Bidspirit auction | First Time Auctioned! The Polemic

First Time Auctioned! The Polemic of Establishing the State in Unganda: She'elot Le'umiyot - New York, 1905 - ”מתבוללים ! מדוע אתם מתנשאים לאמר : אנחנו נמלוך על היהודים?”   (p. 13)  [Assimilationists! Why do you presume to say: We shall reign over the Jews?] She'elot Le'umiyot by Louis A. Alexander. The Press of Avraham Chaim Rosenberg, New York, 1905.  The book was written close to Herzl's death in 1904 and the crisis of the Unganda Scheme, which provoked intense debate within the Zionist movement. Dr. Alexander discusses the question whether the Zionist Movement shoul focus only on ETetz Yisrael or find itself another ”night shelter”.  The Zionist controversy in 1905 was exceptionally stormy, as the city had become during those years the primary center of Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe and one of the most important political arenas in the Jewish world. An interesting detail: Dr. Louis A. Alexander was also known within the New York Jewish community as a physician, and he combined his professional practice with opinion writing on the future of the Jewish people. 18 pp. 22 cm. Ex-Libris of Rav Yehuda Leib Maimon.  Good condition. Aging stains. Stains on the margin of the title page. Small tears along the upper edges. The title cover is missing.  The Uganda Scheme: (1903-1905) was one of the greatest crises in the history of the Zionist Movement, which almost led to its ultimate split.  Background: Following the Kishinev Pogroms (1903), Theodor Herzl sought an immediate and practical solution. The British Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain, offered Herzl an area of approximately 13,000 square kilometers in British East Africa (in the region known as the Uasin Gishu plateau, currently in Kenya) for the purpose of establishing an autonomous Jewish colony. Acceptance of the proposal was perceived as a tremendous diplomatic achievement - for the first time, a world superpower (Great Britain) recognized the Zionist movement and the right of the Jewish people to a national home. The opponents, led by Menachem Ussishkin and Chaim Weizmann, viewed the plan as a betrayal of the Basel Program and of the exclusive historical connection to Eretz Yisrael. A grave concern arose that the temporary ”night shelter” would become a permanent solution and divert resources and energy away from the aspiration to return to Zion. Following the initial vote (which passed by a majority of 295 to 178), the opponents burst into tears, and some even sat 'Shiva' on the floor of the Congress hall. Ultimately, the Congress decided to dispatch an expedition team to investigate the region. The delegation returned with a negative report regarding the living conditions there, and at the Seventh Zionist Congress (1905) - a year after Herzl's death - the proposal was definitively rejected.  Surprising support for the Uganda Scheme came from Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reines and the Mizrachi Movement. It is considered one of the most surprising and significant events in the history of religious Zionism. Despite the deep religious connectuon to Eretz Yisrael, Rav REines was one of the leading supporters of the Uganda Schemes.