London Greets Sokolow After African Tour

Prof. Selig Brodetsky, speaking at a public meeting to welcome Dr. Nahum Sokolow, president of the Jewish Agency and the Zionist World Organization, back to London, expressed pleasure at the fact that “the Revisionist conference (in Krakow, Poland) was able to overcome its own extremists.”

“Unity in the Zionist Organization will not be achieved by breaking the Zionist Organization,” Dr. Brodetsky said. “Without this unity in the political sphere there is no real Zionism possible. Nahum Sokolow is the representative of the united effort. We acclaim him as the great leader for the safety of the Jewish people.”

The meeting, under the auspices of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland and the Keren Hayesod, was held to greet Dr. Sokolow on his return from the Keren Hayesod campaign in South Africa.

In the main address of the evening Dr. Sokolow referred to the Saar problem.

CHANGES EVERYWHERE

“We tremble for the Jews of the Saar,” he said. “Everywhere where German Jews wander there is ‘umstellung.’ The strongest ‘umstellung’ is in Eretz Israel. When I travelled by auto in Palestine, the chauffeurs were doctors. In Palestine there is the rebirth of Judaism, and in a rebirth one can accomplish anything.

“I hope that the time will come when with the consent of the government we will have Transjordan. Do you think the Jews will then be content? No, that would be an error.

“We have had great successes. We have acquired Huleh. I was in Constantinople in 1910, when the concession was given to the Arabs. Although they then acquired the concession, they put it into the safe. Then they became aware of the Balfour Declaration, and Arabs came to London and pestered me. But for twenty years the Arabs have not moved a hand. Now the time has come when we can bring chalutzim, young people, to Palestine.

HULEH DENOTES PROGRESS

“Huleh was a scandal for the former regime, and for the last twenty years. It is not good if people rejoice too much. But it is equally not good to criticize incessantly. By the acquisition of Huleh we have made colossal progress.”

Rabbi Professor Schorr declared that “it is a great honor for me to participate in this event, which is an honor for the best son of Polish Jewry, Dr. Sokolow.

“He is a sun which sends its rays to the most remote corners of the world where Jews live. I wish that Nahum Sokolow will shine on you, on English Jewry, as he shines on us, on Polish Jewry.”

ARCHITECT OF ISRAEL

Chief Rabbi Dr. J. H. Hertz, who presided, said: “This is a demonstration of our affection and respect for Dr. Sokolow. He is an extraordinary personality. He is a man of action, who has done things.

“When the Hitler tragedy started, we found there was only one land to accept refugees by the tens of thousands. That required two generations of efforts, devotion and sacrifice.

“Among the men who worked from the beginning, and who now is the leader of the men working for the full realization of a National Home is Nahum Sokolow. He is one of the principal architects of Eretz Israel. While he was in South Africa collecting money for the Keren Hayesod, his mind did not rest. He defended Judaism by giving testimony in the trial at Grahamstown, in which the ‘Protocols’ played a role, and he cleared the Jewish name.

“For sixty years he has been writing, speaking, teaching, agitating and editing journals, all for the Jewish cause and for the revival of the Hebrew language. Nahum Sokolow is a great asset to the Jewish people.”

SYMBOL OF UNITY

Professor Brodetsky said the office of the president of the Zionist Organization is the most important in Jewish life, since its incumbent is “the leader of the Jewish nation, the chosen one of the Jewish people.”

“We have the privilege,” said Dr. Brodetsky, “of working in the Executive under the leadership of a man who for half a century has done political thinking and writing, and is still doing it. He has shown power of achievement that many people half his age would envy him. He is the symbol of Jewish learning and Jewish tradition. He is the connecting link between the future of our nation and the ideals of the past, and the symbol of the unity of the Jewish people.

A UNITED ORGANIZATION

“The principle of unity is represented in Jewish life in the unity of the Zionist Organization, one body in Jewish life recognized by the Jews and by the nations of the world, as a body which carries the responsibility of bringing into existence the Jewish Home in Palestine.

“It is our duty to see that this body remains united. Any attempt from outside or from inside the Zionist ranks to drive a wedge into the Zionist Organization, regardless of whose it may be, cannot succeed and must not be allowed to succeed, by the conscience of our people.”

Barnett Janner, M. P., Rabbi M. L. Perlzweig, Rabbi J. K. Goldbloom and Paul Goodman also spoke.