Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-30
Some Things You Want to Know
The Holy Land-A Modern Zion.

When Doctor Theodor Herzl published his
book, The Jewish State he inf.amed the
Jewish mind all over the world with a
spirit Of nationelism which It had not
known since the destruction Of Jerusalem.
The Zionist congress which met at Basic
in 1897 was the first international and
worldwide convocation Of Jews since the
dispersion. That nineteen centuries have
not prevailed against the peculiar separ-
alton Of this people, that living in small
numbers among many peoples and races
has not brought about assimilation, goes
to prove the existence OF a Jewish national
lty although II has no political status or
territorial possessions.
According to the definition Of DR.. Herzl.
zionism strives to create for the prosecuted
Jews a home in Palestine. Not all Jews
in America are agreed as to the wisdom Of
the zionistic program. The Jews have
never been united in thought, and at the
present time in America Zionism means
more as a partisan issue among the Jews
than 1t does as an actual movement toward
the restoration of the Promised Land to
the Chosen People. The Zionists, who are
mostly Of the orthodox branch of the Jew
ish faith, cling closely to the doctrines OF
Moses Hess and the -preschments of Herzl,
while denouncing what they call the as
similators." Zionism has become in fact,
in the United States, a movement against
assimilation with the Gentiles.
Three times a day the devout orthodox
Jew prayB to his God: Sound the great
trumpet for our freedom. lift up the ban
ner to collect our exiles. and gather us
speedily together from the four corners
Of the earth to our own land" To the vast
majority this prayer is but a part of the
ritual Of daily worship and means nothing
approaching an actual desire to return to
Palestine or to participate in the establish
ment of the Jewish state. In fact, the Jew
ish nation, as a political entity, exists only
In the imagination Of the Zionist leaders.
But already the movement has begun to
reclaim the Holy Land from It's barren
thriftlessness by the settlement Of Jewish
colonies in the country. Most Of these coll
onies have been set up since the beginning
of the Zion movement in 1897, while several
antedats the Congress of Basic. Wherever
one of these colonies exists there Is a green
and fertile oasis in the desert of Palestine.
Few American Jews have seen fit to de-
sert the opportunities of the western hemi-
sphere for a return to their Asiatl an
cestral home, Most of the colonies are
made up of Jews from Russia, RoumanIa
and other European countries in which the
Jews have been subjected to persecution.
There are now seventy modern Jewish
colonies in Palestine, most Of them en-
gagged in agricultural pursuits. The Zion
lists have established a college in Jerusa-
lem which devotes much attention 10 in
dustrial training and to agricultural SCI
ence. There Is also a modern Jewish hos
pital in Jerusalem, and a gymnasium and
school in Jaffa.- The blue and white flag
bearing the shield OF David, the flag of the
Jewish nation, is now displayed in many
parts Of Palestine. Grants have been OBJ
tained from the Turkish government giving
the Jews the right to purchase land and
guaranteeing them protection. The influ-
ence of the nations of western Europe sup
ports these colonies.
One OF the Oldest and most prosperous Of
these modern Jewish establishments is
the colony of Samarin, or Sichron Yaaeob.
This was the, first colony of Roumanian
to find refuge in Palestine, and was
IN, 1882. 1t is devoted princi-
pally to orange growing and wine making.
Last spring a company of American tour
lists, unable to land at Jaffa because of
the stormy weather, was carried on to
Haifa' 1t was necessary to take a two
wagon trip 9cross the country to
Jaffa In order to reach Jerusalem. Wagons
were provided at Haifa, but there was no
driver who could speak English, and not
one of the Americans knew anything but
The drivers spoke Arabic, Ger
man, French and Turkish, but that wal Of
no help to the Yankees. The hotel pro-
prietor at Haifa told the Americans that
they would stop at about 3 o'clock in the
afternoon at the Jewish colony Of Sam
arin, where they could obtain accommoda-
tons for the night. He explained to the
ignorant Americans that there would be
no one in the colony who could speak En-
glish, but expressed a hope that the sign
would suffice to procure salts
faction for the actual physical wants of
the travellers.
After ten hours driving over the fields,
for there were no roads, the wager
reached a stretch of we'll macadamized