פוסט זה (המורכב משמונה קטעים נפרדים) מוקדש לעיתונאי ואיש הקרן קיימת לישראל, אליהו משה אפשטיין 1895 - 1958, שהיה סבי, אבי אבי ונפטר לפני הולדתי. אליהו משה אפשטיין - נולד בליברפול (אנגליה) בשנת תרנ"ה (5.7.1895) לאביו אליהו (אותו לא הכיר מאחר ונולד לאחר פטירת אביו), ולאמו מינה בת משה פולברמכר (משפחה נאמנה למסורת). בצעירותו למד במכון היהודי בליברפול וכבר כנער ייסד את אגודת הנוער הציוני הראשונה באנגליה מאחר והיה ציוני נלהב במקביל לעבודתו בענף הדפוס לצורך השלמת הכנסתה של משפחתו.
אפשטיין היה ציר לועידת ההסתדרות הציונית באנגליה. עלה ארצה על פי בקשת ההסתדרות הציונית בלונדון באפריל 1919. בשנת 1929 נשא לאשה את שרה בת הרב ישראל יעקב יפה (אב"ד מנצ'סטר). עבד בלשכת העתונות של ועד הצירים בארץישראל. היה עורכו הראשון של "פלשטיין וויקלי". אפשטיין היה עיתונאי פעיל ומאמריו הופיעו לעיתים קרובות בעיתונים ובכתבי עת בחו"ל. שנים רבות כתב את הטור "רפלקשונס" ב"פלשתיין פוסט".
עיסוקו העיקרי למעלה מ-30 שנה היה בישורת בקרן הקיימת לישראל בירושלים ובו ניהל שם את המחלקה ליחסי חוץ ולארצות דוברי אנגלית. כהכרה לשרותו המסור התמנה אפשטיין אחרי גמר כהונתו כחבר הדירקטוריון של קק"ל. אליהו משה אפשטיין התגורר עם משפחתו (אשתו שרה לבית יפה, ושלושת ילדיהם בתיה, יוסף וישראלה) בבית רחב ידיים ברחוב אלפסי בשכונת רחביה בירושלים, בית שהיה פתוח לכל ואירח חברים וידיים רבים ביניהם רבים ממנהיגי היישוב והמדינה.
אחרי עזבו את שרותו בקק"ל קיבל אפשטיין את הזמנת ועד ההנהלה של בית ציוני אמריקה לנהל את פעולותיו של המרכז התרבותי הזה. קרוב לארבע שנים ניהל אפשטיין את המרכז התרבותי הזה, והתמסר כולו להרחבת שטחי פעולותיו התרבותיות. בהיותו מנהלו של בית ציוני אמריקה בתל אביב התגורר בדירה ברח' יוסף אליהו 11 בתל אביב בם גם נפטר בגיל 63 אחרי מחלה ממושכת ונקבר בירושלים עירו.


Jerusalem Correspondent 1919 - 1958
===================================
The case for the Jewish National Fund : a challenge to Zionists by Epstein, Elias M.
![]() |
Elias M. Epstein
Jerusalem Correspondent 1919 - 1958
|
אפשטיין היה ציר לועידת ההסתדרות הציונית באנגליה. עלה ארצה על פי בקשת ההסתדרות הציונית בלונדון באפריל 1919. בשנת 1929 נשא לאשה את שרה בת הרב ישראל יעקב יפה (אב"ד מנצ'סטר). עבד בלשכת העתונות של ועד הצירים בארץישראל. היה עורכו הראשון של "פלשטיין וויקלי". אפשטיין היה עיתונאי פעיל ומאמריו הופיעו לעיתים קרובות בעיתונים ובכתבי עת בחו"ל. שנים רבות כתב את הטור "רפלקשונס" ב"פלשתיין פוסט".
עיסוקו העיקרי למעלה מ-30 שנה היה בישורת בקרן הקיימת לישראל בירושלים ובו ניהל שם את המחלקה ליחסי חוץ ולארצות דוברי אנגלית. כהכרה לשרותו המסור התמנה אפשטיין אחרי גמר כהונתו כחבר הדירקטוריון של קק"ל. אליהו משה אפשטיין התגורר עם משפחתו (אשתו שרה לבית יפה, ושלושת ילדיהם בתיה, יוסף וישראלה) בבית רחב ידיים ברחוב אלפסי בשכונת רחביה בירושלים, בית שהיה פתוח לכל ואירח חברים וידיים רבים ביניהם רבים ממנהיגי היישוב והמדינה.
