Bidspirit auction | The Herzl–Sokolow controversy regarding the

The Herzl–Sokolow controversy regarding the vision of the Jewish State, which appeared in the issues of HaTzfira following the publication of Herzl’s book The Jewish State - “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,