Gabriel Davidson, General Manager of The Jewish Agricultural Society, speaking this afternoon before the International Association of Agricultural Missions told that body that “the gap between the Jewish farmer of biblical days and the Jewish farmer of today is not nearly as wide as is generally supposed.”
He drew attention to the fact that Jewish farmers are to be found in practically all parts of the globe and that the Jewish farm population throughout the world is estimated at 750,000. “True,” said Mr. Davidson, “the number and proportion are small, but that is not due to any inherent antagonism of the Jew toward the soil. For almost two thousand years repressive and oppressive laws made farming for the Jew virtually a proscribed occupation and weaned him from the soil. It was not until these restrictions were lifted that Jews could give vent to their age-long urge.”
The speaker pointed out that in this country Jews have been engaged in farming since the early Colonial days and that according to Dr. H. S. Linfield one hundred thousand Jews are today deriving their livelihood in whole or in part from America’s soil.
Mr. Davidson also told his hearers of the work of the Jewish Agricultural Society and of what the Society is doing to encourage and promote agriculture among the Jews of the United States.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
