The Ashkenazi Revolution

90movement. This movement was, at its foundation, feeble because it gaveno answer to the burning question of Jewish existence in Eastern Europe.It did not establish the two accessories that define a great movement, thefundamentals of a set ideology and the organizational impetus for extensivepractical activities. In short order, the movement lacked the power tomaintain the settlements, and the burden of their upkeep was accepted bythe “father of the settlement”, the Baron Benjamin Rothschild. It was notthe Lovers of Zion movement, but Rothschild who maintained thesettlements in their difficult first years. Moreover, the ideologicalconsolidation of this movement did not come from the power of any one ofits classic leaders, but specifically from the power of the territorialistrevolutionary Yehuda Leib Pinsker.The fate of Pinsker very much resembled that of a greater leader thanhimself, who came after him, Binyamin Ze’ev Herzl. Pinsker toiled somenine years for the movement he consolidated and so too did Herzl. Theirsupporters had previously accepted both of them with acclaim. Later, theyendured bitterness and anger and it was demanded of them that theycompromise their basic beliefs. The early death of Herzl saved him fromthe contempt of his former supporters, and almost certainly from having todisband his movement. The internal opposition that had risen againstPinsker forced him to resign and only through the influence of Lilienblumwas he chosen as honorary president for life of the movement he hadfounded.Pinsker was a revolutionary in his opinions and an opportunist in histactics, and this contradiction caused a personal and historic tragedy.Pinsker’s idea of emancipation, which demanded new and spacious lands,was clearly a revolutionary idea. He who expresses such an ideanecessarily digs a deep trench between himself and the moderate leaderswho keep to the accepted path. Had Pinsker been more adept at politicaltactics, he would have understood that he must create a revolutionarymovement and recruit its supporters from the wonderful Jewish youth thatinclines toward socialist movements. In this instance, Pinsker’s movementwould have advanced slowly, and gradually built its resources, but later it