“We believe with complete faith that only a spirit of imagination moves Dr. Herzl…” – Two issues of the newspaper HaTzfira – dated 13 MarCheshvan 5657 and 25 MarCheshvan 5657 (October 1896, issues no. 218 and 228) – in which the open controversy between Nahum Sokolow and Theodor Herzl appeared, regarding Herzl’s vision that had been published in The Jewish State shortly beforehand. In both issues: Sokolow’s furious attack on Herzl’s method and on his advocacy for the Land of Israel through open action with the governments of the nations (primarily Turkey), which in Sokolow’s opinion would only harm the settlement enterprise; Herzl’s response to Sokolow’s attacks (“If they continue to rebuke me and threaten me, I shall suppress my prophecy… I am ready to sacrifice my life for it”); and finally, Sokolow’s reply to Herzl’s words (“We must establish colonies wherever we can – and in the end, honor will come – but Heaven forbid that we begin building from the roof”). Rare.
Herzl and Sokolow viewed differently the proper course of action to be taken in the Zionist enterprise. Herzl maintained that political action should come first -obtaining an internationally recognized charter for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people, through negotiations with the world powers and securing legal-political legitimacy before beginning large-scale settlement. Sokolow, on the other hand, leaned more toward the practical–settlement approach: developing settlement, Hebrew education, and culture already on the ground, even without immediate political approval, believing that creating facts on the ground would help achieve political recognition later on, whereas political advocacy might endanger the entire Zionist enterprise by arousing open opposition. The dispute between the two found public expression in the two HaTzfira issues before us, which reveal just how deeply divided their views were—so much so that they engaged in personal attacks against one another and outright rejection of each other’s arguments.
In the first issue, in which Sokolow in fact opened the “confrontation, ” he attacked Herzl in harsh terms: “Such is the word of Dr. Herzl and the dream he has dreamed about the Kingdom of Israel!… ”. Sokolow claimed that Herzl’s plan for the return of the Jews to their land had caused Turkey (which at the time ruled over the Land of Israel) to harden its regulations concerning the release of land in the Land of Israel for the benefit of Jewish settlement, and that in response it had closed its gates to those coming on their way to the Land of Israel: “Why has the land of Turkey closed the gates of Palestine—a thing it had not accustomed itself to do for hundreds of years? Everyone knows that Turkey is anxious and fearful over its possessions…”. Sokolow argued that as long as Herzl had not raised his voice publicly before governments and rulers on behalf of settlement in the Land of Israel, Jewish settlement had indeed taken place quietly and without arousing any opposition. But the moment he began to establish companies—“one company to build, and one company to oversee the builders”—and began to rush from country to country for the cause, “and set his feet swift as the deer to run from Vienna to London and from London to Paris, ” he caused the nations to notice the uniting of Jews in all corners of the land—“the Jews acted with one hand and with one accord to establish these companies”- and they began to oppose such an organized effort. Sokolow continued with a personal attack on Herzl, claiming that his actions had in fact brought the Zionist enterprise to a halt: “The salvations and acts of kindness which we had hoped would come swiftly were suddenly stopped because of the burden of Dr. Herzl and his dreams. In his innocence, Dr. Herzl placed a sword in the hand of the hostile Turkish party against the Jewish colonies. We believe with complete faith that only a spirit of imagination moves Dr. Herzl… If a disaster threatens because of a dream-vision regarding a matter of action – regarding the colonies, the farmers, the men who eat the bread of their labor, and the people who also wish to come and find rest and work – then now it is a criminal offense if we do not raise the alarm about this stumbling block. Therefore, we will do our duty to awaken and to warn and to inform that all the burden of Dr. Herzl and his matter is nothing but a game. In London he achieved nothing, in Paris Baron Edmond de Rothschild refused to receive him… We advise Dr. Herzl to suppress his prophecy, and if he will not suppress it, then we shall not cease to do our duty and to make known that it is only the vision of his heart and not the vision of the people’s heart that this honorable dreamer proclaims. N. S. (Nahum Sokolow).”
In issue no. 228, Herzl decided to respond to the accusations hurled at him by Sokolow, through his secretary Michael Berkowitz, who conveyed his words to the newspaper’s editorial staff after Herzl himself was approached on the matter: “The words of your article, filled with pure love for our people, shook my heart greatly, and while still shaken and moved, I hurried to show it to Dr. Herzl. I read your article aloud to him and asked for his response… and Dr. Herzl put words in my mouth to write to you, in the hope that you would judge fairly and for the sake of truth would also present them before the readers of HaTzfira, so that they too may judge them. And these are the words I have written from his mouth, word for word…”.
Berkowitz begins by describing the revolution brought about among the Jewish people by the book The Jewish State since its publication: “From the day Dr. Herzl’s book appeared and his proposal for the establishment of the Jewish State became known among the public, the Jewish Question and its radical solution became a subject in which almost everyone engaged, and as though a great commotion broke out in the press. There is hardly a newspaper in any country that has not expressed its opinion on Herzl’s proposal and has not published sermons and debates about it, whether for or against. And while from all ends of the earth letters of thanks and blessing come to him daily…” . Berkowitz then conveyed Herzl’s words to the newspaper verbatim: “It pains me greatly to see that they fight me with such weapons, and therefore I turn to the conclusion of the article and say: if they continue to rebuke me and threaten me to suppress my prophecy, it may be that my heart will sink, and I will cease to serve the cause of my people, for which I am ready to sacrifice my life. However, I see from the words of the author of the article that he honors me greatly, and therefore I respond to his objections in a calm spirit: (a) It is false that Baron Rothschild in Paris refused to receive me. On the contrary—when I returned from London, I stayed for two days in Paris, and when the Baron heard of my arrival there, he sent for me, and we spoke at length about my proposal, in the presence of two great and respected men who were with me and who can testify to this.”
Regarding the claim that Turkey had hardened its stance toward the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel since he began his advocacy, Herzl argued that this was false and merely a rumor spread among the Jewish public. Upon hearing it, he said, he approached the Turkish envoy, Mehmed Nadi, who testified before him that since Herzl’s visit to Turkey, the Turkish government had even eased its attitude toward the inhabitants of the colonies in the Land of Israel—“I have not worsened the situation of the colonies, just as no decree has been issued because of me against the coming of Jews to the country.” Herzl added that it was precisely public advocacy for the settlement of the Land of Israel, openly and through diplomatic channels with the states, that would bring broader support, including from the Ottoman government, and that “the settlement movement should not remain in darkness and secrecy.” He explained why, in his view, only the “political” method could solve the Jewish problem. In this issue, Sokolow replied to Herzl’s words, asserting that all his actions were merely the fruit of his dreams, and that Herzl took into account only the success of his plan, without considering the severe consequences should it fail. The idea that the Turkish government would “sell” one of its provinces (the Land of Israel) to the Jewish people solely because of Herzl’s lofty qualities, he said, was folly. The correct path, in his view, was to continue establishing colonies in the Land of Israel quietly, without arousing undesirable opposition: “We must establish colonies wherever we can – and in the end, honor will come – but Heaven forbid that we begin building from the roof.”
Two complete issues. Tears and wear to the inner margins of the issues. Good condition.