אחרי עזבו את שרותו בקק"ל קיבל אפשטיין את הזמנת ועד ההנהלה של בית ציוני אמריקה לנהל את פעולותיו של המרכז התרבותי הזה. קרוב לארבע שנים ניהל אפשטיין את המרכז התרבותי הזה, והתמסר כולו להרחבת שטחי פעולותיו התרבותיות. בהיותו מנהלו של בית ציוני אמריקה בתל אביב התגורר בדירה ברח' יוסף אליהו 11 בתל אביב בם גם נפטר בגיל 63 אחרי מחלה ממושכת ונקבר בירושלים עירו.
![]() |
בית ציוני אמריקה. אחד ממרכזי התרבות החשובים שפעלו בעיר במהלך שנות החמישים והשישים. צילום משנת 1958. |


===================================
אליהו משה אפשטיין בכלא עכו 1920
בשנת 1920 בחג הפסח, עם פרוץ מאורעות תר"פ, נעצרו זאב ז'בוטינסקי, פנחס רוטנברג ו-18 חברי הגנה על ידי משטרת המנדט הבריטי, לאחר שניסו להגן על הרובע היהודי בירושלים. ז'בוטינסקי נשפט ל-15 שנות עבודות פרך. בפועל, הוא זכה לתנאי כליאה משופרים בעקבות מעמדו ועונשו הומתק לשנה בלבד, עד שלבסוף שוחרר על ידי הנציב הבריטי הרברט סמואל. בין הנעצרים היה גם אליהו משה אפשטיין שנכלא בכלא עכו ע"י הבריטים ונשפט למאסר ארוך ולעבודות פרך בשל פעולתו המחתרתית וחשד בחברות 'בהגנה', אולם שוחרר מהכלא כמו מרבית חבריו לאחר כמה חודשים בלבד. במשך זמן מה שהה אפשטיין בתאו של זאב ז'בוטינסקי והשניים הפכו לידידים ונפגשו לאחר שחרורם מהכלא מספר פעמים. בכלא עכו השתתף אליהו משה אפשטיין ביחד עם זאב ז'בוטינסקי בתרגומם של סיפורים על שרלוק הולמס, שאף שניים או שלושה מהם הופיעו בדפוס בכתב העת "החיים" ושאר הסיפורים נותרו כנראה בידי אליהו משה אפשטיין, כך עולה ממכתבו של זאב ז'בוטינסקי אל חוה ותמר ז'בוטינסקי שהתגוררו בזמנו בברלין (23 באוקטובר 1923).
![]() |
זאב ז'בוטינסקי ואסירים נוספים בצילום מתוך כלא עכו בשנת 1920 ע"י הצלם הירושלמי יעקב בן דב |
אגרת מאת זאב ז'בוטינסקי אל אליהו משה אפשטיין
מספר האגרת : 3390, מחבר האגרת: ז'בוטינסקי זאב' שם הנמען : אפשטין אליהו משה.
תאריך האגרת: 16/06/1919, מקור האגרת: ארכיון ציוני מרכזי, ירושלים.
אל אליהו משה אפשטיין -מזכיר בוועד הצירים, ירושלים.
ירושלים - לוד, 16 ביוני 1919_אנגלית.
אדון יקר,
אני מודה לך ששלחת לי את המילון העברי אבל בין ניירותיי נמצא גם ספר דקדוק עברי קצר - כתב היד ועותקים אחדים מודפסים במכונת כתיבה. אהיה אסיר תודה לך אם תוכל למצוא את החומר הזה ולשלחו אלי, שכן הוא דרוש לי באופן דחוף. אני מודה לך מראש ועמך הסליחה על הטרדה.
שלך בנאמנות,
ז' ז'בוטינסקי.
