jewish majority there was the main mechanism by which Zionist groups sought to realize this claim. By

10656-406: The Zionist settlers of the first aliyah had ventured to create a "pure Jewish settlement," they did grow to rely on Arab labor due to the lack of availability of Jewish laborers during this period. With the arrival of the more ideologically driven settlers of the second aliyah, the idea of "avoda ivrit" would become more central. The future leaders of the Zionist movement saw an existential threat in

10804-420: The anticipation of restoration were based on messianic beliefs and religious practices, not material nationalistic conceptions. The Zionist claim to Palestine was based on the notion that Jews had a historical right to the land which outweighed the rights of the Arabs, which were "of no moral or historical significance." According to Israeli historian Simha Flapan, the view expressed by the proclamation " there

10952-442: The challenges and conflicts that arise when different ethnic groups collide. It portrays the tensions between the Jewish and Christian communities, as well as the struggles of immigrants to find their place in a new society while preserving their cultural heritage. "The Melting Pot" resonated with audiences during its time, as it captured the spirit of the American immigrant experience and explored issues of assimilation, identity, and

11100-469: The claim has "remained forever elusive". With the arrival in Palestine of more ideologically motivated settlers after the turn of the century, the Zionist movement began to emphasize the importance of the productivization of Jewish society and the so-called "conquest of labor," the belief that the employment of exclusively Jewish labour was the pre-condition for the development of an independent Jewish society in Palestine. The Zionist movement sought to build

11248-500: The coming of the Messiah , constituted a rebellion against divine will and a dangerous heresy. The cultural memory of Jews in the diaspora revered the Land of Israel. Religious tradition held that a future messianic age would usher in their return as a people., a 'return to Zion' commemorated particularly at Passover and in Yom Kippur prayers. In late medieval times, there arose among

11396-442: The concept of an " Ingathering of the exiles " and the " Return to Zion ", on the assumption that all modern Jews are the direct lineal descendants of the biblical Jews. The question has thus been focused on by supporters of Zionism and anti-Zionists alike, as in the absence of this biblical primacy, "the Zionist project falls prey to the pejorative categorization as 'settler colonialism' pursued under false assumptions, playing into

11544-418: The concept of das völk : people of shared ancestry should pursue separation and establish a unified state. Zionist thinkers view the movement as a "revolt against a tradition of many centuries" of living parasitically at the margins of Western society. Indeed, Zionism was uncomfortable with the term "Jewish," associating it with passivity, spirituality and the stain of "galut". Instead, Zionist thinkers preferred

11692-525: The construction of Zionist identity as a militarized nationalism arose in contrast to the imputed identity of the Diaspora Jew as a "feminised" Other . She describes this as a relationship of contempt towards the previous identity of the Jewish Diaspora viewed as unable to resist antisemitism and the Holocaust. Lentin argues that Zionism's rejection of this "feminised" identity and its obsession with constructing

11840-454: The context of ideological developments within modern European nations in the 19th century. The concept of the "return" remained a powerful symbol within religious Jewish belief which emphasized that their return should be determined by Divine Providence rather than human action. Leading Zionist historian Shlomo Avineri describes this connection: "Jews did not relate to the vision of the Return in

11988-436: The distinctive trait of Jews rather than their commitment to Judaism. Zionism instead adopted a racial understanding of Jewish identity, which paradoxically mirrored anti-Semitic views by suggesting that Jewishness is an inherent, unchangeable trait found in one's "blood." Framed this way, Jewish identity is only secondarily a matter of tradition or culture. Zionist nationalism embraced pan-Germanic ideologies, which stressed

12136-467: The edge of his box and shouted "That's a great play, Mr. Zangwill. That's a great play." In 1912, Zangwill received a letter from Roosevelt in which Roosevelt wrote of The Melting Pot "That particular play I shall always count among the very strong and real influences upon my thought and my life." The protagonist of the play is David Quixano, a Russian Jewish immigrant who arrives in New York City after

12284-411: The employment of Arab labor-the fear that the "half-wild natives" would rise up against their "Jewish masters" motivated the movement on a practical level to work towards a society based on purely Jewish labor. Zionism rejected traditional Judaic definitions of what it means to be Jewish, but struggled to offer a new interpretation of Jewish identity independent of rabbinical tradition. Jewish religion

