From Cleveland to Cleveland: American Zionism from 1921 to 1930 in Review

The New Palestine, June 27, 1930

At a crucial moment in the history of the movement, the Zionists of America will gather in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 29th for their thirty-third annual convention. As in 1921, when American Zionists last met in that city, the session comes after a critical and turbulent period in Palestine and in the movement generally. Now, as then, Jewish immigration to Palestine has been suspended. Now, as then, uncertainty and anxiety are uppermost in the minds of Zionists. Now, as then, readjustment to new conditions and the formulation of a new program of work are the order of the day. Whatever problems pertaining to the movement generally and to the situation in Palestine in particular are to be discussed and determined, the forthcoming Cleveland convention will devote much attention to a specific American Zionist issue – the reorganization and strengthening of the Zionist Organization of America.

In American Zionist parlance the term “Cleveland” has a special connotation. It signifies the rift which occurred in 1921, resulting in the ascension of the administration which has conducted the affairs of the movement in the United States for the last nine years. “From Cleveland to Cleveland” constitutes an important chapter in the annals of the movement. An objective presentation of the major events which transpired since 1921 will be helpful to all concerned.[1]

When the scene opens in 1921 an assembly of several hundred delegates is singing the Hatikvah in acclamation of the new leadership which came into power following a period of severe [internal] strife. Whatever were the issues – the supremacy of the economic character of the Palestine upbuilding work, the place of Jewish nationalism in this work, the founding and development of the Keren Hayesod, the necessity of political work in the Zionist movement, the character of the administrative machinery – the will of the majority of American Zionists was clearly and unmistakably expressed both by the action of the Cleveland convention and the support which the victorious party continued in the main to enjoy throughout the past nine years. By a vote of 153 to 71, the 1921 Cleveland convention passed a resolution withholding approval of the report of the administration which had been in power practically since 1914. A leadership which had great accomplishments to its credit during the war and post-war period found itself at variance with the views then held by the majority of the Zionists of America concerning future policies and methods. Placed in the position of a minority, it resigned and throughout the succeeding period did comparatively little to bring its views before the rank and file and to seek recognition if its program. The field of the American Zionist movement, with a few exceptions, was left clear for those whose views were accepted in 1921.

Engrossed in the battle between the Weizmann and the Brandeis-Mack forces, the Zionists of America at the Cleveland convention acted hesitantly. The mantle of leadership which had fallen from the shoulders of the former leaders was not given to one or two men. An administrative committee was chosen to act as a body. (The committee consisted of the following: Herman Conheim, Abraham Goldberg, Louis Lipsky, Louis Robinson, Bernard A. Rosenblatt, Morris Rothenberg and Peter J. Schweitzer. No officers were chosen. The only designations made were that Mr. Lipsky was to serve as general secretary and the late Mr. Schweitzer as treasurer.) The affairs of the Zionist Organization of America were placed in its charge. Active as the new leaders had been in the Zionist movement for many years previous, devoted to the ideal as they had shown themselves to be, none possessed at the time what might be termed a national reputation outside of the Zionist movement.

This group undertook the steering of the movement in America under most extraordinary circumstances. Principally, the mandate given to them by the 1921 Cleveland convention was a commitment of the Zionist Organization of America to uphold the policies of the World Zionist Congress as expounded by Dr. Chaim Weizmann. This applied in equal measure to the political and economic aspects of the Zionist work. A difficult situation confronted the new administration. The brilliant political success achieved by Dr. Weizmann and his associates in London and by the Zionist Provisional Committee in the United States were followed by the first intimations of trouble. The first foreboding of the Arab anti-Jewish agitation which was to reach its climax in 1929 had found expression in two riots. The Zionist movement, ever since its inception, had to travel along a difficult road. Rooted though it was in the traditions of the synagogue, bound up with the essence of Judaism, inseparably connected with the sentiments and views of the Jewish masses, none the less Zionism had always to seek its way while combatting antipathy and indifference and often active hostility on the part of powerful factors in Jewish life.