![]() |
מכתב זאב ז'בוטינסקי - ירושלים, אל אליהו משה אפשטיין משנת 1920 |
מכתב זאב ז'בוטינסקי - ירושלים, אל אליהו משה אפשטיין
מספר האגרת : 6069 מתאריך 13/08/1920
אדון אפשטיין היקר,
גם אני הצטערתי מאוד על אשר לא ראיתיו אמש. תודה לו בכל לבי על הדברים הנחמדים שכתב לי. אינני שם לב לחלוקי דעות, כי אם רק לאופי ולאישיות, ומצד זה שמחתי להכרותנו, ואקוה להמשיכה בעבודתנו בעתיד. שלום לו ולבני ביתו.
בכבוד וידידות
ז. זבוטינסקי
===================================
Jerusalem Correspondent 1919 - 1958
לאחר מותו פעלו אשתו שרה וביתו ישראלה לעריכה ולהוצאתו של ספר ובו קובץ גדול של מאמריו החשובים במסגרת עיסוקו כעיתונאי בפלסטינה דאז, במדינה שבדרך ובמדינה הצעירה. הספר נקרא Jerusalem Correspondent 1919 - 1958 ונערך על ידי ידידו של אפשטיין משה מדזיני שאף כתב הקדמה ארוכה ומפורטת בתחילתו של הספר. המהדורה הראשונה הודפסה בשנת 1964 ומהדורה חדשה הודפסה בשנת 2015.
===================================
Elias M. Epstein, Director of Z. O. A. House in Israel, Dies in Tel Aviv
===================================
Jerusalem Correspondent 1919 - 1958 Introduction By Moshe Medzini
![]() |
Jerusalem correspondent, 1919-1958 Hardcover – 1964 by Elias M Epstein (Author) |
===================================
Elias M. Epstein, Director of Z. O. A. House in Israel, Dies in Tel Aviv
November 25, 1958 TEL AVIV
Elias M. Epstein, director of ZOA House here and for many years a member of the Jewish National Fund board of directors, died here today at the age of 63. Funeral services will be held in Jerusalem tomorrow. A native of England, Mr. Epstein settled in Palestine in 1919. He was a journalist, contributing to many newspapers and publications in Israel and abroad and was active in the General Zionist Organization.
===================================
Jerusalem Correspondent 1919 - 1958 Introduction By Moshe Medzini
===================================
The case for the Jewish National Fund : a challenge to Zionists by Epstein, Elias M.
Published 1928
Topics Israel. Immigration
On the fund that bought land in Palestine for Jewish settlers.
Publisher Jerusalem : [Printed] by the Azriel Press,
Year 1928
Language English
Book contributor dudeman 5685
Collection folkscanomy_politics; folkscanomy; additional_collections
![]() |
The case for the Jewish National Fund |
The case for the Jewish National Fund : a challenge to Zionists by Epstein, Elias M.
THE OBJECTS OF THE
JEWISH NATIONAL FUND
(Defined by World Zionist
Conference, London 1920)
To acquire the land in Palestine with
the voluntary contributions of the Jewish
people, such land to be the common
propert}^ of the Jewish people.
To lease the land exclusive^ on hered-
itary leasehold for cultivation or build-
ing thereon.
To facilitate the settlement of working farmers.
To ensure the cultivation of the land by Jews.
To ensure the right use of the soil.
To combat speculation in land values.
Keren K&yetneth is the Hebrew rendering of Jewish National Fund.
THE CASE FOR THE JEWISH NATIONAL FUND
A CHALLENGE TO ZIONISTS.
DURING the present transition, or "consolidation" stage in
Zionist work many accepted ideas have become subject to
revision. That is an excellent thing, for progress is irreconcilable
with stagnation in the realm of thought as it is with immobility
in the physical world. It is all to the good that a "German" and
an "American" School have arisen challenging methods and even
principles which for long have secured the cachet of officialdom
and custom.
But one warning must be heeded. In examining anew the A
foundations of the Zionist structure let us not poke, too far lest Wttftlltlg
in our haste to re-fashion, we undermine what is stable and per-
manent. Zionist work is still young — what is a quarter-century
or so in a people's life? —and it may be too soon to remodel
everything from the ground upwards. We must be selective in our
criticism, cautious in our alterations, and slow to destroy.