12432-407: The emptiness and futility of trying to 'combat' anti-Semitism." Herzl's project was purely secular, the selection of Palestine, after considering other locations, was motivated by the credibility the name would give to the movement. From early on, Herzl recognized that Zionism could not succeed without the support of a Great Power. His view was that this Judenstaat would serve the interests of

12580-491: The end of the century. In contrast, Hess advocated for the establishment of an independent Jewish state in pursuit of the economic and social normalization of the Jewish people. Hess believed that emancipation alone was not a sufficient solution to the problems faced by European Jewry; he perceived a shift of anti-Jewish sentiment from a religious to a racial basis. For Hess, religious conversion would not fix this anti-Jewish hostility. Christian restorationist ideas promoting

12728-462: The envisioned European and German culture of the state where Jews were simply the transmitters of imperialist culture rather than producers or creators of culture. Like Pinsker, Herzl saw antisemitism as a reality that could only be addressed by the territorial concentration of Jews in a Jewish state. He wrote in his diary: "I achieved a freer attitude toward anti-Semitism, which I now began to understand historically and to pardon. Above all, I recognized

12876-463: The experiences of European Jewry, which the early Zionists believed demonstrated the danger inherent to their status as a minority. In contrast to the Zionist notion of nationhood, the Judaic sense of being a nation was rooted in religious beliefs of unique chosenness and divine providence, rather than in ethnicity. Daily prayers emphasized distinctiveness from other nations; a connection to Eretz Israel and

13024-521: The faithful getting ready for services and in turn are mocked by the pious. Reb Schmeul leaves the Synagogue to remonstrate with them, and they move off. David catches Hannah outside her house. He begs her to elope with him to America. She first agrees then relents, then agrees again, but when her father returns from services, she cannot bear to leave him. As the curtains are closed at the Jacobs' house, David hurls

13172-430: The feast of Hanukkah. ) Michael, Ephraim, and Milly greet Sam, who has returned from a business trip bringing a ring for his fiancé, Leah. The four are interrupted by Pinchas, who flogs his books and cadges a meal in the kitchen. Malka and Esther return from the market, followed shortly by Leah. Hannah arrives to collect donations for a charity. Sam shows everyone the ring, then jokingly puts it on Hannah's finger and recites

13320-418: The ghetto marketplace in front of Reb Schmeul's house, three days later. ) The waning hours of the street market are shown before sundown on Friday. Many of the minor characters have their little moments getting ready for the Sabbath. Reb Schmeul gives all his money and even his coat to beggers. A noisy labor march comes through the street, led by Simon Wolf and Pinchas, embittered by Hannah's rejection. They mock

13468-534: The good news. Reb Schmeul, hearing the commotion comes down, and the three decide to celebrate. But a chance remark by David, that he is a descendent of Aaron and hence a Kohen , ruins the mood. Reb Schmeul cites the law: a Kohen may not marry a divorced woman. Sam's joke has destroyed Hannah and David's chance for happiness. David rages against this obscure law but is rebuked by Reb Schmeul. Hannah proclaims her love for David, but will not go with him in defiance of her religion. ( Curtain ) Act IV: Love and Law ( At

13616-504: The hands of Israel's critics and fueling the indignation of the displaced and stateless Palestinian people," whilst right-wing Israelis look for "a way of proving the occupation is legitimate, of authenticating the ethnos as a natural fact, and of defending Zionism as a return". A Jewish "biological self-definition" has become a standard belief for many Jewish nationalists, and most Israeli population researchers have never doubted that evidence will one day be found, even though so far proof for

13764-477: The ideological basis for Zionism, Der Judenstaat , is typically translated as The Jewish State. Herzl sought to establish a state where Jews would be the majority and as a result, politically dominant. Ahad Ha'am , the founder of cultural Zionism criticized the lack of Jewish cultural activity and creativity in Herzl's envisioned state which Ha'am referred to as "the state of the Jews." Specifically, Ha'am points to