The phenomenal growth of the movement in the United States during the war and the immediate post-war period was not rooted in solid ground. The enthusiasm of the war period, stimulated by the alluring “self-determination” slogan and the pronunciamento of the Balfour Declaration, was already in the process of cooling off. The hopes which had been kindled when the movement was, by the fortunes of the war, lifted from its narrow and difficult path to the dazzling heights of the international scene and to the intoxicating atmosphere of the Peace Conference were beginning to weaken. The easy satisfaction derived from expressions of sympathy by the powers that were began to give way to a searching for plans for the execution of a gigantic task. The Zionist movement had to make a swift turn to the speedy performance of the actual task of reconstruction in Palestine in conformity with the new political conditions which were taking shape. The Mandate for Palestine had not yet been ratified. The jubilation of the so-called “Balfour Zionists” had to be replaced by the constant efforts of the Zionist worker and campaigner. A people which had suffered much during the war, a people of which large sections had been uprooted and shaken out of their economic, political and cultural strongholds, were eager to seize the opportunity it saw for realizing the national aim which had for centuries been the object of its dreams.

Men and money were needed. The situation clearly called for a division of labor. Eastern Europe was ready with its manpower. Economic necessity combined with the powerful sentiment which had been aroused recruited an impressive contingent of prospective pioneers. American Jewry, the strongest Jewish community in the world following the war, had shown its leadership by its gigantic accomplishments in the relief furnished [to] the war-sufferers. It was clearly the source from which financial resources for the rebuilding of Palestine were to be drawn.

The unfortunate London 1920 conference failed to bring about unity between the European leaders and the Brandeis regime. The Zionists of America, by their vote at Cleveland, endorsed the London plan for setting up a Keren Hayesod which was to have raised the amount of $25,000,000 for a five-year period. The covering of the Palestine budget through the Keren Hayesod had become the principal concern of Zionists throughout the world and the lion’s share had to come from America.

The obligation imposed upon American Zionism by the situation in the world movement was undertaken by the new regime. Most of the Palestine upbuilding work, the political advancement and strengthening of the movement and its expression in the United States were thus placed in the hands of the new administration. It is with the record of this work that this review is concerned.

Remittances to Palestine

Since the principal task of the Zionist Organization of America, under the prevailing conditions, was to secure the funds needed for the rebuilding operations as determined by the Zionist Congress and as conducted by the Zionist Executive, it is clear that the results of its work in this field must be considered first. As the parent organization, the Zionist Organization of America was responsible for the organization and conduct of a series of campaigns for Palestine funds waged throughout the country for the past nine years, up to the formation of the Jewish Agency for Palestine. In the face of dissension within the Zionist ranks, the opposition of anti-Zionists and the indifference of many [others], these drives, when judged by their results, may be taken as a barometer of the strength of the movement and of the penetration of the Palestine idea into ever-widening circles. To be sure, the financial results of the nine drives have not always been the same, the response rising and falling with the ebb and flow of the economic status of American Jewry on the one hand, with the reaction to the successes and failures of the upbuilding work in Palestine on the other.

The records show that under the auspices of the Zionist Organization of America, through the Keren Hayesod and the United Palestine Appeal, the amount of $20,044,160.32 was raised over the period beginning May, 1921 and ending April 30, 1930. Of this sum, the amount of $14,619,527.02 was remitted to Palestine, 26.90% having been expended in the United States on the money-raising apparatus throughout the entire period. During the period beginning August, 1914, and ending May, 1921, the Provisional Zionist Committee and the Palestine Restoration Fund had raised $5,738,998.32 and remitted to Palestine $3,761,279.40, 34.49% having been expended in the United States on the money-raising apparatus throughout that period.

