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pated themselves. They were to be
found in London, in Paris, in Vien
na, in Berlin, in St. Petersburg.
They left the masses of Jews be
hind in their varied ghettos and
made the pretense that their eman
cipation would soon be shared by
all other Jews. But the full eman
cipation was not coming anywhere.
There were social and political and
economic discrimination and perse
cutions, cold and hot pogroms, and
general contempt for Jews. Here
was an emancipated Jew in the
person of Nordau — a defender of
modern civilization, a bitter critic
< f its derangements, who was part
of it — declaring that only through
lreedom in their own land as a peo
ple would they be restored to
equality among the nations.
By all standards Nordau was an
amazing orator. He spoke freely
from notes without manuscript.
There was nothing theatrical about
bis appearance. He was short and
stocky. He had a massive head and
a patriarchal beard, which hid his
features. But his Avoids were reso
nant and powerful. They cut
through sham and circumlocution.
Words came at his bidding. When
he spoke, his grey eyes flashing, his
arms upraised, every now and then
rising in a gust of passion, sharp
anger or sarcasm, it seemed as if he
were conscious that he was speak-
•ng to the whole world, that he was
warning them to understand that
he meant — to feel the depth of his
indignation and the heat of his
truth.
I heard him in London at Albert
Hall in July, 1920. Those who were
then there saw him at 72 still re
taining his intellectual vigor, ma
jestic in appearance; still capable
of deep insight into the realities of
the political situation. There was
drama in his appearance on that
platform, for he was the only relic
of the days that had produced Herz-
lian Zionism.
* • *
The First World War was a per
sonal tragedy for Nordau. He had
lived in Paris since 1879, but re
mained a national of Austro-Hun-
gary. He never acquired French
citizenship. The French Govern
ment regarded him as an enemy
alien, a journalist working for its
enemies, and confiscated all his
property. He was first imprisoned
and then allowed to go to Spain
where he spent the war years in
Madrid under great difficulties.
When the war was over permission
was gotton for him to go to Eng
land. He came to London in 1919
and found himself in an atmosphere
not to his liking. In his view the
Balfour Declaration was inadequate
for the creation of a Jewish State;
it should have been more explicit.
In addition, Nordau found himself
in a circle in which none of his old
friends, except Joseph Cowen,
played a part, and the leadership
was in the hands of men whom in
pre-war times he had regarded as
being merely “practical Zionists”
Generally speaking, Nordau always
resisted, consciously and subcon
sciously, the eager desire of the
“practicals” to proceed with the
colonization of Palestine regardless
of the political conditions He was
irked by an inadequate practicality.
He wanted action even on the Bal
four Declaration to be held up for
further elicidation. Nor was Nor-
dau’s advice sought on many im
portant problems under discussion.
He felt himself slighted. He had no
part in the planning for the future.
He could find no place for himself
at 77 Great Russell Street. The
movement ssemed to have passed
him by. Being a proud man, he
never raised the personal issues and
suffered in silence.
He was present in London when
the first international Zionist Con
ference was held in 1920. He par
ticipated in the proceedings and
spoke at the public meeting. He
advocated the settlement in Pal
estine, without delay, of 600,000
Jews taken out of the Ukraine,
Poland and Roumania. He was in
deadly earnest about it. He spoke
of it on a number of occasions, but
his views were not accepted. Nor
dau felt a great mistake was being
made. The redemption was being
delayed for a hundred years, if not
forever. In disappointment he re
turned to Paris in 1921. He was 72
years old and quite ill. He would
not accept Zionist assistance and
tried to resume his literary labors
and practice medicine. His devoted
wife and daughter Maxa did their
best to make his life easy. So did
a number of friends like Joseph
Cowen and John Fischer. He
worked as best he could almost to
the end, and passed away in 1923.
He was never personally con
cerned with the building of the
Jewish National Home. He left that
to the practical men. He remained
true to the old line of the Charter
and to the grand, moving ideals of
Theodor Herzl. He never saw
Eretz Yisrael with his mortal eyes.
His remains rest side by side with
Achad Ha’am and Bialik in the old
cemetery of Tel Aiv.
• "Max Nordau to his People," containing
all his Congress addresses with an in
troduction by B. Natanyahu, published
by the Scopus Publishing Company,
N. Y.
ACCOMMODATING BUTCHER
Robert St. John in his very interesting book, “Shalom
Means Peace,” tells of a sign he saw in Tel Aviv, reading,
KOSHER BUTCHER KILLS HIMSELF ONCE WEEKLY.
SABBATH OBSERVER
A pious Sabbath observer in one of the small towns of old
Russia was wending his way along the street on a Sabbath,
when suddenly an ox came running by and lifted him on his
horns. “Save me,” he shouted, “I am riding on the Sabbath.’
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