13912-452: The labor hall. A little side story plays out involving Sugarman, Shosshi, Mrs. Belcovitch, and Becky. David rescues Hannah from a tipsy Pinchas; he has heard something of her from Sam, and she soon teases him with the story of her quick marriage and divorce. They like one another, but when David asks if her hypothetical future lover might feign piety, she replies that Truth must be the bedrock of any liaison. ( Curtain ) Act III: The Letter and

14060-513: The late 19th century and aimed for the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people through the colonization of Palestine , an area roughly corresponding to the Land of Israel in Judaism , and of central importance in Jewish history . Zionists wanted to create a Jewish state in Palestine with as much land, as many Jews , and as few Palestinian Arabs as possible. Following the establishment of

14208-424: The late 19th century was among assimilated Central European Jews who, despite their formal emancipation, still felt excluded from high society. Many of these Jews had moved away from traditional religious observances and were largely secular, mirroring a broader trend of secularization in Europe. Despite their efforts to integrate, the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe were frustrated by continued lack of acceptance by

14356-525: The late 19th century, numerous grassroots groups promoted the national resettlement of the Jews in their homeland, as well as the revitalization and cultivation of the Hebrew language . These groups were collectively called the " Lovers of Zion " and were seen as countering a growing Jewish movement toward assimilation. The first use of the term is attributed to the Austrian Nathan Birnbaum , founder of

14504-445: The latter had preoccupied the author to the detriment of dramatic structure, "this sample of his abilities as a dramatist hardly justifies the position he has assumed as criterion of the play-making art." The review complimented the acting and noted the audience's favorable reaction to the play, then concluded by saying "Mr. Zangwill obtruded his picturesque personality" on stage after the final curtain. The New York Times review said

14652-589: The lead of the German rabbis and decreed that the Messianic hope of Israel is "the union of all the children of God in the confession of the unity of God". In 1885 the Pittsburgh Conference reiterated this interpretation of the Messianic idea of Reform Judaism, expressing in a resolution that "we consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community; and we therefore expect neither a return to Palestine, nor

14800-498: The life of exile. Zionism portrayed the Diaspora Jew as mentally unstable, physically frail, and prone to engaging in transient businesses like peddling or acting as intermediaries. They were seen as detached from nature, purely materialistic, and focused solely on their personal gains. In contrast, the vision for the new Jew was radically different: an individual of strong moral and aesthetic values, not shackled by religion, driven by ideals and willing to challenge degrading circumstances;

14948-462: The local national movements which tended toward intolerance and exclusivity. For the early Zionists, if nationalism posed a challenge to European Jewry, it also proposed a solution. In the wake of the 1881 Russian pogroms , Leo Pinsker , who was previously an assimilationist, came to the conclusion that the root of the Jewish problem was that Jews formed a distinctive element which could not be assimilated. For Pinsker, emancipation could not resolve

15096-457: The main liturgical language of Judaism. Zionists worked to modernize Hebrew and adapt it for everyday use. They sometimes refused to speak Yiddish , a language they thought had developed in the context of European persecution . Once they moved to Israel, many Zionists refused to speak their (diasporic) mother tongues and adopted new, Hebrew names . Hebrew was preferred not only for ideological reasons, but also because it allowed all citizens of

15244-545: The main Palestine-oriented Zionist movement. Zangwill changed his mind and founded his own organization, named the Jewish Territorialist Organization in 1905, advocating a Jewish homeland in whatever land might be available in the world which could be found for them, with speculations including Canada, Australia, Mesopotamia, Uganda and Cyrenaica . Zangwill is inaccurately known for creating

15392-413: The marriage vow. Pinchas warns them this was a valid marriage. He rushes off to bring Reb Schmeul while Esther fetches her father. Reb Schmeul says a Get must be prepared and Sam must give it to Hannah to effect a divorce. Moses Ansell prepares the document while Reb Schmeul instructs Sam in how to deliver it. The divorce is validated as the act ends. ( Curtain ) Act II: The Spirit of Love ( A ball at

15540-487: The metaphorical phrase " melting pot " to describe American absorption of immigrants was popularised by Zangwill's play The Melting Pot , a success in the United States in 1909–10. The theatrical work explored the themes of ethnic tensions and the idea of cultural assimilation in early 20th-century America. When The Melting Pot opened in Washington, D.C., on 5 October 1908, former President Theodore Roosevelt leaned over

