the Roumanian Jews volunteered
to serve in large numbers, the proposal was brought forward to grant
the rights of citizenship to all Jews who had entered the army. Yet
this proposal was voted down; and the condition of the Jews has
remained as it was prior to 1878. They are inhabitants in a country,
subject to its laws, liable to all duties placed upon citizens--but
they are themselves prohibited from becoming citizens. It is
intolerable that such a condition should be allowed to continue; and
if right is to take the place of might in the inevitable
re-arrangement of the community of European nations, the status of the
Roumanian Jews must be one of the Jewish problems to be solved.

_The Hope of Regaining Palestine_

There is a third Jewish problem the importance of which perhaps even
transcends the two just mentioned; transcends because of the interest
that attaches to it and because of its vital import to every Jew the
world over. I refer to the problem of Palestine, which is wrapt up
with the very existence of the Jews and which symbolizes the hopes
that have been nurtured throughout the centuries. We know that the Jew
in his inevitable march westward has kept his face turned towards the
East; that in prayer and in meditation his gaze has rested upon that
country which enshrined at one and the same time his origin and his
future aspirations. It is true that up to within some forty years that
aspiration remained in large part a pious wish; and that though it was
cherished as coming to realization "quickly and in our day," very few
attempts were put through to arm the Almighty with human effort. At
best, God-fearing and pious Jews removed to Palestine, either to
immerse themselves there in study and contemplation, or to end their
days in the odor of sanctity.

But the last twenty-five years have witnessed a conscious effort to
make of Palestine a rallying point for the Jewish people, a place
where Jewish life may be lived to its fullest extent and which may
serve as a beacon light to all parts of the Diaspora. Many a waste
place has been made to blossom again; and much of the culture and
learning acquired by the Jews in the long centuries of toil and effort
has been made available to revivify the Land of Promise. With infinite
pains and untold sacrifices the Jewish pioneers went forward in their
peaceful effort to regain the soil of their forefathers. Colonies have
been founded there; primary schools, high schools