אליהו משה אפשטיין / כתב ירושלמי

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.

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.

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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

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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.

Jerusalem correspondent, 1919-1958 Hardcover – 1964 by Elias M Epstein (Author)

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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.

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Jerusalem Correspondent 1919 - 1958  Introduction By Moshe Medzini

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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.