Political Influence

Three major events transpired during the period under review which best express the political influence the Zionist Organization of America exercised in the general field, in the Jewish world and in Zionist affairs, acting in cooperation with the Zionist Organization of America for the furtherance of the ideals and interests of Palestine and the movement.

Its outstanding achievement in the political field was its work which culminated in the passage by the Congress of the United States of the Joint Resolution endorsing the Jewish National Home policy. This was accomplished by the organization in the face of strong hostility on the part of certain Jewish groups which actively opposed the passage of the resolution. Coming as this action of the United States Congress did at a time when opposition to the League of Nations and the general trend towards aloofness from European affairs were at their height in this country, the support of the Jewish National Home policy by Congress was a political event of [the] first international importance. The resolution was passed by the United States Senate on May 3, 1922, and by the House of Representatives on June 30th of that year. It placed the United States government on record as favoring the establishment of the Jewish National Home at a time when the fate of the Mandate was in the balance. This action was greatly instrumental in facilitating the ratification by the Council of the League of Nations of the Mandate for Palestine.

Notable is the achievement of the Zionist Organization of America in its struggle for the consummation of the plan for the extension of the Jewish Agency. Beginning June 18, 1923, and ending with the vote at the Zionist Congress at Zurich in August, 1929, the Zionist Organization of America constantly fought for the extension of the Agency. It gave support to the Weizmann policy in the face of numerous difficulties and obstacles often reaching a state of crisis, despite a determined opposition to the plan both at home and abroad. This policy, which has now become a pillar of strength in the upbuilding of Palestine, had first been tested through the Keren Hayesod which the American organization inaugurated and through which it strove to attract non-Zionists as well as Zionists.

In the councils of the world Zionist movement, the Zionist Organization of America held a leading position. Represented on the Executive Committee in London and in the Zionist General Council, it had a leading part in shaping the policies of the movement. American Zionists served on the London and Jerusalem Executives. It was the influence of the American delegation to the 1927 Congress which was responsible for bringing about the “consolidation policy” which had then become necessary.

Propaganda

Propaganda is admittedly the main function of a movement such as Zionism which strives to embrace within its fold the majority of the people whose national ideals and dreams it set out to realize. The Zionist Organization, in the conception of its founders, was principally to act as the spokesman of the Jewish people in relation to Palestine, while making every effort to enlist the sympathy and active support of the people for that purpose to which the active minority had pledged its energies.

Even after the issuance of the Balfour Declaration and the ratification of the Mandate, the Zionist movement was still a force which had to make continuous conquests in order to maintain its position and to create such conditions as would accelerate the realization of its program. The membership of the Zionist Organization, even at its height, never represented the full strength of the sentiment that lay behind it. No matter how many Zionists were enlisted in the Organization, the number of sympathizers, prospective members and workers was always vastly greater. The field for Zionist propaganda was limited only by the size of the Jewish population. With the advent of the period of active work in Palestine, these limits had to be extended. Zionist enlightenment had to be carried into the non-Jewish field as well. The raising of funds which had to be undertaken created wider and greater opportunities in that direction.

During the period under review, the work of the Zionist Organization of America in this field reached an unparalleled scope. Whereas previously sporadic Zionist publications brought the message of the movement to a limited number of readers, the ZOA during the past nine years maintained a continuous stream of Zionist information and enlightenment through these channels. The first was that of its weekly publications, “The New Palestine,” “Dos Yiddishe Folk,” and, for some time, the “Palestine Pictorial.” For nine years “The New Palestine” and “Dos Yiddishe Folk” appeared every week, reaching at times in the case of “The New Palestine” as many as 60,000 Jewish families and, in the case of “Dos Yiddishe Folk,” about 10,000. On these publications the Zionist Organization of America expended for the period an amount close to $800,000. Throughout this period the publications maintained a high standard and some of the issues, such as the University number and the Herzl memorial number, it is universally conceded, have permanent Zionist cultural value.

