Extract From A Letter

(Under date January 24, 1933.)

"You will have received some copies of 'New Judea,' the organ of the English Zionist Federation, containing a considerable amount of interesting information; and while penned from their point of view, yet the facts related are significant, and indicate the trend of things, and thus compare with other accounts.

"The information they give re the material progress of Palestine is very informative, and when one has visited the country and seen something of what is transpiring, one can visualize the great developments; and while probably the majority of the returning Jews are concerned with the materialistic side of things, we know that every move has a significance in relation to spiritual things; and considered in the light of Scripture these matters become of absorbing interest.

"The opening of the Hebrew University (1925) on Mount Scopus, from which the finest view of the City may be obtained (the name Scopus, meaning 'Prospect'); the opening of the Library five years later (1930) by Sir J. Chancellor, with its undoubted potentialities; the remarkable address at the University by Professor Marzinkovshin-subject, 'The solution of the Jewish problem-Jesus'; all supply food for thought.

"Then, the continuous accesion of land by the Jews; the extraordinary building activity; the exploiting of the Dead Sea treasures; the Irak-Haifa Petroleum works; the Haifa Harbour-now nearly finished; the completion of the Jordan Hydro-Electric plant; the planting of 1,250,000 trees on the National Fund land; beside those on other areas; the great increase in orange export (more than one million cases); the increase of Jewish Schools, where the Hebrew language alone is taught-i.e., the language is used for all subjects, as colloquial; the establishment of an Air Port at Tiberias, on the new direct air-line from London to India; and so on, and so on. All this is significant.

"Jerusalem too, is becoming more and more of a Jewish city, nearly sixty per cent. of its population being Jews. Then there is the virile aggressiveness of the returned Zionists; the all-Jewish city of Tel-a-Viv (meaning ' The Hill of Spring '), the only entirely Jewish City in the world; where a successful Exhibition of the products of Palestine was held recently, and where large and prosperous business concerns are in full swing; where the Jewish co-operative Marketing Association has its

headquarters; where the Women's International Organisation maintains a Domestic Science School, and other works; where an Art Museum is to be opened shortly, also a library of books on art (yet adjoining Jaffa-a squalid, almost exclusive Arab town, of filth and poverty, chiefly), these are notable features of present-day conditions in Palestine.

"The Dead Sea works are now in full operation, its fabulous wealth has begun to be tapped, for one has said that the bromide it holds in suspension is sufficient to supply the world for thousands of years, and the potash contained will also prove to be one of the largest supplies known; for, while it is five times as salt as the ocean in the north, it goes on to saturation in the south, and one estimate gives its value as �800,000,000.

I nearly omitted to mention that thousands of books in Hebrew are being produced continuously from the great printing presses at Tel-a-Viv.

"As to the attitude of the Jews toward the Gospel, this no doubt varies in different areas according to environment; in the areas of persecution there is more attention to the Gospel (also a readiness to study the classics) indeed, a remarkable change.

"How full of portent, too, is the widespread Anti-Semitism! The anti-Jewish riots in European Universities; the outbreaks in Russia, Geneva, Stockholm, Algeria, Japan, and now especially in Germany, and the existence of an anti-Jewish section even in England! All this may well lead one to ask, 'What does it all mean?'"

unknown | Apr 1933
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