15688-401: The migration of Jews to Palestine contributed to the ideological and historical context that gave a sense of credibility to these pre-Zionist initiatives. Restorationist ideas were a prerequisite for the success of Zionism, since although it was created by Jews, Zionism was dependent on support from Christians, although it is unclear how much Christian ideas influenced the early Zionists. Zionism

15836-455: The migration of Jews to Palestine. These attempts were not continuous as national movements typically are. The most notable precursors to Zionism were thinkers such as Judah Alkalai and Zvi Hirsch Kalischer (who were both rabbinical figures), as well as Moses Hess who is regarded as the first modern Jewish nationalist. The Jewish expulsion from Spain led to some Jewish refugees fleeing to Ottoman Palestine . In 1564, Joseph Nasi , with

15984-421: The most important religious Zionist thinkers, characterized the diaspora as a flawed and alienated existence marked by decline, narrowness, displacement, solitude, and frailty. He believed that the diasporan way of life is diametrically opposed to a "national renaissance," which manifests itself not only in the return to Zion but also in the return to nature and creativity, revival of heroic and aesthetic values, and

16132-463: The movement and would go on to establish the Jewish Colonial Trust , whose objectives were to encourage European Jewish emigration to Palestine and to assist with the economic development of the colonies. The first Zionist Congress would also adopt the official objective of establishing a legally recognized home for the Jewish people in Palestine. The title of Herzl's 1896 manifesto providing

16280-456: The movement. Mainstream Zionist groups for the most part differ more in style than substance, having in some cases adopted similar strategies to achieve their goals, such as violence or compulsory transfer to deal with the Palestinians. Religious Zionism is a variant of Zionist ideology which brings together secular nationalism and religious conservatism. Advocates of Zionism have viewed it as

16428-450: The new state might have met his aspirations. He was an early suffragist. During World War I , he advocated the formation of a Jewish foreign legion to the central powers . "The League of Damnations" is a term associated with Zangwill's critique of the anti-Semitic sentiment prevalent in Europe during his time. He used this phrase to describe the collective hostility and discrimination faced by Jewish people in various countries. Zangwill

16576-711: The new state to have a common language, thus furthering the political and cultural bonds among Zionists. The revival of the Hebrew language and the establishment of Modern Hebrew is most closely associated with the linguist Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and the Committee of the Hebrew Language (later replaced by the Academy of the Hebrew Language ). The transformation of a religious and primarily passive connection between Jews and Palestine into an active, secular, nationalist movement arose in

16724-517: The original Zionist Organization , Ze'ev Jabotinsky , the prominent architect of early statist Zionism and the founder of what became Israel's Likud party, and Arthur Ruppin , considered the "father of Israeli sociology". Birnbaum, who is widely attributed with the first use of the term "Zionism" in reference to a political movement, viewed race as the foundation of nationality, Jabotinsky wrote that Jewish national integrity relies on "racial purity", and that "(t)he feeling of national self-identity

16872-473: The passing of "Arab values" into Zionist society. The employment of exclusively Jewish labor was also intended to avoid the development of a national conflict in conjunction with a class-based conflict. The Zionist leadership believed that by excluding Arab workers they would stimulate class conflict only within Arab society and prevent the Jewish-Arab national conflict from attaining a class dimension. While

17020-480: The play "was found to justify the expectations of its worth", but noted the audience applause at the final climax "was clearly of a purely perfunctory sort". The review for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle featured a bit of animus that focused on the author as much as the play. “The play has several titles… It is modestly termed, in the very largest type, The Zangwill Play . The 'The' refers to Zangwill, and not to

17168-412: The play and its author drew negative reactions from New York reviewers and the local Jewish community during its Broadway run. It closed after two months, and the production then moved to London during December 1899 but lasted only a week. The following US national tour had mixed success, garnering some praise but eventually losing money. The play was never revived on Broadway, though a Yiddish adaptation

17316-747: The play was very well received by the audience, with Zangwill making a few remarks at the final curtain. The play premiered on Broadway at the Herald Square Theatre on October 16, 1899. For New York only, Zangwill had a printed prologue distributed to the audience, something that no reviewer mentioned as happening at the tryouts. This work of forty rhymed lines was a preview of the play's theme and storyline. New York drama critics remembered Zangwill's 1898 lecture tour disparaging their craft, and let him know it in their opening night columns. The Brooklyn Daily Times reviewer admired Zangwill's dialogue and "large number of contrasting characters", but felt