It is only recently that in a frontal attack upon the whole
policy of the Zionist Organisation there was first placed in ques-
tion its fundamental principle that the land we acquire in Palestine
shall be the property, not of private individuals, but of the whole
people. The argument adduced was that as only private enterprise
could build up the country and private enterprise meant private
property in land, the J.N.F. was an obstacle in the upbuilding.
The doubt about the wisdom of national land for the
National Home spreads the more easily because Zionists, who
should be the guardians of this principle, have mostly neglected
to acquaint themselves with the deep-lying motives as well as the
incomparable advantages of that principle. The Keren Kayemeth
has had the curious experience of being so popular sentimentally
that its friends have not troubled about its intellectual support,
the fate of a child whose physical beauty obscures its mental
attributes. Xow that critics of alleged deficiencies of the Keren
Kayemeth on its practical side have arisen, the ideal of Gealath
Haaretz, strong enough for many, is not sufficient reply to all.
Oil the The challenge to Zionists is not, therefore, so much to defend
Import- the integrity of the Keren Kayemeth: we may safely assume that
ance Of the hundreds of thousands of Jews who love the land, who are
the Land inspired by the Torah injunction to redeem the soil, and whose
Question devotion to the Keren Kayemeth has brought it in pennies and
Pfennige over 2 million pounds— these men and women will not
easily endure any change in the constitution of the Keren Kayemeth
which would render its 213,000 dunams of people's land so many
parcels of private property.
The challenge to Zionists is to learn why, in addition to the
purely national aspect, the Keren Kayemeth is essential, socially
and economically, to the sound structure of the National Home,
In the first place it must be remembered that one of the
chief considerations attached to the Keren Kayemeth is that it
provides settlers who have no means of their own with the land
on which to establish themselves. There is happily now a certain
movement among moneyed immigrants towards agriculture which
the J.N.F. welcomes and will assist. But our entire rural develop-
ment cannot depend on the "middle-class'* farmer. Room must
also be kept for the young man and woman willing to reclaim
barren lands by their own labour and who are entitled eventually,
after many years of "toil, to settle in their own homes on the soil.
But whether workingmen or Baale-batim (middle-class)
settlements are required— Moshavim or Moshavot— the land question
affects both equally significantly.
Usually when a new country is to be settled a competent
authority is in charge of the distribution of the land. Either the
Government itself allocates it— free, or on easy terms— or a
concession is given to a corporation under certain control. It
is recognised by holders of all shades of political thought that
land is too valuable a thing, not only monetarily, to be subject
to the pranks and fluctuations of private speculation. In old fully
developed countries reformers of all kinds struggle to remove or
mitigate the land monopoly which strikes at the root of every
economic and social problem. Many who are not followers of
Henry George realise that land is the key to prosperity and to
treat it as a commodity made by man is a false conception. The
pressure of progressive opinion in these countries reveals itself
in measures designed to break up large estates held out of use
and so to "free the soil for the people."
In newer countries like Australia and New Zealand laws
have been passed in time to ensure a better distribution among
all the inhabitants of the rent from the land. If elsewhere the
land is vital to the nation, in Palestine, an old land which for
us is new, it is trebly so. The argument that unless we possess
the land we shall possess nothing, need only be stated to be
understood., But when that. is granted what is meant by "we"?
— 4 —
A site on the main road of Jerusalem has just passed from Jewish
into other hands. Near Petah Tikva a similar case lately
occurred. The "crisis" is to blame. But such financial depres-
sions are inevitable and no nationalistic propaganda will avail
against the temptation or necessity to sell to the highest bidder.
So that lnnd which was "ours" yesterday, is no longer so to-day!
This is but one contingency against which the Keren Kayemeth
was designed to protect us.
