Digest of Public Opinion on Jewish Matters

[The purpose of the Digest is informative Preference is given to papers not generally accessible to our readers. Quotation does not indicate approval-Editor.]

Dr. Weizmann has realized in fact the plans of Theodor Herzl-Louis Marshall has revived the noble tradition of Moses Montefiore. This view is expressed in “Dos Yiddishe Folk”, official organ of the Zionist Organization of America, by Dr. S. Bernstein, editor of the paper. Stating the attitude of the American Zionists toward the Marshall-Weizmann agreement on the Jewish Agency, Dr. Bernstein, in the Jan. 21 issue, writes:

“In the light of the great event which has been realized by the Weizmann-Marshall agreement, we must pause to consider the significance of the occurrence. Like every luminous thing so, too, this document has some dark spots surrounding it. The correspondence between Dr. Weizmann and Louis Marshall which preceded the announcement of the agreement will, and justly so, evoke a feeling of criticism among some Zionists. They will with justice feel that this or that phrase in Dr.Weizmann’s letter could have been given a happier turn, but the Zionists must reckon here with their political schooling and with the unassailable dignity of their ‘weltanschaung’ in life and in struggle. The trifles must vanish in the light of the great and farseeing moment. Phrases are insignificant and indifferent-the chief thing is the idea, the glorious distant horizon, the road to the great national achievement.”

The paper then pays tribute to Dr. Weizmann’s statesmanship, adding:

“Perhaps, too, it was a stroke of historic fate that it fell to Dr. Weizmann’s lot to meet in his path such a wonderful Jew and unusual personality as Louis Marshall. With the conclusion of their agreement they have both become the bearers and realizers of definite historical traditions in our history. If Weizmann has been successful in converting into a living fact the political-financial palns of Dr. Herzi, Louis Marshall has revived again and renewed the tradition of Moses Montefiore. In such a spirit will the Jewish world accept the news. It is the spirit that performs wonders in the life of nations and people. It is the spirit that builds the future.”

The “New Palestine,” the official English organ of the American Zionists, writes as follows (Jan. 21 issue):

“The period of anxious waiting is over. Confidence in the plan, shaken for a time, has been restored, and Zionists the world over will rejoice that the delays and misunderstandings are now happily over, and that an era of constructive work involving the strength of all Israel has set in. The policy which the American Zionist administration has pursued for the past four years-not always along a straight line, not always with absolute faith in its success-has been justified by this event, and it remains intact.

“The extended Jewish Agency is more than an undertaking jointly to build the Jewish National Home. It has in it a far greater purpose. It is intended to become the bridge for bringing together those who have stood aloof from the responsibility for building the Jewish National Home, and those who have carried the burden of its service for a decade.

“We offer our congratulations, upon this achievement, not only to Dr. Weizmann, the President of the World Zionist Organization, but also to the Zionist Executive as a whole.

“It would be ungracious not to speak here of the fine service rendered to the cause of establishing understanding in the matter of the Jewish Agency by Mr. Marshall, Mr. Warburg, Judge Lehman and Col. Lehman who, in the face of a serious situation, by their tact and appreciation of the difficulties of Dr. Weizmann’s position, made it possible for harmony to emerge and the Jewish Agency to be advanced a step further. The part the American Zionist Organization has played in the realization of the policy of the Jewish Agency has not been clearly understood or appreciated. From the very inception of the idea, the American Zionist administration has stood strongly and without hesitation behind the efforts of Dr. Weizmann. If at times it faltered in its confidence in the plan, it was not because it had any doubts as to the value of the principle involved in it. During the past few months, the American Zionist administration has worked hand in hand with Dr. Weizmann in order that this effort should not fail. The Zionist of America are also entitled to congratulations for having been instrumental in bringing about this rapprochement in American Jewish life, from which so much of value to the Zionist movement is anticipated.”