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Letter signed by Theodore Herzl sent to Mr. George regarding the collection of the "shekels" in Russia. Vienna, December 1903. Stencil print with Herzl's signature at bottom right.
In his letter, Herzl addresses Mr. George and asks that due to the tense situation and the strict government supervision in Russia, he should collect the shekels for the Zionist Organization as soon as possible and keep them with him, despite the difficulty. Herzl is concerned that due to the various limitations Zionist propaganda would come to a halt, so he encourages him to work energetically on the issue, and he hopes that assistance will arrive from the West. Herzl's letter was written a few months after the Kishinev pogrom, as the conditions for Russian Jewry worsened and the Zionist Organization was persecuted by the government.
[1] leaf, paper. 21x28 cm. Very fine condition.
Reden gehalten auf dem II Zionisten Congresse zu Bazel
(Addresses given at the [second] Zionist Congress in Basel) - Vienna, 1898. Rare.
Booklet in German with addresses by Herzl, Max Nordau, Dr. Max Mandelstam and Rabbi Moshe Gaster, chief rabbi of the Sephardic congregations in England, who was among the main speakers at the first Zionist congresses, and served as the vice president of the congresses. At this congress, the decision was taken to print and disseminate this booklet. Gaster's address was brought in this collection "due to the great impression made upon his listeners with its rhetorical beauty."
On the back of the booklet: Verlag des Vereines "Erez Israel" ["published by the of the Erez Israel Association"].
Very fine condition.
Palastina, Eine Werbeschrift fur die judische Arbeit in Erez Israel [Publicity Booklet for the Zionist Enterprise in the Land of Israel]. Published by the World Zionist Organization. Published by Die Welt, Cologne 1910. German.
There is broad coverage specifically of the activities of the Bezalel School of Arts in Palestine with various photographs of school activities [including an interesting photograph of Boris Shatz in the company of Sephardic rabbis], photographs of the orphanage, the old city of Jerusalem and more. With paintings from the work of Ephraim Moshe Lilien [many of which are full-page].
Old, period binding. Fine condition.
Four issues of Der Yud magazine of all Jewish topics.
* Issue 34, Krakow, August 23 1900 - extensive coverage of the Zionist Congress ['ציוניסטען קאנגערס'].
* Issue 32, Krakow, August 9th, 1900
* Issues 27-28, Krakow, December, 1899
* Issues 48-49, Krakow, December 5, 1901 - festive issue published to celebrate Chanukah.
Fine condition.
Two bound volumes of 27 issues of the weekly Die Welt, rare publication of the Yiddish weekly.
The weekly Die Welt was founded by Herzl in Vienna in 1897, as a medium for the dissemination of his Zionist doctrine, Herzl actually wrote the newspaper himself, from beginning to end. It was quite successful - at its peak, it sold tens of thousands of copies. Feivel Berthold (1875-1937) replaced Herzl as editor in 1900. The newspaper closed in 1914 due to the world war.
Two volumes, 27 issues. 30 cm.
Moderate-fine condition, slightly disintegrating binding. The leaves themselves are complete, with some aging stains.
* HaTzfirah, Tenth Zionist Congress in Basel 15-22 Menachem Av 1911 - extensive coverage of the congress, including photographs of views of the congress and its participants and articles about the questions discussed. This congress was concerned with the decision to deal with subjects of culture, a decision which brought about tension between the religious and the other delegates. There was also a decision taken to unite Political Zionism and Practical Zionism into "Synthetic Zionism."
* Participant's card for the 14th Zionist Congress which took place in Basel in 1925.
Very fine condition.
Delegate's ticket for the Israeli representative at the 17th Zionist Congress, Mr. Avraham Herfeld. The congress took place in Basel in 1931.
Personal details are recorded on the ticket, signed by the chairman of the congressional court and the executive secretary. The reverse contains instructions for use of the ticket in three languages [Hebrew, German and English]. At that congress, the revisionists' proposal to declare the aspiration to establish a Hebrew state on both sides of the Jordan was rejected. In light of this, they withdrew from the congress.
12x18 cm. Fine condition.
Letter on the stationery of the Frederick Hotel in London from January 19th, 1931, addressed to his friend Dr. Zilkind, in which Bialik implores him to write his commentary on Tractate Kilaim specifically in the Hebrew language.
