Zionist Organization of America

Saturday Jan 26

by


In a cold night my helper
refused to distribute the
circulars for the mass meeting
that I am calling. I stood
alone in the terrible weather
distributing them doing it
lovingly knowing the respons-
ibility that rests on my shoulders
when Dr. Bernstein passed
me on his way to lecture for
the Zeire Zion.

He did not feel like speaking
but seeing my sacrifice he
got inspired and delivered
his best, he told me.

Later I joined him at the
Z.Z. So I unconsciously
served some purpose
I saw there a girl
that is good.

——————

Matt’s Notes

It got down to 7° on the night of January 26, 1924 (oddly, we’ve had the same kind of sudden temperature drop on January 26, 2007) so I can understand why Papa’s helper left him in the lurch. Understanding is not forgiving, though, so I hate the old bastard, wherever he is. I think Papa, who had been worried about the prospects for his January 28th meeting for a while, wasn’t in a forgiving mood, either — he notes how he “lovingly” continued to shoulder his responsibilities, contrasting himself rather pointedly with certain would-be helpers who weren’t quite so loving and responsible.

I’m sure Papa didn’t distribute many fliers on that biting, snowy night. Any people on the street must have rushed by, chins tucked to their chests, hardly inclined to stop for the earnest young man who waved papers at them and said something about something coming up on Monday. Such young men were all over the place. Who could tell them apart?

I can’t keep the Zionist varieties straight myself, but I think Zeire-Zion, Dr. Bernstein’s organization, had a Zionist-Socialist agenda. I’m not clear on whether they thought the Jewish state would be a nice little place for socialist experiment or a glorious staging ground for a global socialist victory (the Zionist-Socialist movement was, not surprisingly, factional as well) and I may well have the whole movement entirely wrong, so please correct me if you know better.

As a labor activist himself Papa would have had some affinity for the Zionist-Socialists, but he wouldn’t have stood out in the cold for them. Papa worked for the Zionist Organization of America and its related organizations, which concentrated on organized fundraising for business investment and land purchases in Palestine. The ZOA had its own internal philosophical clashes, but socialism wasn’t in the mix.

Anyway, Papa gave Dr. Bernstein a boost and met a “girl that is good” at the Zeire-Zion meeting, so the night, as they say, wasn’t a total loss.

Sunday Feb 10

by

Same as yesterday
but in evening visited
Blue & White club, gave
them a talk about joining
the first district of the Zionist
Org.

————-

Matt’s Notes

The “Blue and White club” mentioned here is presumably related to the Blau-Weiss Jewish youth movement started in Germany in 1912. Blau-Weiss took its cues from the German Wanderklubs, or hiking organizations, that promoted physical fitness through outdoor activity and, not surprisingly, became inaccessible to Jews in the early 20th Century. (Here’s a 1924 photo of a Blau-Weiss outing.)

Blau-Weiss had a strong political agenda, focused specifically on the Zionist goal of physically preparing Jewish youth for the rigors of settling in Palestine. This relates to a broader movement among diaspora Jews to dispense with the image of the Jew as physically maladroit (perpetuated by anti-Semites and Jews alike) and replace it with a Jewish identity rooted in competence and toughness. These “muscle Jews,” reminiscent of the Maccabean warriors of centuries past, would hardily sow crops (and new Jews) in Palestine thanks to their discipline, tirelessness and virility.1

This thinking manifests itself in a number of organizations, including the Hakoa Vienna (hakoa means “The Strength”) an all-Jewish athletic organization that fielded Austria’s national championship soccer team in 1924 and sponsored a successful womens’ swim team in the 30’s. (I mention Hakoa Vienna because its swim team was the subject of a 2004 documentary called “Watermarks“, which is now on my Netflix queue). As I’ve mentioned before, Papa was peaceful and learned himself, but he must have been more than a little partial toward the image of the “muscle Jew” or he wouldn’t have fought to nickname his B’nai Zion chapter “The Maccabeans.”

