ook up the matter merely as an
amusement, that they engaged in the emigration of poor Jews as one
indulges in the racing of horses. The matter was too grave and tragic
for such treatment. These attempts were interesting, in that they
represented on a small scale the practical fore-runners of the idea of
a Jewish State. They were even useful, for out of their mistakes may
be gathered experience for carrying the idea out successfully on a
larger scale. They have, of course, done harm also. The transportation
of Anti-Semitism to new districts, which is the inevitable consequence
of such artificial infiltration, seems to me to be the least of these
evils. Far worse is the circumstance that unsatisfactory results tend
to cast doubts on intelligent men. What is impractical or impossible
to simple argument will remove this doubt from the minds of
intelligent men. What is unpractical or impossible to accomplish on a
small scale, need not necessarily be so on a larger one. A small
enterprise may result in loss under the same conditions which would
make a large one pay. A rivulet cannot even be navigated by boats, the
river into which it flows carries stately iron vessels.

No human being is wealthy or powerful enough to transplant a nation
from one habitation to another. An idea alone can achieve that and
this idea of a State may have the requisite power to do so. The Jews
have dreamt this kingly dream all through the long nights of their
history. "Next year in Jerusalem" is our old phrase. It is now a
question of showing that the dream can be converted into a living
reality.

For this, many old, outgrown, confused and limited notions must first
be entirely erased from the minds of men. Dull brains might, for
instance, imagine that this exodus would be from civilized regions
into the desert. That is not the case. It will be carried out in the
midst of civilization. We shall not revert to a lower stage, we shall
rise to a higher one. We shall not dwell in mud huts; we shall build
new more beautiful and more modern houses, and possess them in safety.
We shall not lose our acquired possessions; we shall realize them. We
shall surrender our well earned rights only for better ones. We shall
not sacrifice our beloved customs; we shall find them again. We shall
not leave our old home before the new one is prepared for us. Those
only will depart who are sure thereby to improve their position; those
who are now desperate will go first,