Jewish National Fund Opens Balfour Volume of Golden Book for Inscriptions

Five thousand American Jews will have the opportunity of participating in paying a unique tribute to the memory of the late Lord Balfour, the author of the declaration pledging the British Government to use its best endeavors in facilitating the establishment of a Jewish National Home in Palestine.

The American office of the Jewish National Fund announced the opening of a special Balfour Volume of the Golden Book of the Jewish National Fund. The Golden Book, which is kept at the headquarters of the Fund at Jerusalem, records the names of the Jews and non-Jews who have rendered meritorious service to the cause of the upbuilding of Palestine. Since its inception 25 years ago, three volumes of the Golden Book have been filled with names of prominent Jews and non-Jews, the entries reading like an International “Who Is Who” and “Who Has Been” during the past twenty-five years. Side by side with the names of little known men and women, who have been honored for their devotion to the Zionist cause, there are the names of many celebrities, including the members of royal families and the names of internationally known statesmen.

The volume, dedicated to the memory of the late Earl of Balfour in recognition of his sponsoring of Zionism and the promulgation of the historical declaration, will be created in accordance with a decision of the Zionist General Council. There will be room in this volume for 5,000 inscriptions. The inscriptions will be entered in the names of persons who subscribe the amount of $100 towards the National Fund, which applies the money received for acquisition of land in Palestine as the perpetual property of the Jewish people. Jewish National Fund land, under the articles of incorporation, can never be sold. The land is cultivated by Jewish settlers under 90-year lease.

In opening the Balfour volume for American entries, Emanuel Neumann, president of the Jewish National Fund in America, urged Zionist groups, organizations, and individual contributors quickly to avail themselves of this opportunity to perpetuate not only the name of the author of the Balfour Declaration, but also their own names. The Zionists of England inaugurated several years ago a forest, which was planted on Jewish National Fund land in Palestine, and was called the Balfour Forest. When informed of this tribute, the late Lord Balfour expressed his gratification with the honor and stated, in a letter dated November 8, 1927, and addressed to Leopold Schen, chairman of the London Forest Committee, that he “earnestly hoped that it will mark another step in the economic advance of Palestine.”