Lately the Zionist world was agitated by a clash in a Jewish
village between farmers and workmen, because the former were,
if indirectly, employing non-Jewish labourers. Ignoring the
merits of that dispute in themselves, it is clear that on Keren
Kayemeth land such friction could never take place. That contin-
gency, that Jews, even pioneers who sacrificed everything for
Erez Israel, should be tempted or obliged to work their soil with
non-Jewish hands, was provided for by the Keren Kayemeth. It
can be confidently asserted that if the Keren Kayemeth had
not given the Jewish labourer the possibility of establishing that
Jews could work the soil, if it were not for Gan Shmuel and
Nahalal, for Dagania and Kfar Gideon, then Jewish labour would
not have penetrated or persisted even in those private colonies where it is
to-day the rule or tendency. And how important that may be politi-
cally is only now being sensed. Palestine is under a mandate to
be given self-governing institutions. Local government will first
be tackled and the day is hardly far distant when the local
suffrage will be given to the villages as it has already been
given to the towns. In some Jewish villages the Jews may find
themselves outnumbered by the Arab workers (it is a commonplace
that like Gresham's law that bad money drives out good money,
cheap labour drives out dearer cultured labour). It is not chauv-
inism to decry this possibility. Either Zionism enables a Jewish
body politic, whatever its size, to be created in Palestine, or it fails.
The most enthusiastic pro-Arab Zionist will not ask that in Jewish
settlements the Jews should be a minority. It was G.K. Chesterton,
no lover of our people, who in Palestine sneered that the Jew buys
the land but the Arab ploughs it. Even our detractors require
us to show what we, as Jews, can fashion. And only the Keren
Kayemeth has safeguarded the 100% Jewish village.
TT is sometimes urged when contrasting the advantages of private
-against national land, that colonies which have flourished
(meaning the plantations) owe their prosperity to the impetus de-
rived from their personal ownership of the land. It is forgotten
however, that in many of these colonies the land is not yet private
property at all. It was purchased by the P. I. C. A * which still
owns much of it. The P.I.C.A., like the Keren Kayemeth, after
* Palestine Jewish Colonisation Association (Baron E. de Rothschild's Foundation),
— 5 —
How Jewish Labour has been Safe- guarded
Private Owner- ship not an Incentive
National Owner- ship not Socialism
acquiring the land in large tracts, improved it and then allotted
it to settlers. The difference is that whereas the Keren Kayemeth
retains title to its land granting a perpetually renewable lease, the
PICA si-ns a deed of sale. The repayments are small and
spread over a term of years. But in spite of its easy terms how
many PLC A. farmers have still to pay back the cost ot the land,
How many of these individuals who are supposed to have been
inspired to success by the magic of private ownership have not
yet troubled or been able to possess that magical Kpshan (tit.e-
deed) ? The P I C.A., like the Keren Kayemeth, a public spmted
and not a commercial institution, owns 400,000 dunams. Together
with the National Fund's over 200,000 dunams their joint posses-
sions are 60% of all Jewish owned land in Palestine. And of the
remaining 40O/., far from all is the property of private individuals.
Large areas still belong to companies like the American Zion
Commonwealth, which though formed to sell their land, have not
yet disposed to individuals of more than a minor portion.
The Jew who is anxious to be a farmer indeed welcomes
the co-operation of national institutions, either by their provision
of free land, or credit, or by their paving the way, hard as it
is, towards a free and economically sufficient life on the soil.
THERE is a mistaken idea that on our national land the form
1 of settlement must necessarily be Socialistic or even Commun-
istic The error is due to national land ownership being often
advocated as a first step to State Socialism, and also to the com-
mon management of their farms by Workmen's Groups who
occupy J.N.F. land. There is much to be said for the highest
form of co-operation in agricultural settlements. But it has to be
remembered that Jews are inclined to be individualistic and the
Keren Kayemeth is not concerned 10 lay down one identical form
of life which the settlers on its land should follow. Common
control of the land or of its value does not imply Socialism It
does not compel but stimulates and facilitates group life and close
co-operation. It is intended to safeguard certain fundamental pub-
lic interests. Its object is indeed to reconcile private with public
welfare. The group life that has developed at Dagama is not the
product of any eoercion-it could only grow ^"^^gj
and in the same way the choice of the Nahalal inhabitants (who
formerly lived in Kvutzot) for Individual Small -holdings was a
free one In both cases the national ownership of the soil has
eased the building up of the respective structures while it has
given rise to quite different forms. Again both Nahalal and Da-
Lia are characterised in varying degree by liberal tendencies. But
There are settlements on National land which follow scrupulously
the most orthodox practices. Such is Hittim, for example, a Miz-
— 6 — -
rachi village, or Kfar Gideon comprising pious Jews from Tran- All Types
syh<auia, or Mkor Haim, a suburban quarter near Jerusalem, or q^ JNf 7
Nahlat Jacob, a Chassidic village near Haifa. Already life on the Land
land of the Jewish National Fund runs the whole gamut of Jewish
religious and social types. The middle-class Baale-bait is at Mer-
havia Moshav and Kfar Gideon; the young Halutz at Ain Harod; the
mature Halutz at Nahalal ; the Girls Groups at Nahlath Yehuda ; the
artisan in Borohow Suburb; the professional man in Nordia;
the conservative Jerusalemite at Mkor Haim, and so forth. And
these varied examples, drawn from so many strata of Jews, are
found on a total of 53,000 acres. Proof enough of the broadness
of JNF policy and the abundant scope for the expression of
individualism which its leasehold tenure provides.
