St. Louis Rabbi, Back, is Full of Hope for the Palestine of Future

The resolute assertion that Palestine has “tremendous possibilities” was made by Rabbi Julius Gordon, reform rabbi of Shaare Emeth Temple, in an interview here on his return from a visit to Palestine.

Deriding the practice of speculation in Tel Aviv and voicing the prediction that Palestine will suffer until this ceases, Rabbi Gordon said that leaders in Palestine have been at a loss as to how the situation can be remedied.

He spoke of the emotion historic spots in the Holy Land stirred in him, and observed, “Jerusalem in the South gave me a picture of the past, Tel Aviv spoke to me of the present, Haifa and Galilee in the North unveiled to me the future.”

Rabbi Gordon called the Histadruth “the backbone” of Palestine. He said, quoting Mayor Dizengoff, of Tel Aviv, that skilled workers coming over from Germany find no difficulty in finding gainful employment. The need for additional facilities in the Hadassah Hospitals, which are overcrowded, said Rabbi Gordon, indicates the splendid work being done by the organization.

He roundly scored the views of militaristic Revisionists in Palestine. The politics of the nation “are a part of the people’s lives,” he declared. There exists an amicable feeling between Jew and Arab, he said, something which is an outgrowth of the well-intentioned British government.

“Palestine is not yet the land flowing with milk and honey,” he continued, “but it is the land flowing with hopes and dreams.”

The Rabbi spoke of the extreme interest with which he observed one of the famous Oneg Sabbaths held in a “hall of learning”, where he met Chaim Nachman Bialik, Hebrew poet laureate. The universal celebration of the Sabbath Day by Jews in Palestine also aroused his admiration.