tolerated. Furthermore, demands like the union’s promised “close cooper-
ation between all elements in Jewry, a desideratum which... appears par-
ticularly in present conditions so very important and necessary.” Accord-
ingly, by taking statism out of Zionism, the union provided for a “sane”
Zionism that united different Jewish factions, one with which Schiff could
feel comfortable. True, the program made no mention of religion, but if
Brandeis endorsed a modified Zionism in return for unity and for Schiff’s
promise to affiliate, the chances of securing Zionist acceptance of Palestine
as a religious center were improved. To Schiff’s disappointment, Brandeis
showed no interest in the program. Nevertheless, the banker continued to
support the stand of the National Union, adding a proviso that emphasized
Jewish loyalty to the countries in which they lived.^107
Schiff now toned down his rhetoric considerably when he spoke about
or to Zionists, even though his earlier views on the evils of nationalism, es-
pecially on secular nationalism and on the incompatibility of political Zion-
ism with patriotism, were for the moment fixed. What had changed was a
willingness to join forces in securing free Jewish immigration into Palestine
and the establishment there of a Jewish center. Open to various interpreta-
tions, a “center” left room for further discussion and compromise.
The banker shared his thoughts with various associates. Zionist Judah
Magnes also saw in a pro-Palestine program the possibility of strengthen-
ing the Zionists by uniting them with their critics. In letters to Schiff, Mar-
shall, Adler, and Mack he urged that the AJC commit itself “to the general
Palestine program.” Magnes agreed with his colleagues on the committee
that Zionist goals should include specific mention of religion, but he
deemed it wiser to establish first a united front of Zionists and non-
Zionists and only then to work out precise formulas. In response to the
ideas of both Magnes amd Schiff, the AJC planned months before the Bal-
four Declaration to formulate a policy statement on Jewish settlement in
Palestine.^108
Schiff publicly endorsed a Jewish homeland and a religious center in Pales-
tine when he addressed the League of Jewish Youth on April 22, 1917. Re-
minded of the abandonment of Judaism by the post-Mendelssohn genera-
tion in Berlin, he feared that the emancipation of Russian Jewry might
breed indifference to Judaism and Jewish culture:
It has come to me, while thinking over events of recent weeks... that the
Jewish people should at last have a home land of their own. I do not mean by
that that there should be a Jewish nation. I am not a believer in a Jewish na-
tion built on all kinds of isms, with egotism as the first, and agnosticism and
atheism among the others. But I am a believer in the Jewish people and in the228 Jacob H. Schiff