nationalist and democratic banner. An apprehensive Schiff estimated that
75 percent to 90 percent of the masses were Zionists. If a democratic golem
were to arise, what then of proper communal leadership and the vision of
an American Jewry integrated in the larger society?^59
At a time when, as one Jewish scholar put it, “no gentleman was a Zion-
ist and no Zionist was a gentleman,” Schiff’s views were shared by most of
the stewards. The banker’s sentiments, however, never approximated the
near hysterical anti-Zionist reaction of some leading Reform Jews. Nor did
he reject any contact with Zionists. After Richard Gottheil, first president
of the FAZ, complained that American Jews “of substance” refused their fi-
nancial support, Herzl turned directly to Schiff. The banker had consis-
tently distanced himself from Herzl, and of his close friends only Oscar
Straus, while minister to Constantinople in 1899, had spoken personally
with the Zionist leader. More sympathetic to Zionism than Schiff was,
Straus doubtless reported his negative assessment of Herzl. In 1903 the lat-
ter secured Lord Rothschild’s promise to involve Schiff in a scheme to col-
onize Jews in El Arish, the northern half of the Sinai peninsula, but the
American opposed that short-lived idea.^60
A year later, when Schiff was in Europe, Herzl proposed that the two men
meet. Knowing that Schiff could not be recruited for political Zionism, he
carefully phrased a vague appeal that could cover a variety of possibilities:
You say that you are prepared “to the best of my ability” to give practical aid
to our oppressed and unfortunate people. Coming from you, that is a big
statement, and I am happy to have received it. Do not believe, however, that
I intend to make some fatuous attempt to lure you onto all my paths. I would
simply like to have your help, which I value very highly, on that stretch of the
road which is common to both of us. Don’t jump to the conclusion, for
Heaven’s sake, that I want to schnorr some money from you for our cause....
What I would like to obtain from you is your participation in each individual
case which you are to examine first.A meeting in London was arranged, but since Herzl was unable to attend,
Dr. Nissan Katzenelsohn, a prominent Russian Zionist, served as his desig-
nated substitute. Katzenelsohn and Schiff discussed the banker’s objections
to political Zionism as well as his conditions for loans to Russia. According
to Herzl’s diary, Schiff also promised to present the Zionist leader’s
thoughts on Jewish colonization to England’s Edward VII. The meeting
failed to alter the banker’s views. He praised Herzl’s idealism, but he
thought that the man’s self-proclaimed accomplishments “amounted to
naught.” How far Schiff was prepared to go along with Herzl’s plans is un-
clear, and the episode ended shortly thereafter with Herzl’s death. Schiff
predicted that Zionism would not survive without its leader, and he added
178 Jacob H. Schiff