Bialik informs him that 'in a number of days I will leave London and return to the Land of Israel.' Dr. Zelkind arranged a commentary on Tractate Kilaim in Yiddish, and sent a sheet to Bialik to review and examine, apparently before it was printed. Bialik compliments Zelkind: "Each time a sheet from your mishnah arrives, it is a holiday for me ... you are doing a great thing for the Jewish people, and your merit will stand by you forever." He disagrees strongly, however, with the fact that Zelkind wrote his commentary in Yiddish. Bialik was of the opinion that the commentary should be written in Hebrew for a number of reasons: "The Hebrew audience who needs your commentary is twenty times greater than the Yiddish audience, so why should you work for nothing? "Please, with your abundant mercy, uproot your dwelling from the Yiddish to the Hebrew ... you know that it is not from my jealousy nor my envy for the Hebrew Language that I say this. I have nothing against it, on the contrary I love it and I want it to be regulated, it's just that the Hebrew commentary is worth sevenfold or even seventy-sevenfold more than the Yiddish, and the buyers are sevenfold more, and I am certain that the Hebrew will accelerate the complete of your work ..."
[1] official hotel stationery. 12x18 cm. Fold mark. Stains. Fine condition.
Difficult letter saturated with pain, written in a depressed tone, composed by Gordon while he was suffering from various ailments. In his letter, he details his harsh illnesses and great suffering in somewhat lyrical prose. It is not clear to whom the letter was addressed, it turns to the addressee with the description "My dear Chassid, will we stray and not believe in the coming salvation!"
"You ask about my illness, what it is, what it's called. My friend, the Blessed Creator prepared 953 different illnesses with which he causes people to die, which is approximately 1/3 more than the number of mitzvot with which the Holy One, Blessed Be He brings merit to Israel, and what difference does it make to you which of these ways it is ... It's been a year and more since I became ill with the disease of the ancient Philistines, and even the transmitters of tradition no longer know its name in the holy tongue - עכברים or טחורים, and this disease alone, which is a disease of the righteous, I paid no attention, and I said to myself that suffering is beloved to me [חביבין עלי יסורין]. Now the Philistines who stayed by the holy ark of G-d only seven months were stricken with this disease, as for a man like me who has sat by it almost his entire life ... there are those who call it פוליפוס (in the book of Shmuel, 'עכברים'), and there are those who have elevated it to the level of cancer ..." Gordon later writes about his stay in a Berlin hospital for various treatments for his illness.
At the end of his letter, Gordon writes his opinion about writing poetry at that time: "I said that in these precipitous times, Israel does not desire poetry, melodies and flower gardens, and those who write and publish them see no blessing in their handiwork ..."
Yehudah Leib Gordon [1830-1892] was one of the leading Hebrew poets of the enlightenment. His creations included original and translated poems, fables, feuilletons, stories, and scholarly and critical articles. He was born in Vilna in 1830 and studied in "cheder" in his youth, where he acquired extensive proficiency in Talmud and Tanach. In his adolescence, he drew close to the haskalah movement and began to read books of general interest, study foreign languages and to strike up friendships with some of the leading maskilim of his period, who influenced him very much. He worked as a teacher in schools in Ponovezh, Šilalė and Telz for 20 years. As a famous poet, he was invited to St. Petersburg in 1872 to serve as community secretary and administrator of Mefitzei Haskalah B'Yisrael. He wrote a lot in the HaMelitz journal and was one of the editors of HaMaggid. He passed away in St. Petersburg in 1892.
The letter's conclusion may be lacking. [1] paper leaf written on both sides. There is an X-shaped scrawl on the back of the letter, with no damage to text. 13x21 cm. Large stain from an ink-smudge. Filing perforations. Fine condition.
Handwritten and signed letter by Sha"i Agnon addressed to his friend Ben Eliezer, undated.
In the letter, Agnon refers to his family in Germany as well as the jubilees [apparently his intent is specific groups who went to celebrate someone's 50th birthday] 'he shouldn't be insulted by me, I don't pay attention to jubilees, proof of the matter being that he did not take notice of mine ...'
[1] leaf paper. 14x23 cm. Very fine condition.
Important historic letter in which Einstein, surprisingly, expresses his opinion on internal Israeli politics and also criticizes the American and British attitudes towards Zionism.
In the 1940s, there was a struggle over the leadership of the Zionist movement between two leaders, each of whom maintained a different approach to the goal of the Zionist struggle. On one side was Chaim Weizmann, a statesman who reasoned that all activities must be coordinated with the British, and that the Zionist movement must not fight the British government. On the other side was David Ben-Gurion, a seasoned politician who was far more in touch with the movement on the ground, and promoted said struggle. On a deeper level, there was a personal conflict between the figures. Weizmann was a famous scientist who had connections with world leaders but was not very connected to the Israeli experience. Opposite him was Ben-Gurion, a worker from Sejera who made his way up "from the bottom" by establishing the Histadrut, and who ruled on the ground undisputed.
