As a non-Zionist, Schiff contributed to a wide variety of charitable and ed-
ucational enterprises in the yishuv (the Jewish settlement in Palestine be-
fore statehood). To respond to Jewish needs, in Palestine no less than in
Europe or the United States, was an ingrained responsibility of the ste-
wards. Schiff supported Jewish schools and charities in Palestine; later he
helped subsidize Eliezer ben Yehudah’s pioneering efforts in modern He-
brew lexicography. In 1911, for reasons of compassion, he contributed to
Jews in Jerusalem despite his aversion to the halukkah system. During
those years the banker admitted the special significance of Palestine. He
keenly felt, he said, the pull to work for the “cultural elevation of the Jew-
ish inhabitants of the land where the cradle of our people stood.”^73
In 1910, Schiff and another antinationalist, Julius Rosenwald of Chi-
cago, enthusiastically shared the financing of an experimental grain station
in Palestine under the direction of the renowned agronomist Aaron Aaron-
sohn. Similar to his support of agricultural pursuits for immigrants in the
United States, he particularly liked the notion of training young Palestin-
ians in American agricultural methods. Schiff’s determination to shield
such projects from nationalist control provoked sharp exchanges with Aa-
ronsohn. The latter recounted how Schiff and his friends, fearing the
Zionists, “expressed themselves in a manner particularly insulting to the
Zionists. At which I informed them that I am not used to being insulted
and that they could go to hell.” He added a few days later: “Old Man Schiff
said that he finds the Zionists unacceptable, and I retorted that I found that
unacceptable. In the final analysis, someone had to back down—and it was
he.” Surprised by Aaronsohn’s candor, Schiff, however, did not begrudge
his support.^74
The idea of a technical school in Haifa (Technikum and later Technion) es-
pecially appealed to Schiff in the prewar years. His interest was aroused in
1908 by Paul Nathan of the Hilfsverein, whose organization, like its
French and English counterparts, maintained a network of schools in Pal-
estine. Along with the wealthy Wissotzky family of Russia, Schiff contrib-
uted handsomely to the project. He immersed himself in the details of im-
plementation, and he induced American Zionists and non-Zionists to lend
their support. His purpose was twofold. First, he sought to train Palestin-
ian Jews in crafts and industry and thereby end their dependence on haluk-
kah—in his words, to teach the Jerusalem Jew “to know what self-respect
and dignity mean.” Second, he envisioned an undertaking joining Zionists
and non-Zionists, Orthodox and Reform, on a nonpolitical platform—not
to advance the progress of political Zionism but to foster Jewish unity. As
he said, the school would be wedded to no “ism” but Judaism.^75 The banker
In Search of a Refuge 183