17464-410: The play. It is then sub-termed Children of the Ghetto . And it is declared to be 'An Original Drama, by Mr. Israel Zangwill, Founded on his World Famous Novel of the same Title'. The regret that no credit whatsoever is given to Mr. Zangwill in all this elusive announcement will be extreme. We regret to say, it is not a play at all. It is a panorama set in four scenes. And if it were a pantomime as well as

17612-490: The point that Deickoff writes "social conditions were such that they made the idea of individual assimilation pointless." Antisemitism, pogroms and official policies in Tsarist Russia led to the emigration of three million Jews in the years between 1882 and 1914, only 1% of which went to Palestine. Those who went to Palestine were driven primarily by ideas of self-determination and Jewish identity, rather than just in response to pogroms or economic insecurity. Zionism's emergence in

17760-871: The potential for a unified nation. The play contributed to the discourse on multiculturalism and the American identity, and it remains a significant work in the context of American theater and the portrayal of ethnic tensions on stage. Zangwill wrote many other plays, including, on Broadway, Children of the Ghetto (1899), a dramatization of his own novel, directed by James A. Herne and starring Blanche Bates , Ada Dwyer , and Wilton Lackaye ; Merely Mary Ann (1903) and Nurse Marjorie (1906), both of which were directed by Charles Cartwright and starred Eleanor Robson . Liebler & Co. produced all three plays as well as The Melting Pot . Daniel Frohman produced Zangwill's 1904 play The Serio-Comic Governess , featuring Cecilia Loftus , Kate Pattison-Selten, and Julia Dean . In 1931, Jules Furthman adapted Merely Mary Ann for

17908-519: The premiere from an editorial in The New York Times . It accused Zangwill of not keeping faith with his fellow practitioners of Judaism in Children of the Ghetto : "Its author presents the most sacred of Jewish rites, not in their highest, but in their lowest phases, not as a plea for respect, but as an excuse for laughter. This is disloyalty." Children of the Ghetto closed on November 25, 1899, at

18056-597: The principal speaking parts are given. Characters are listed in order of appearance within their scope. Lead Supporting Featured The play was never published during the author's lifetime, its first print appearance being in Edna Nahshon's From the Ghetto to the Melting Pot: Israel Zangwill's Jewish Plays (2006), which is the source for this synopsis. Act I: The Letter of the Law ( At Milly's house at

18204-401: The problems of the Jewish people. In Pinsker's analysis, Judeophobia was the cause of antisemitism and was primiarily driven by Jews' lack of a homeland. The solution Pinsker proposed in his pamphlet, Autoemancipation , was for Jews to become a "normal" nation and acquire a homeland over which Jews would have sovereignty. Pinsker primarily viewed Jewish emigration a solution for dealing with

18352-406: The resurgence of individual and societal power. The revival of the Hebrew language in Eastern Europe as a secular literary medium marked a significant cultural shift among Jews, who per Judaic tradition used Hebrew only for religious purposes. This secularization of Hebrew, which included its use in novels, poems, and journalism, was met with resistance from rabbis who viewed it as a desecration of

18500-407: The role of Michael Birnbaum. By September 12, 1899, his name was replaced in advertising by Emil Hoch. Advertising in the weeks before the first tryout featured the play's title in extra large font, but by the day of the first tryout had been superseded by ads with "The Zangwill Play" in large font followed by the title within paranthese and in much smaller font. The ostensible reason for the switch

18648-417: The sacred language. While some rabbinical authorities did support the development of Hebrew as a common vernacular, they did so on the basis of nationalistic ideas, rather than on the basis of Jewish tradition. Eliezer Ben Yehuda , a key figure in the revival, envisioned Hebrew as serving a "national spirit" and cultural renaissance in the Land of Israel. The primary motivator for establishing modern Hebrew as

