Page 362 - להפוך לבולגרים / קונפורטי
P. 362
Abstract ׀xi
In 1896, Theodor Herzl published The Jewish State, rallying for
the formation of Jewish organizations. A main Zionist committee
and eighteen Zionist organizations were established in Bulgaria
and sent their representatives to the First Zionist Congress in Basel
in the summer of 1897. The founding conference of the Bulgarian
Zionist movement opened in Plovdiv, in the winter of 1898.
During its eight conferences leading up to WWI, the Zionist
movement was invested in instilling in the younger generation
national values, publicizing the Zionist idea; it also sought to take
over the community committees, headed by the Notables. Its years-
long struggle was accompanied by polemic that was an important
factor in the shaping of the nationalism of Bulgaria’s Jewry.
Chapters 5 and 6 survey the role played by the Notables’
leadership, from the early twentieth century until WWI. In April
1900, community representatives gathered in what was dubbed
“the First Community Congress,” drafted and approved the
regulations and budget for the Consistory, and elected a Chief
Rabbi as chairman of the Consistory, an activist of the World Zionist
Movement by the name of Dr. Marcus Ehrenpreis. He seemed
impressive and promising, but soon found himself trapped between
the Zionist movement and the Notables over Zionists demands from
Alliance to modernize the French Jewish educational system and to
bring it in line with Hebrew aspirations. From that point onward,
the Zionist movement in Bulgaria branded the Notables and the
Chief Rabbi, unsupportive of the Zionist stance, as opponents. It
set a goal to seize the community committees from the hands of
the Notables, and to expel the Chief Rabbi.
The Notables were accused of being anti-Zionists, and their long
hegemony was in jeopardy. In order to reaffirm their status, they
initiated a series of projects for the benefit of the lower classes.
At the same time, the construction of a monumental synagogue
at the center of the capital united Bulgaria’s Jews in a joint
effort.