What then is the common denomination of all these settle-
ments ? In what respect does their being on National soil make
them uniform? In other words, how does the J. N. F. influence
them ?
HHHE land of the J.N.F. cannot be subject to speculation. It can- The Itl-
not be held out of use until the need for it, public or private, creasing
forces a buyer to pay the owner many more times the price he Value of
paid for it. There can be no "vacant lot industry" on J.N.F. ground. Land
Land inevitably rises in value wherever development proceeds.
You cannot prevent 3and values rising if population increases.
The enhanced value is the product of the improvements which
are effected on the land by the application of the labour and
capital of the population. Land being essential to life and there
being a limited quantity, the growth of the community increases
demand and reduces the available supply. The owner of the land
need do nothing to improve it but it will become in time more
valuable owing to the efforts of others — road and rail construction,
building of factories and then villages in its vicinity, etc. It is
clear, therefore, that the difference between what is paid for
undeveloped land and wdiat it is worth because it is surrounded
by a thriving population should accrue to that population to which
it is due. Actually it falls into the pocket of the private landlord.
In the case of J.N.F land, however, this increased value does
revert to the community because the rent which the tenant pays
to the J.N.F. for use of the land is a percentage of its value which
is periodically determined afresh.
These are economic advantages— the prevention of speculation
with the exploitation and ruin which it involves, the gain for the
whole people of the increased land value which their activities
produce. We may well consider, however, other aspects of the
national ownership of land.
On Self- Labour
Town Planning
Social Ties
Political Signi- ficance
There is this further feature, that the J.N.R only allots to
a family such an area which it can itself work independent of
employees. In private colonies the tendency, if not general practice,
is for owners to acquire tracts of larger size which necessarily
involves the hiring of labourers. In consequence the owner becomes
not a farmer but an overseer. His function ' becomes that of
employer rather than worker, business-man rather than cultivator.
Likewise his family becomes divorced from the soil and village
life; his children grow up with longings for the city. The economic
problem which the hiring of workers introduces brings with it
not only ordinary labour troubles but the Arab labour question
also. Thus it is only on Keren Kayemeth land that you have
guaranteed (though, influenced by the Keren Kayemeth policy, it
exists also elsewhere,) the existence of a class of Jewish working
farmers, with its beneficial sequel in the national and social senses.
The acquisition of large areas in advance of settlement by
a public body (the J.N.F. Directors are chosen by the General
Council of the Zionist Organisation at its Biennial Congress, the
supreme authority of the Jewish National Movement), enables wise
town and village planning to be laid down. Caprices, ignorance,
indifference, or utilitarian motives of individuals cannot override
the public interest in the sound planning of a J.N.F. village, or
urban or suburban quarter. Moreover, once the land is developed
the tendency towards congestion and slums is checked, for a
lessee must not subdivide his plot without approval.
These advantages do not embrace what may be termed the
moral implications of national land. The very fact that the land
upon which they live belongs to no one person but to all, is bound
to impress the psychology of the settlers and particularly of their
children born on that land. Elsewhere people are divided into
landlords and landless. In Erez Israel, to the extent that our
settlement proceeds on J.N.F. soil, the nation wi 1 l be bound by
the tie of a commonly owned land. That this bond will exercise
a healthy influence upon the young national Home can hardly
be doubted by those who read the lessons of history. The poor,
the Bible says, will never cease among us ; the varying natural
talents of the individual will create material differences also.
But possession of the land which God promised to Israel will
not become the means of creating a privileged "upper" class.