A powerful factor for spreading Zionist thought and intensifying interest in the upbuilding work in Palestine was the coming to America of distinguished Zionist delegates from Europe. The arrival and departure of the members of these delegations usually coincided with the opening and closing of the Palestine fund drives, but the interest they created and the impression they left were of a stimulating character throughout the entire period.

In addition to Zionist delegations, the Organization, in conjunction with the Keren Hayesod and the United Palestine Appeal, maintained an almost continuous speakers’ service which reached nearly every Jewish community in the United States. The number of meetings both in and out of campaign season addressed by Zionist speakers runs into the thousands. Speakers’ fees during the period amounted to $92,629.62. There were also the services of volunteers, among them nearly every Jewish public speaker of note.

The immediate result of this propaganda generated by the Zionist Organization through its various channels was the notable widening of the scope of the movement which found its expression both in the amounts of money raised for Palestine and in the number of people whose interest was enlisted in one form or another. The actual membership of the Zionist Organization may have risen and fallen in the succeeding years, but whatever the membership may have been at any given time, one must not fail to take into account the number of contributors to the United Palestine Appeal for the same period. Although the $6 membership never, during the period, exceeded the figure of 30,597 [members], the number of small and large contributors to the Keren Hayesod and the United Palestine Appeal reached as high as 60,000. Some of the contributors to the Palestine funds were still non-Zionists, but there can be but slight doubt that persons who have maintained their interest in the work through continuous annual contributions have been enlisted for the cause.

The outstanding feature of the work of the Zionist organization under the regime which came into power in 1921 was the sweeping conquests it made among the middle classes of American Jewry. Even the Reform Rabbinate, which previously had been a leading source from which opposition to the movement emanated, had become in many cases predominantly Zionistic. The cultural values and the interests of a living Palestine seemed to bring new Jewish content to the Reform congregations. Previously, active interest in Zionism and in the Palestine work was primarily centered in the upper-middle class and among the Jewish intelligentsia. To raise huge funds it was necessary to enlist larger numbers in the work. This was accomplished through the Keren Hayesod and the United Palestine Appeal. By drawing in the middle class, the organization succeeded in opening up a vast field whose resources and capacities have not yet been fully exploited. Advantageous as this has been for the cause of Palestine and for the movement as a whole, it brought with it certain features which may not be pleasant. The Zionist whose imagination was wholly captured by the ideal of the movement and who entered into the work for the sake of the cause alone now found as his companions many who, though they subscribed to the purpose of the movement, saw in that work, as usual in popular movements, a vehicle for local purposes as well. Zionist work as it developed with the aid of the large middle class became in some cases a stepping stone for individual ambitions. Zionism, which set out to bring national values into Jewish life, to bring about a renaissance of Jewish culture, had been unavoidably caught in the wheels of American Jewish adjustment. The large number of men and women who were drawn into the service in various local and national committees in all parts of the country naturally brought with them standards and ways expressive of the classes and communities to which they belonged. However, when the advantages and disadvantages are weighed in the scale of accomplishment, the gain is on the side of the services performed and the results achieved.

One of the impressive results of this development is the fact that toward the middle of the period, even before the Jewish Agency extension began to assume concrete form, rabid anti-Zionism, with which the movement had had to contend, was stamped out in the United States. Hardly an organ of public opinion or a Jewish leader of prominence, in lay or religious life, could be found to be engaged in active anti-Zionist propaganda.

Membership and Strength of Movement

The membership of the Zionist Organization, since the $6 basis was adopted, rose and fell. When the new administration came in into power, the membership, including women, showed an enrollment of 30,579 for the period October 1, 1920 to December 31, 1921. The new regime, however, entered into an arrangement by which the Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization, though it remained an integral part of the ZOA, was given an opportunity for autonomous development along lines of work which were regarded by the women’s leaders as best suited to drawing in large numbers of women as members. Beginning with 1922, the membership of the Zionist Organization, unlike the procedure followed in other countries, was strictly divided according to the sexes.