18796-478: The slogan " A land without a people for a people without a land " describing Zionist aspirations in the Biblical land of Israel. He did not invent the phrase; he acknowledged borrowing it from Lord Shaftesbury . In 1853, during the preparation for the Crimean War , Shaftesbury wrote to Foreign Secretary Aberdeen that Greater Syria was "a country without a nation" in need of "a nation without a country.... Is there such

18944-679: The support of the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, attempted to create a Jewish province in the Galilee, but he died in 1579 and his plans weren't completed. However, the community in Safed continued as did small-scale aliyah into the 17th century. In the 17th century Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676) announced himself as the Messiah and gained many Jews to his side, forming a base in Salonika. He first tried to establish

19092-421: The symphony is performed to accolades, and David and Vera agree to wed and kiss as the curtain falls. " Melting Pot celebrated America's capacity to absorb and grow from the contributions of its immigrants." Zangwill was writing as "a Jew who no longer wanted to be a Jew. His real hope was for a world in which the entire lexicon of racial and religious difference is thrown away." However, the play also addresses

19240-587: The term "Hebrew" to describe their identity which they associated with the healthy and modern sabra. In Zionist thought, the new Jew would be productive and work the land, in contrast to the diaspora Jew who, mirroring the anti-semitic portrayals, was depicted as lazy and parasitic on society. Zionism linked the term "Jewish" with these negative characteristics prevalent in European anti-Semitic stereotypes, which Zionists believed could be remedied only through sovereignty. Israeli-Irish scholar Ronit Lentin has argued that

19388-421: The time of the 1936 Arab Revolt , the political differences between the various Zionist groups had shrunk further, with almost all Zionist groups seeking a Jewish state in Palestine. While not every Zionist group openly called for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, every group in the Zionist mainstream was wedded to the idea of establishing a Jewish demographic majority there. In order to achieve

19536-403: The two: a different place must be found either for the Jews or for their neighbours". In 1917, he wrote "'Give the country without a people,' magnanimously pleaded Lord Shaftesbury, 'to the people without a country.' Alas, it was a misleading mistake. The country holds 600,000 Arabs." In 1921, Zangwill suggested Lord Shaftesbury "was literally inexact in describing Palestine as a country without

19684-460: The weak drama springing from a joke, and the use of anti-climax as weaknesses. Children of the Ghetto was translated into Yiddish by Leon Kobrin and presented at the People's Theatre in the Bowery starting December 23, 1904. It starred Sigmund Feinman as Reb Schmeul, with Boris Thomashefsky as David Brandon, and Bessie Thomashefsky as Hannah Jacobs. During November 1914, it was reported that

19832-421: The weak drama was compensated for by depictions of Jewish life and customs. They also praised the acting of Wilton Lackaye , Frank Worthing , Blanche Bates , Richard Carle , and Mabel Taliaferro , but thought William Norris' Pinchas exaggerated. The Philadelphia Times reviewer concurred in the latter judgement, but also felt Carle's interpretation of Schmendrick too clownish. Both Philadelphia critics said

19980-509: The world, including the attempt to rescue Edgardo Mortara , established a colony for Jews in Palestine. In 1854, his friend Judah Touro bequeathed money to fund Jewish residential settlement in Palestine. Montefiore was appointed executor of his will, and used the funds for a variety of projects, including building in 1860 the first Jewish residential settlement and almshouse outside of the old walled city of Jerusalem—today known as Hebrew : Mishkenot Sha'ananim . Laurence Oliphant failed in

20128-555: The year considered as the start of practical Zionism. Moral but not practical efforts were made in Prague to organize a Jewish emigration, by Abraham Benisch and Moritz Steinschneider in 1835. In the United States, Mordecai Noah attempted to establish a Jewish refuge opposite Buffalo, New York , on Grand Isle, 1825. These early Jewish nation building efforts of Cresson, Benisch, Steinschneider and Noah failed. Sir Moses Montefiore , famous for his intervention in favor of Jews around

20276-498: Was a notion that garnered support across the entire spectrum of Zionist groups, including its farthest left factions, from early on in the movement's development. "Transfer" was not only seen as desirable but also as an ideal solution by the Zionist leadership. The notion of forcible transfer was so appealing to the movement's leaders that it was considered the most attractive provision in the Peel Commission . Indeed, this sentiment

