ropaganda and the stimulation of study in all things
Jewish; and the Zionist press, comprising one hundred newspapers and
periodicals, the official of which is _Die Welt_, and the leading
American representative, _The Maccabaean_, materially aid this
preaching of Zion gospel. Under the stimulus of the movement, numerous
student societies have sprung up abroad, promoting and crystallizing a
national sentiment and a race interest, while older societies of this
order, such as the Kadimah, have received a renewed impetus. Women's
societies of a literary, educational, and social character--the Benoth
Zion (Sofia and New York) and the Hadassah (Vienna and New York) for
example--have taken a place in the general revival.[37]

The effect of Zionism in large centers of population is ably shown by
Charles S. Bernheimer in his study of the Russian Jew in the United
States, and his findings may be taken as typical. In general, the
Zionist societies have formed the chief social centers of the
ghetto,[38] have opened religious schools[39] and libraries,[40] have
brought the radicals in religion under the influence of the national
idea,[41] and so prevented the loss of religion from being followed by
a loss of race-consciousness, and have "enlisted the sympathies of the
older people. The young people have grasped the great significance of
Zionism, and have taken a renewed interest in religion, education, and
culture."[42]

A renaissance of art is following that of culture; in painting Ephraim
Lilien, Lesser Ury, Judah Epstein, and Hermann Struck, and in marble
and bronze Boris Schatz (the founder and director of Bezalel),
Frederick Beer, and Alfred Nossig are receiving their inspiration from
Zionism.

The primary enthusiasm for the movement has long ago been expended;
and the present interest is deep, healthy, and likely to abide.
However, the sustainment of this interest appears to be the primary
duty and task of Zionism; in a movement that is a long, dull, slow
pull, every moment is a critical moment.

_Misconceptions of Zionism_

To the modern Jew who lacks the gift of prophecy, the outcome of an
undertaking must be determined by a consideration not only of the
force propelling the movement, but of the opposition confronting it. A
consideration of this opposition will afford an opportunity, moreover,
for a clear and summarizing definition of what the movement is, and,
equally important, of what it is not. Opposition to Zion