So, now that I’ve gone on that tangent, I have to wonder if the Blue and White club Papa visited really was related to the Blau-Weiss movement. It’s certainly possible; even though Blau-Weiss’s goal was to get Jews from Germany to kibbutzes in Palestine, I’m sure some members found their way to the heavily German Lower East Side and formed a chapter there. Still, blue and white are the colors of the Israeli flag and were always associated with Zionist regalia, so maybe New York’s Blue and White club just named itself accordingly (if you’ know anything more about this, please drop a comment).

In any event, Papa visited them as part of his ongoing efforts to keep the Zionist Organization of America’s flagging first district (or chapter) afloat, which he’s already put a lot of effort into this year. I have to wonder again what it was like when he “gave a talk.” Was there a Blue and White clubhouse? Did they meet in a restaurant or coffee house? Maybe they met in a gymnasium if they were really an offshoot of Blau-Weiss. Did he lean on the edge of a desk, stand at a podium, or sit with everyone in a circle? And what did he speak? German? Yiddish ? English?

—————

References for this post

1- Pressner, Todd Samuel. “Clear Heads, Solid Stomachs, and Hard Muscles”: Max Nordau and the Aesthetics of Jewish Regeneration,” Modernism/Modernity, Vol. 10 No. 2, 2003.

Wikipeida’s entries on the Israeli flag and the role of the color blue in Judaism

Thursday Feb 21

by

Enjoyed dance given by
3rd dist Z.O.A. at the Parkway Palace.

My brother in law received
a summons to court from
the Success School,

My sister came up and
called me to go with her to
the School,

Because I told the School man
twice before that my brother in law
and out of work, he agreed
to teach him English for the
whole term on payments
of $2.00 a week, on account
I gave him the 2nd 5 dollars
I am glad this is off my
head, I will gladly pay for
him every week as he at present
cannot afford it.

—————

Matt’s Notes

I’m not sure where the Parkway Palace or the Third District of the Zionist Organization of America were located, though I’d say any establishment with the word “parkway” in its name was probably in the Bronx. Hopefully I can make it over to the New York Historical Society to look into it a little more…

Of more interest, though, is Papa’s description of his brother-in-law Phil’s problems with the Success School, which was obviously a vocational or language school catering to immigrants. If it had existed in modern times, it probably would have advertised itself on the subway.

I wonder what the atmosphere was like. Was it a second-floor classroom with a sign in the window and a bunch of typewriters sitting on old school desks? Was it close and stuffy, like the sweatshops its students work in? Maybe Papa’s meeting with the “school man” (his English vocabulary must not have included the words “headmaster” or “administrator”) took place in a dark hallway or staircase. It could have even happened in the classroom while class was in session — sounds like the “school man” wanted to get rid of Phil in favor of a full-tuition student, so he might have deliberately made Papa argue right there, thinking he’d be too embarrassed to discuss Phil’s discount arrangement in front of other students.

In any event, Papa’s sense of duty is once again on display as he forks over $5.00 to keep Phil in class (if a previous commenter on this blog has the conversion right, this would be the equivalent of $60 in 2007, which was probably no small chunk of Papa’s salary). My mother says the words “I am glad this is off my head” really jumped out at her because, for Papa, this would have been an over-the-top expression of impatience. But, these are Papa’s private thoughts, and if that’s as annoyed as he got I’m sure no one noticed.

Phil, by the way, was a Russian immigrant who came to America after his first wife “broke her head,” as Phil apparently put it, in a buggy accident. He would outlive three more wives, all of whom, including Papa’s sister Nettie, died under strange circumstances. This earned him the nickname “serial killer” among certain members of my family. According to one story, Phil half-jokingly offered to make Papa’s other sister Clara his fifth wife when she was around eighty. “No,” she replied, “I’m too young to die.”