20424-535: Was a rare dramatization that achieved both popular and artistic success. The play had its final tryout in Philadelphia, at the Walnut Street Theatre starting on October 2, 1899. Zangwill, when visiting the city for the tryout, denied a rumor that changes had been made in the play since Washington, D.C. The reviewer for The Philadelphia Inquirer noted "it was less dramatic than it is pictorial" but felt

20572-460: Was also dependent on the thinkers of the Haskalah or Jewish enlightenment, such as Peretz Smolenskin in 1872, although it often depicted it as its opponent. The idea of returning to Palestine was rejected by the conferences of rabbis held in that epoch. Individual efforts supported the emigration of groups of Jews to Palestine, pre-Zionist Aliyah , even before the First Zionist Congress in 1897,

20720-538: Was an ardent opponent of anti-Semitism and used his writings to expose and challenge the prejudices and injustices faced by Jews. Zangwill married Edith Ayrton in 1903. She was a feminist and author, and the daughter of cousins William Edward Ayrton and Matilda Chaplin Ayrton . Ayrton's stepmother was Hertha Ayrton , who, like Zangwill, was Jewish. The Zangwill family lived for many years in East Preston, West Sussex in

20868-464: Was deeply ingrained to the extent that Ben Gurion's acceptance of partition was contingent upon the removal of the Palestinian population. He would go as far as to say that transfer was such an ideal solution that it "must happen some day". From the perspective of the early Zionist thinkers, Jews living amongst non-Jews are abnormal and suffer from impediments which can only be addressed by rejecting

21016-585: Was echoing the sentiments of Alexander Keith, D.D. In 1901, in the New Liberal Review , Zangwill wrote that "Palestine is a country without a people; the Jews are a people without a country". Theodor Herzl got along well with Israel Zangwill and Max Nordau. They were both writers or 'men of letters'. In November 1901 Zangwill was still misreading the situation: "Palestine has but a small population of Arabs and fellahin and wandering, lawless, blackmailing Bedouin tribes." To conclude his opening address to

21164-486: Was eight years old, his parents moved to Spitalfields, East London and he was enrolled in the Jews' Free School there, a school for Jewish immigrant children. The school offered a strict course of both secular and religious studies while supplying clothing, food, and health care for the scholars; presently one of its four houses is named Zangwill in his honour. At this school he excelled and even taught part-time, eventually becoming

21312-467: Was no such thing as Palestinians " was a cornerstone of Zionist policy initiated by Ben-Gurion, Weizmann and continued by their successors. Flapan further writes that the non-recognition of Palestinians remains a basic tenet of Israeli policy. This perspective was also shared by those on the far-left of the Zionist movement, including Martin Buber and other members of Brit Shalom. British officials supporting

21460-497: Was one of the first locked room mystery novels. It has been almost continuously in print since 1891 and has been used as the basis for three movies. Another much produced play was The Lens Grinder , based on the life of Spinoza . Zangwill endorsed feminism and pacifism, but his greatest effect may have been as a writer who popularised the idea of the combination of ethnicities into a single, American nation. The hero of his widely produced play The Melting Pot proclaims: "America

21608-517: Was primarily composed of Russian Jews. Initially, Zionists were a minority, both in Russia and worldwide. Russian Zionism quickly became a major force within the movement, making up about half the delegates at Zionist Congresses. Children of the Ghetto (1899 play) It was first produced by Liebler & Company on Broadway, staged by James Herne , and starred Wilton Lackaye , Blanche Bates , and Frank Worthing . Though successful in tryouts,

21756-505: Was produced in the Bowery during December 1904. It was also adapted for the screenplay of a 1915 motion picture of the same name . While it did not return its backers investment, scholar Edna Nahshon wrote that Children of the Ghetto "should not be judged by the conventional standards of theatrical success or failure". Its legacy was as the "first Jewish play presented on the Anglo-American English language stage". Only

21904-514: Was the September debut of a play called The Ghetto by Herman Heijermans , but which a critic in New York would ascribe to the author's vanity. Children of the Ghetto had its first tryout on September 18, 1899, at the National Theater in Washington, D.C. The reviewer for The Evening Times called it the "most important production of the Washington season", but said a "success Children of

#462537