With attention concentrated on the Palestine fund drives, with the $6 membership fee as a basis, the enthusiasm of the war period subsiding and with the conception in the minds of many contributors to the Palestine funds that their subscriptions expressed their affiliation with the movement, the struggle for maintaining and increasing the actual membership of the Zionist Organization was naturally one of great difficulty. Thus, the organization ended the year 1929 with an enrollment of 18,031 [and an annual income from the membership of $144,850].

The full strength of Zionist Organization of America, however, would be greatly underestimated if one’s judgment would rest only on the foregoing figures. The total strength of the Zionist Organization in the United States can best be estimated when the situation is reviewed as a whole and when the total number of its supporters of various types and in various forms is considered, as seen in the following figures:

ZOA district members in good standing: 18,181
ZOA district members in arrears: 7.565
Order Sons of Zion: 3,200
Roll Call Registrars, December 1929: 45,200
Shekel Payers (non-members): 2,068
Histadruth Ivrith: 1,815
Avukah: 1,000
Young Judaea: 11,300
Hadassah: 35,195
Junior Hadassah: 8,500
United Palestine Appeal contributors: 60,606

The Administration

The administration of the Zionist Organization of America for the past nine years was carried mainly by the impetus which had its origin in the events of 1921. However, it would be inaccurate to maintain that it produced a one-pattern leadership. An examination of the personnel of the important committees and the lists of honorary and active officers who functioned during the period suffices to demonstrate the multiplicity of characters, viewpoints and energies which went into the making of the leadership which carried on. The not-infrequent cases of friction, which found expression in the several opposition groups within the administration and which stormed the administration fortress toward the end of the period, and the various changes that were made, clearly prove the point.

The administration succeeded in drawing in a considerable number of co-workers both in the administrative tasks as well as in the development of the campaigns for Palestine funds. Although the attempt made at the 1922 convention to bring about a reconciliation with the previous leadership brought no result, time seemed to be healing the breach and members of the Mack-Brandeis group lent their cooperation in one form or another to the administration. Notable were the services rendered by Dr. Stephen S. Wise as national chairman of the 1925 United Palestine Appeal, coming as it did during the period of controversy over the Russian colonization plan, and of Judge Julian W. Mack, who served as honorary vice-chairman of the United Palestine Appeal in 1928. Messers. Rosensohn and Berenson and the late Mr. Lindheim, who might be regarded as representatives of the group, were a part of the administration elected at the 1927 convention.

Yeoman service was rendered in the early organization and conduct of the Keren Hayesod and the United Palestine Appeal by Mr. Emanuel Neumann, in various executive capacities, by Morris Rothenberg, as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the United Palestine Appeal and by Judge William M. Lewis, of Philadelphia, as National UPA Chairman.

Notwithstanding the changes and transformations through which the administration passed, the man whose leadership held sway and whose mental energies vitalized the movement was Louis Lipsky. However, the leadership was not conferred upon him by one stroke. One of the seven elected to the administrative committee in 1921, his elevation to the presidency of the Zionist Organization of America did not occur until June, 1926, he having acted before in the capacity of chairman of the national executive committee and chairman of the administrative committee. The services he rendered to the Zionist movement for a period of thirty years and the qualities he displayed so impressed themselves upon the majority of the rank and file of the movement that notwithstanding the fierce attacks made by the various opposition groups at the 1927 convention in Atlantic City and the 1928 convention in Pittsburgh, his leadership was upheld.

For the purpose of conducting the work of the Zionist movement in the United States, the Zionist Organization of America received a total of $1,786,645.65 over the nine-year period. Of this amount $1,123,190.31 came from membership dues. An amount of $167,927.71 was refunded to the districts for local administrative and propaganda work. Out of the membership income received by the administration and $28,506.18 received from shekel prayers, $209,267.72 was remitted to the Zionist Organization as the American federation’s membership fee to the world organization for the maintenance of the international headquarters in London.