In a J.N.F. village or suburb the schoolchildren can mingle on
a free common basis — all live upon national land.
One need not dwell on the political significance attaching to
the redemption of tHe land of Palestine by the whole people. Not
because individual Jews are anxious or willing to immigrate and
to settle in. Palestine was the Balfour Declaration or the Mandate
secured. The will of Jewry to rebuild its National Centre there
is the basis of those documents. And this could hardly be
manifested more thoroughly and adequately than through the
function of the Jewish National Fund which Lord Plumer
described as "a practical expression of the desire of the Jewish
people to revive the lands of their forefathers." *
"pHH re-setting out of the case for the Jewish National Fund SotTlC
with which no Zionist of 20 years ago was unfamiliar, may Qb]€C-
cause more recent recruits to wonder why it should now be the tlOflS
subject of attack. The experience of our practical upbuilding
has certainly taught us some precious lessons, and informed and
instructive criticism is always welcome. Ignoring those who
probably object to the J.N.F. as part of their general anti-Zionist
Organisation program, and ignoring those who frankly wish
Erez Israel land to be the prey of real estate speculators (it has
been urged that speculation spells prosperity), the objections to
the J.N.F. system which remain are chiefly legal and commercial.
It is asserted that the leasehold title is not adequate security for
a mortage loan which is the common method of financing land
* Message of the High Commissioner of Palestine to Mr. ITssishkin
on the occasion of the celebration at Jerusalem of the 25th Anniversary of
the Fund. Author's italics. The Message continued: "The Government have
constantly before them in new settlements on the land, visible evidence of
the great work which the Fund has performed during the past twenty
five years.
" The Government fully appreciate the benefits which have accrued to
the country from the restoration to cultivation of land that was previously
waste, from the reclamation of malarious swamps, and the settlement of
Jews on the soil of Palestine."
Mr. J. N. Stubbs, the Director of the Government Lands Department,
stated on the same occasion : —
•• Will you allow me to give expression to my own appreciation of the
work, of the Fund as I have had the opportunity to see it. During the last
six years I have been in very close touch with that branch of this movement
which deals with land purchase, and through the courtesy of the officials of
the National Fund, I have had the opportunity of visiting most of the areas
which have been acquired during that time. I hope you will allow me to
pay tribute to the wisdom with which those areas have been selected and
to the energy and care which have been expended in developing them. In
dealing with the affairs of the Fund I hqve always been struck by one
article in particular of its Constitution. I refer to that article which prohibits
the sale of property once it has been acquired by the Fund. That provision
has appealed to me in two senses. First it reproduces a very fine sentiment
in the ideal of keeping for the Jewish people those estates which the Fund
is from time to time able to acquire. And secondly, it ensuies that the land
will be kept free from the grasp of the greedy speculator. It is no part of
my function to condemn the work of those who make a living out of land
speculation, but I cannot avoid the conclusion that Jewish land speculation
is a waste of Jewish energy and a waste of Jewish money. And that it adds
very much to the difficulties of that Fund whose activities we are celebrating
to-night. It only remains for me to give expression to the hope that success
may crown the efforts of your Fund and to express the hope that world
Jewry will recognise its obligation to attain that success."
— 9 -
And the Answers
An Appeal
development. It is true that in many countries such loans are
only known to be granted on freehold property which in the
case of foreclosure falls to the mortgagee. J.N.F. land, as it is
not owned by the occupier, cannot be mortgaged by him. But
there are cases in which the right of the lessee can and does
serve as security for loan and the unfamiliarity of the procedure
should not debar us from applying it in Palestine. Indeed some
experts declare that leasehold, apart from its other advantages
to the lessee, is a better security than freehold. *
It is also objected that the present state of the Palestine
law, or prospective changes, will make it very difficult if not
impossible to mortgage buildings apart from the ground
on which they stand, and as J.N.F. ground cannot be mortgaged
this will act as a brake upon the development of its estates.
One can only reply to this argument that if indeed the law is or
may be so framed, the interests of the Jewish National Home
are important enough to secure a modification or withholding of
provisions which prejudice them. The legal friends of the J.N.F.
must find the formulae to meet the wishes of the Government
without, however, destroying a cardinal principle of the Zionist
movement. That the Mandatory Power will favourably regard the
benefits of land reform which the J.N.F. system implies is surely
to be assumed.
