THE JEW IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11686, 22 June 1901, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE JEW IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

AN INTERVIEW WITH ISRAEL ZANGWELL.

I.v an interview at his house in St. John's Wood, London, Mr. Israel Zangwill, the famous novelist and playwright, gave me an interesting forecast of the future of the Jews. When asked what position in thj world's affairs the dews would probably hold in the year 2000 A.D., lie said : —

" I am not a prophet with a. definite vision of the future of the Jews. No man can fore- ' cast the precise directions their activity will lake in ibe twentieth century. 1 can only point out what the position of the Jews hart been for the last nineteen centuries, and some powerful forces which have just arisen arid which will undoubtedly mould them during the present century.

■run JEWS will RETURN'. " One thing, however," said Mr. Zang< will, " seems increasingly probable—that the Jews will return in increasing numbers to Palestine, their old and never-forgotten home. By the year 2000 A.D. I don't see why there shouldn't be 2,000,000 Jews inhabiting the laud, transforming it into a garden of beauty and fertility, and supplying it with harbours and railways, with a government of their own which will be the model government of the world. lam firmly convinced that the mission of the Jews is this : To be a people set on a hill—on Zion's Dili—whose social, political, agricultural, and religious condition will be the moral beacon-light of the world. From the laws of that community other nations will learn to govern wisely. From her social condition other nations will learn the science of sociology. From her spiritual supremacy oilier nations will learn the real meaning of religion. In short, 1 believe the hope of humanity lies in the development of the Jewish race after their return to Palestine.

" From the time of Christ until this generation the. outside world knew practically nothing of the life and work of the Jews. For long centuries the Jew was prosecuted by Christian and pagan in every country, and this very fact led to the preservation of his individuality. Frowned upon everywhere, the Jews drew closer to oue another, intermarried among themselves, and had comparatively little intercourse with the outside world. -And this was their salvation. TlIKIlt LOST SOLIDAUITY. " Recently, however, the absolute freedom gianted tc them in almost all civilised countries has tended to destroy their identity as a race. They are no longer bound to one another by the strongest ties in the world those oi persecutionbut have mingled with the general community ; and the Jew is to-day seeking his own interests, financial or social, largely forgetful of his fellowJews. The common idea that al' Jews work unselfishly for each other is uo longer true. They have imbibed the paganism of your socalled Christian nations, and every man is trying to get the bettei of the other. Five years ago this condition was absolutely alarming. It appeared as though the Jewish race would shortly become ..merged with other races and disappear altogether, after its wonderful preservation during 3000 years.

"Now, in order to 1.:: Lutain the identity of any body of men. one of two things is necessary. You must either have a political organisation around which their activity centres, or you must have a spiritual idea which links them together. Recently both political and spiritual forces of great strength have been started, and either one or the other will predominate during this century and decide the destiny of the race. The political force is the Zionist movement, originated by Dr. Herzl at the congress at Basle, in Switzerland, five years ago. The other is a modern intellectual movement, of which the supreme expression is the new Jewish Encyclopaedia, now being prepared under the direction of Funk and Wagnalls, of New York. ZIONISM THE SALVATION". " Frankly, 1 may say that my hopes for the race lie largely in the political Zionist movement, whether in its direct or indirect effects. Under the enthusiastic guidance of Dr. Herzl it is making steady progress. Its first object is to raise sufficient money to obtain the land of Palestine from the Sultan, under whose suzerainty the movement would be carried out.

Already about a million dollars have been contributed to this fund, and ovary city and almost every village in the world has its band.of enthusiastic Zionists. 1 may state, by the way, that this money has not been contributed by the rich Jews generally, but by the poorer classes of Jews. The rich take little interest in the scheme. They are often men who have the bent for mere money-making, and have largely lost their patriotism. They stand at the top of the social ladder in the world's chief centres of activity; their position is secure, they have nothing to gain by the reclaiming of Palestine, and seem to care little for the plan. This, however, does not in the least damp the enthusiasm of the ardent Zionists. The money is fast coming from every quarter of the globe, and it is believed that in a few years there will be a sufficient sum to accomplish our desires. Then, having gained possession of the land, we should not be so foolish as to rush great number? of uneducated and unskilled Jews into the country, but would use Jewish shrewdness in sending skilled agriculturists, carpenters, merchants, and men and women generally who, under the guidance of practical idealists, would form a sound basis of the model community that is to be.

"Finally," continued Mr. Zangwill, "let me say that I think the world is daily coming round to the Jewish conception of life. Christianity has proved a failure. Look at the Christian nations to-day, warring against one another "ike savages. What a spectacle is presented by the Allied armies in China! The battle of the future is between the old Judaism and the new paganism. A sense of justice is what the world needs to-day —such justice, as was preached and foretold by the. great Jewish prophets, and, I believe, it will be left to the Jewish —whether as a model community in Palestine or as a spiritual army scattered over the world— supply this need, and to make justice supreme in the hearts of men.

"If the Jew finally breaks — and hitherto he has not succeeded— see no other people rising up to take his place."—George T. B. Davis, in the Express.