The contest between them was decided in 1946 at the Zionist Congress, against a backdrop of the disagreement about the Jewish resistance movement. Weizmann quit his position as president of the World Zionist Congress. He returned to the United States and resumed his work as a scientist, but also continued his diplomatic activity for the Jewish state.
On May 14th, Ben-Gurion declared the Jewish state. Two days later, on Sunday, the first meeting of the people's provisional council took place. It was decided there to appoint Weizmann (possibly as compensation for rejecting him two years earlier) as president of the state council.
Three days later, on May 19th, Einstein sent him a letter of greetings, which is the letter before us.
The letter: In the letter, Einstein expresses his satisfaction regarding the decision by Palestine Jewry to appoint Weizmann "head of the new state," so that, at least partially, he is compensated for the ungrateful conduct regarding him and his merits. He adds that even at present (apparently referring to the situation of the Jews post-Holocaust), world powers do not treat the Jews properly, with Britain playing a "miserable game" against the Jews (referring to the lack of British support for Zionism), and the ambiguous American stance (Weizmann himself met with Truman on May 13, three days previously, and tried to convince him to recognize the existence of the state of Israel).
Nevertheless, writes Einstein, I am sure that our people will also overcome "this great spit" and that you (Weizmann) will experience the satisfaction of creating a happy Jewish community. He ends the letter with warm wishes.
Einstein and Weizmann had been close friends since the 1920s, when Weizmann traveled to the United States for the first time in 1921 on a Zionist mission. (It is told that when they disembarked from the ship in the United States, journalists asked Weizmann whether, after their long stay together on the boat, he comprehends the theory of relativity. Weizmann retorted that they did indeed discuss the theory of relativity a lot, and he has no doubt that he (Einstein) understands the theory of relativity very well ...). After Weizmann's passing in 1952, Einstein was offered the position of president of the State, but he turned it down.
Background: Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952) was one of the most prominent leaders of the Zionist movement, and his diplomatic activity was one of the primary causes of the establishment of the Jewish state. Weizmann's first claim to fame was when he discovered a new species of bacteria which was used to produce acetone, proving very beneficial to British military industry in WWI. Weizmann was active in the Zionist movement from its inception. He was elected president of the Zionist Congress in 1921 and served in this capacity until 1946 (except for a two-year hiatus, 1931-1933).
[1] leaf paper. 28x21.5 cm. Typewritten on an official imprinted paper blank with Einstein's handwritten signature.
Fine-very fine condition, tiny holes in the upper left of the leaf (apparently from removing staples), filing holes.
Magnificent invitation, with a festive gastronomic menu, to an event with Prof. Albert Einstein as the guest of honor in the University of the Republic of Uruguay in Montevideo. Park Hotel, 30.04.1925.
The invitation was inscribed and autographed by Prof. Einstein to the Foreign Minister of Uruguay, Dr. Juan Carlos Blanco Acevedo. Freely translated, he wrote: "Souvenir of the wonderful hours we were together."
Prof. Einstein's trip to Uruguay in 1925 and his appreciation for its beauty and the quality of its people has become one of the Uruguayan myths that is related with much pride. On 24.04.1925, Einstein arrived from Argentina for a week-long visit in Montevideo, Uruguay. During his trip, Einstein delivered a series of scientific lectures. He was impressed by the country's natural scenery and its buildings, its citizens and its special character, and he noted his experiences in his personal journal. The journal describes Uruguay as a small and happy country with exquisite natural scenery, beautiful weather, hot and damp, and amazing architecture. He was also impressed with the liberality of the country, its socialist laws and its constitution, which was somewhat similar to that of Switzerland.
His visit concluded with a magnificent event in his honor at the Park Hotel, arranged by the Uruguayan government and the local university. At the event, he sat next to the president of the Republic Eng. Jose Serrato and the Foreign Minister, enjoying warm conversation with them. Einstein wrote a personal inscription to the foreign minister on the gourmet menu prepared for the event.
Years later, this Foreign Minister headed the Uruguayan delegation to the United Nations that voted for the establishment of the State of Israel on 29.11.1947.
On 25.03.2006, this menu was displayed in the halls of the LATU (Laboratorio Tecnológico del Uruguay) in Montevideo, at a prominent international exhibition.
[1] double leaf, within a printed jacket binding made of cardboard and tied with a lace. 18x12 cm.
Fine-very fine Condition. Minimal aging stains. Traces of tape on the back.