Another objection has been raised in certain quarters to the
effect that the control which JNF ownership implies and requires
for the public welfare will tend to an intolerable bureaucracy.
That is a danger to be guarded against but it may be remarked
that modern Governments are increasing rather relaxing their sup-
ervision over economic and social operations in which the com-
munity may suffer at the hands of the individual. The restrictions
involved in Town Planning Acts are a case in point. At all events
the subjection of private to public gain may be expected from
those Jews who come to Palestine, since in the majority of cases
they are wholly or partly moved b} r idealistic motives.
The National Fund, which 26 years ago fired the imagina-
tion of the Zionist masses and has stood now for over a quarter
century as the s5 7 mbol and instrument of the return to the soil,
as well as to the land of our fathers, turns now to its adherents
and friends with the appeal to strengthen its hands, not merely
hy fund collecting, not only by propaganda for Erez Israel and
for Zionism, but by spreading a knowledge of the principles upon
which the Keren Kayemeth is based, by popularising its system
of land tenure, and by ^explaining what that system portends for
the future of the Jewish National Home.
* Julius Simon: Das Kreditproblem bei der Erbpacht Erez Israel,
No. 3, 1919; The Hague.
— IO —
Library - iversity of Tex»» Austin, Texas
LITERATURE OX THE JNF.
The Head Office of the Jewish National Fund has prepared Study
Material on various aspects of Palestine, Jewish colonisation, and the workings
of the J.N.F. Applications for this material and other literature will be
welcomed. Write to J.N.F., P.O.B. 283, Jerusalem.
STUDY MATERIAL.
"The Land Problem:" lecture by Dr. Eliezer Rieger. A popular address
on growth of land values, land ownership, the various schools of land reform
and the JNF in relation to all these.
"He is a Land Animal:" one page leaflet, by Wm. A. Black. Shows
man's vital need for land.
"Land is life:" one page leaflet.
"National Land:" Leaflet, explaining principles of land nationalisation
with particular reference to Palestine.
"Socialisation of the Soil:" Leaflet. Illustrates how National Fund land
-ed and the principles of tenure.
"Should the Land be Owned or Used:" Leaflet. Explains Hereditary
Leasehold system of the JNF.
"Back to the Land:" by Louis F. Post. The theory of "back to the
land" for all— not alone for the farmer, but through restoration of the land, .
forward to civilised and civilising lives for all.
"Our Share of the Land:" giving interesting statistics of Jewish and
non-Jewish cultivated land, land available, etc.
A Chapter from Dr. A. Granovsky's book "Land Taxation in
Palestine." The Palestine Government's land taxation system burdens Jewish
agriculture; the author gives suggestions for the improvement of the antiqua-
ted land fiscal legislation.
"The Six Qualities of Land:" Leaflet.
"How Rent Grows:" Leaflet. Shows the modern system of land ownership
and tenure and its evils.
"Scientific Agriculture." Surveys Jewish Agriculture in Palestine and the
Jew's requirements and adaptability therefor.
"Avodah Azmit:" Leaflet. Meaning and implications of "Self Labour" in
the agricultural life on National Fund land in Palestine.
il Yemenite Jews in Palestine;" The Yemenite Jews were brought over
to Palestine in 191 1 and have proved a valuable element in the upbuilding.
Describes the settlement and what the National Fund has done for them.
"In Magdiel:" describes the "middle-class" settlement of Magdiel.
"Seder Mataim:" Takes the reader through the whole process of plant-
ation of trees on JNF land.
"25 years of the Jewish National Fund:" Lantern lecture. A history of
the organisation and activities since its foundation to 5687 (1926-27), its Silver
Jubilee Year.
The above list is continually being augmented and at present there is
in preparation, in addition to new Lantern lectures, a Palestine Education
Course which will present in popular form the bases of the practical Zionist
upbuilding.
BOOKS. The Land Problem in Palestine by A. Granovsky
Land Taxation in Palestine by A. Granovsky
PAMPHLETS. Land. Tenure in Palestine: Oppenheimer and Ettinger.
The Land Factor in the Resettlement of Palestine.
By the Azriel Tress, Jerusalem.