Page 218 - The Legacy of Abraham Rothstein - text

Articles

national life. He appeared at a very critical moment, when
assimilation and the so-called Western culture had penetrated into all
classes of the Jewish people in Europe. His “Juden shtaat” has
reconciled the mass of Jews who had deserted to other camps. He
was more than a leader: he was a morning star on the darkened
Jewish sky, bringing light to fourteen million people.
We have today leaders in England whose great work will be
learned of by the Jewish world when peace is signed and the
Palestinian question settled—those who have followed Jewish politics
for the last three years will know who I mean. They will remain
immortal in Jewish history. Here in this country the Jews have
produced a leader who, although not a fiery grandstand player, has
rocked the Jewish community from the Atlantic to the Pacific. That
man is Louis D. Brandeis, appearing in the Zionist arena about seven
years ago. He has no golden tongue, nor is he a “hishtdalon”, nor is
he a man to beg and plead: had he been sentimental he would not
have occupied a chair on the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a man of
reasoning who will fight with his life for human rights.
I had the pleasure of meeting Brandeis at the Zionist convention
in Pittsburgh, after studying him from a distance: his face, his smile,
and his way of associating with people. I introduced myself to him,
and spoke of Zionism in California, which was his chief concern. The
last thing he said was that he hoped the Zionists and Jews in
California would do a little more for Palestine now than they have in
the past. Although Brandeis is not the head of the Zionist
organization—its president is Judge Julian Mack, a man of renown—
yet he is the power behind the throne. There is not a move made in
the political work that he does not pass upon. The last big change in
the

[The manuscript ends here.]

214