Thursday Mar 13

by


Attend Maccabean camp
meeting.

———————-

Matt’s Notes

Earlier in the year, Papa co-founded a new chapter of the fraternal Order Sons of Zion (B’nai Zion) and persuaded his fellow members to nickname it the “Maccabean” camp. As previously noted, the Maccabees were legendary Jewish warriors, so the nickname carried with it a certain combative edge, a deliberate challenge to the caricature of Jews as physically inept and resigned to bad luck.

Papa may have had another inspiration for his camp’s nickname, too: “The Maccabean” was the flagship publication of B’nai Zion’s parent organization, the Federation of American Zionists (FAZ). My research here is a little muddy, but it looks like the FAZ became the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) around 1917. In any event, the FAZ/ZOA spun off B’nai Zion in 1908, partly to provide health insurance to its members but also to “help the Zionist Congress in the work of obtaining for the Jewish people a legally secured, publicly assured national home in Palestine.”1

I’m sure Papa had a lot to report at his Maccabean meeting that day, because the night before he’d attended a major event at the Hotel Astor (pictured below) at which a prominent rabbi declared his support for Zionism after years of ambivalence. Papa had felt discouraged in the course of his activist work over the winter, but with the weather warming up and his beloved cause making strides, his spirits must have brightened considerably.

—————-

Additional Notes

I didn’t say much about the Hotel Astor yesterday, but here’s what I know: It was a 500-bedroom, 300-bathroom beauty that rose ten stories above Broadway on the block between 44th Street and and 45th street.

hotel astor

The wall between its two ballrooms could be moved to accommodate large functions like the one Papa attended, though when it first opened in 1907 1904 the Times got most excited about its thermostats:

In each [room] there is a “temperature regulator.” The ordinary method of turning the radiator valves is supplanted by an automatic device enabling the guest to set a pointer upon a clocklike figured scale at a degree of temperature desired.

The building came down, temperature regulators and all, in 1967 to make room for the office tower known as 1515 Broadway, where Viacom now resides. Nyc-architecture.com mourns its passing with a typical, and justified, howl of agony.

(Image source: Library of Congress call number HABS NY,31-NEYO,72-.)

————–

My mother adds:

Lots of people, including yours truly. would meet their dates at the Astor (under the clock). I think this is mentioned in Salinger or is it Fitzgerald—and I’m sure many other books. I’m amazed that Papa allowed his priceless
treasure to go “into the city” to meet rapacious young men, but I did nonetheless. Relationships were more proper in those days and my dates always took me home.

———-

1 – Quoted from B’nai Zion’s 75th anniversary historic review pamphlet.

Saturday Mar 22

by


Attended the Hadassah
Ball at the 71st Reg. Armory

It looked more like a
fashion show, because
of the attendance
being of the most prominent
Jews, displaying their
best in evening dress.

However it did not impress
me very much I felt
rather lonesome throughout
the evening although I met
numerous friends.

—————–

Matt’s Notes

In 1924, Hadassah was well on its way to becoming the enormously successful Jewish womens’ organization it is today, though it had technically become a subset of the Zionist Organization of America in 1918. Its growth outstripped ZOA’s almost from the start, though, and it would only be a few more years until resulting organizational tensions effectively ended the relationship. Papa was an active, loyal member of the ZOA, so I’m sure he picked up on some of these tensions. This may be why he was so uncharacteristically quick to dismiss the guests at the Hadassah function as vain and self-important — his ZOA compadres must have lit up the schvitzes with such talk.

I wonder, too, if his unforgiving reaction to the “prominent Jews” at the ball was related to the “20th Century Girl” (if you’re just joining us, the “20th Century Girl” was the latest object of Papa’s ardor). He pined for her constantly, but worried that her social aspirations — her need to be “prominent” — precluded a relationships with a lowly “wage earner” like him. As a result, he’d felt lousy and forlorn for days. Perhaps, deep down, he was angry at the 20th Century Girl, blamed her for his apprehension, and took it out a little on the highfalutin’ Hadassah folk she aspired to be like.