From the total net income of $1,779,059.10, the amount of $931,606.80 was expended for general administration purposes. The amount of $791,967.58 was expended on the publication of the Zionist weeklies, “The New Palestine” and “Dos Yiddishe Folk.” It must be noted that the periodicals had an income of $617,609.31, part of which, $409,434, was derived from subventions given them by the Keren Hayesod and the United Palestine Appeal for services rendered to the various campaigns. The amount of $206,321.70 was paid by the Zionist Organization of America to subventions to the Young Judaea, the Avukah, the “Hadoar,” a Hebrew weekly, the “Hatoren,” a Hebrew journal, and other bodies engaged in furthering Jewish cultural aims. Against the net income of $1,779,059.10, the total expenditure amounted to $1,930,096.08, leaving a deficit of $151,036.98.

The Deficit

Deficits are not uncommon in organizations whose purpose is not financial profit but rather service to a cause. The figures of the Zionist Organization of America for the period July 14, 1918, to October 31, 1920, under the former regime, show a deficit in the organization department amounting to $144,743.29. This deficit was covered from other sources than membership income. The deficit of the Zionist Organization of America on May 31, 1929, stood at $130,374.90. By a resolution of the 1929 convention, the organization took over the deficit of Young Judaea amounting to $16,000, bringing the deficit as of June 1st to $146, 374.90.

Since 1923 the question of the deficit was being grappled with and periodic attempts to wipe it out were made.

It will be noted that the amount of $206,321.70 paid in subventions exceeds the deficit.

Solution of the Amzic Problem in Sight

Greater than the troubles of the deficit were the difficulties which beset the organization on account of the entanglement of the American Zion Commonwealth. It must be stated that the difficulties of the American Zion Commonwealth were due to the economic crisis which enveloped Palestine after the collapse of the Fourth Aliyah, but it is likewise conceded that the Commonwealth found itself in difficulties because of its methods of financing and management.

The Commonwealth was organized in 1914 and had the moral backing of the Zionist Organization both prior to and after 1921. The Organization recognized its moral responsibility to the American purchasers of land and, in cooperation with the Zionist authorities in London and Jerusalem, made every effort to help the Commonwealth disentangle its affairs and see to it that the land stretches which came into Jewish possession should remain in Jewish hands. It was for this purpose that the United Palestine Appeal loaned the Commonwealth $523,699.33 which will be returned to the Keren Hayesod when the assets of the company will again become liquid.

According to a statement by Mr. S. A. Van Vriesland, who was appointed by the Palestine courts as the representative of the interests involved in the disentanglement of the Zion Commonwealth affairs, a successful solution of the problem is at last within sight.

Readjustment to New Conditions

Again the Zionist Organization of America stands on the threshold of readjustment. The conditions which imposed grave responsibilities upon the Zionist movement in 1921 have basically not changed, with the exception that the task of raising funds required for the Palestine upbuilding work is now being shared by the new forces which joined in the work of the Agency for Palestine.

The Zionist Organization of America no longer shoulders the responsibility alone for the Palestine funds. A part of its energy has thus been freed for the tasks which are peculiar to Zionism, and the Organization, which since 1921 has been compelled to devote most of its time and effort to the raising of funds can now undertake the work of strengthening its ranks so that it may discharge its functions as a strong and influential factor in the life of American Jewry, in the affairs of the world Zionist movement and in the enterprises of the Jewish Agency for Palestine which came into being due mainly to the continuous battles fought by the Zionist Organization of America for its realization.

In this readjustment, the purity of Zionist ideology, the strengthening of the movement in the United States and abroad, the safeguarding of the positions in Palestine, and the lessons learned during the past decade must be taken into account.

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[1] The writer finds it necessary to state that he has never been connected with the Zionist Organization of America. He is indebted to the ZOA for permitting him access to the facts and figures which are mentioned here. They are taken from the official records of the Zionist Organization of America.