———————-

The Sienese-inspired 71st Street Armory was a mighty fine building, but it’s been gone since the 70’s. Here’s what it looked like while it still stood on 33rd and Park:

Papa, of course, would have worn his tuxedo there that night:

————-

Additional notes:

For a better Hadassah history than on the Hadassah site itself, check out this excerpt from the American Jewish Desk Reference.

Image source: 71st Regiment Armory, Library of Congress call # LC-D4-19584

——-

Updates:

I’ve updated my March 19th post with early 20th Century Eastern European Purim images from the Yivo archive. Give them a look if you’ve got the time.

Saturday Aug 23

by


Attended a rather stormy
meeting of the 3 down town
districts at St. Marks Pl.
I took part in the discussion.

—————

The “down town districts” Papa mentions here are probably chapters of the Zionist Organization of America. The Z.O.A. was, at the time, a 40,000 member group closely affiliated with the womens’ group Hadassah, the fundraising organization Keren Hayesod, and Order Sons of Zion (B’nai Zion) the Zionist fraternal order to which Papa belonged.

Back in January, Papa had put quite a bit of pressure on himself to help revive the 1st district of the Z.O.A., organizing and publicizing a meeting with A-list guest speakers including the prominent Zionist figures Abe Goldberg and Maurice Samuel. He hasn’t mentioned the district since then, but I assume he represented it at the meeting mentioned above.

Where would this meeting have taken place? In a private home? A coffee house? Over dinner in a Jewish restaurant on the Lower East Side? Perhaps, since it was a Saturday, Papa and his comrades met in a synagogue after Shabbat services, or maybe, in the cool of this August evening, they strolled up to the the Z.O.A. offices on 5th Avenue and 12th Street. [Not sure what I was thinking when I wrote these last couple of sentences — he mentions that the meeting was on St. Marks place.]

I wonder, too, what kind of “stormy” debate Papa participated in during this meeting. The possibilities are limitless: They may have had a heated political discussion over the advantages of the movement’s left-wing socialist or right-wing militant philosophies; perhaps they needed to decide which of their less successful downtown districts to shut down; maybe they disagreed over how to best spread the word in lower Manhattan or about where the next fundraising event should take place.

Stridency was the order of the day in Papa’s Zionist circles, so I imagine whatever room he and his friends smoked up must have been really alive with argument if Papa noted the meeting’s contentiousness. (Even Papa, who we all remember as remarkably gentle and fair, could take the gloves off when he aired Zionist opinions — witness his strident language in an article he wrote for the Z.O.A. publication Dos Yiddishe Folk criticizing a rival Zionist group.) When he says he “took part in the discussion,” does he mean he jumped into the fray and shouted to be heard? Or, when faced with a room full of red-faced colleagues, did he try to restore civility and cool everyone down with quiet logic?

Saturday Sept 6

by


Zionist meeting at 3rd dist

Sent to Mother $5.00

—————

Matt’s Notes

The “3rd dist” is likely the the same Third District, or local chapter, of the Zionist Organization of America that threw a dance at the Parkway Restaurant back on February 21st.

This leads me to wonder once again what’s become of the Z.O.A’s troubled First District. Papa worked hard earlier in the year to resuscitate it, but he hasn’t mentioned it since he gave a membership pitch to a Zionist youth organization on February 10th. He did go to a meeting of the “three downtown districts” a little over a week ago, and he characterized the discussion as “stormy.” Had the Z.O.A. debated at that meeting whether to fold its other downtown districts into the Third?

Meanwhile, this is the first time in a while Papa has mentioned sending money to his mother. This could be because he just hasn’t written about it, but it might be because he’s been in debt for a while (he recently paid back $25 his cousin loaned him) and has only just found some spare cash to send home.