12. [A Female British Zionist Proposes Jewish Divorce Reforms] Hands, L [Lizzie]

SOME LEGAL DIFFICULTIES WHICH BESET THE JEWESS [WITH] “ADDENDA” [COPY BELONGING TO ITALIAN ZIONIST LEADER ANGELO SULLAM, WITH HIS STAMP]

No Place [London]: No Publisher [The Author? Printed by Hart & Sons], 1920-1921. Item #43436

No Date [c. 1920-1921]. Original printed paper wrappers Small 8vo, 16 pages. + 2-leaf stapled mimeograph “Addenda.” Addenda appears to be from after February 1921. Includes bibliographical references.
“Printed for Private Circulation.”

Stamped “ex libris ANGELO SULLAM” on cover.

Neither the main title nor the Addenda are mentioned in Cecil Roth's Magna Bibliotheca Anglo-Judaica.
"Paper prepared for the International Conference on Women Zionists which was held in London in July, 1920. Since then, the subject has been much discussed and the writer desires to add a few words." (from the Addenda, which was composed shortly after the February, 1921, Rabbinical Conference in Jerusalem).
The author, Lizzie Hands (1880-1956) here attempts to "briefly to set forth the difficulties which confront the Jewess in the modern world; to indicate the steps which have already been adopted for her relief, and to consider the need for further measures. This short survey," she writes, "is not exhaustive; it is intended merely to direct attention to the subject, and to induce Jewish women all the world over, to indicate their wish that the state of affairs may receive the consideration of a Rabbinic Conference in the near future"
Hands reviews problems particular to Jewish women as a result of political and religious oppression in Eastern Europe and of customs and traditions within the faith itself. With the possibility of Jewish settlement in Palestine, Hands emphasizes the necessity of ensuring that women, as well as men, have 'the right to develop and utilize their capacities to the full.'
The majority of Hands' discussion concerns divorce, suggesting that "It seems at least essential that some step should be taken to insure that the wife may have the best independent advice before consenting to a dissolution of marriage. If she cannot attend the divorce proceedings, she should be informed that such proceedings are contemplated and furnished with adequate means of safeguarding her interests and those of her children; nor should the man who has instituted divorce proceedings against an innocent wife be allowed to go his way until it has been ascertained that she assents."
The work and author are cited by Ralf Balke in his 2020 article, on the 1920 Conference, “100 Jahre starke Frauen” (“100 Years of Strong Women,” https://www.hagalil.com/2020/07/wizo-2. The article features a group photo that includes Hands)

Angelo Sullam (1881-1971) was President of the Jewish Community in Venice (1919-1930) as well as “an Italian jurist and activist and Zionist leader.
In 1902 “Sullam….became a contributor to Idea Sionista, a magazine….In the articles he published in 1902, as well as in his doctoral thesis, the themes dearest to him already emerge: anti-Semitism, the oppression of the Jews in Eastern Europe, the emancipation of the persecuted Jews through Zionism.
In 1903…he founded the Venetian Zionist Group for the movement's propaganda in Venice….In the same year, he was part of the Italian delegation to the Sixth World Zionist Congress, held in Basel , where he distinguished himself as a supporter of Theodor Herzl 's ideals, as opposed to more extreme lines of thought. He expressed his support for negotiations with the Ottoman Empire for the colonization of Palestine as a solution to the redemption of the Jews, also emphasizing the importance of ‘propaganda for a Jewish conscience’ among the Jews remaining in Europe.
The outbreak of the Libyan war [in 1911] was an opportunity to open a new debate on Zionism, convinced that colonial policy could open economic prospects for Jews and Italians together. First in Turin in 1912 , then in Rome in 1914 , he spoke at two Jewish youth conferences, denouncing Italians' hostile attitudes toward Libyan Jews, despite the fact that they represented the segment of the population most favorable to colonialism. Italy, he argued, needed to acknowledge the fact that numerous Italian-speaking Jewish communities existed throughout the Mediterranean basin, and to disadvantage them would be contrary to its own interests….
Between 1917 and 1918, with the end of Turkish rule in Palestine, he resumed his Zionist propaganda with greater vigour and also aroused the interest of some government officials when he supported the possibility of a convergence of Jewish and Italian interests in the East.
During 1918, when Italy was asked whether or not to adhere to the Balfour Declaration, he became a consultant to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in particular to Undersecretary Gaetano Manzoni and Consul Carlo Galli. He played a leading role in choosing the delegates to be sent to the Zionist Executive Commission, which was established in Jerusalem in January 1918 .
After the First World War….he was in close contact with Chaim Weizmann, who saw him as an influential figure in guiding the Italian government's decisions regarding the British Mandate of Palestine. In 1920, supported by Mario Lago, Director General of Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he established the Società commerciale italo-mediterranea, an economic organization whose purpose was Italian and Italo-Jewish propaganda….
From 1919 to 1929, he was president of the General Israelite Fraternity of Venice (the future Jewish Community), and in 1921, he was appointed vice president of the Consortium of Italian Jewish Communities. In the same year, he became president of the Committee for Assistance to Jewish Emigrants, dedicating himself to supporting the many Jews who, from Eastern Europe, were heading for Palestine or the Americas by embarking in Italian ports.
He also participated in the reform of the legislation on Jewish Communities and the Union of Jewish Communities….as late as 1937-38 he was still a member of the Committee of Italians of Jewish Religion.
The racial laws of 1938 affected him only partially, thanks to the status of "discriminated Jew" obtained in February 1939” (Wikipedia, translated from the Italian).

For more on Sullam, see L. Brazzo’s 2006 article, “Angelo Sullam and the Zionism movement in Italy between the Libyan war and the hundred year end crisis” (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/293308072_Angelo_Sullam_and_the_Zionism_movement_in_Italy_between_the_Libyan_war_and_the_hundred_year_end_crisis_Part_1)

OCLC: 55649156.

Light toning to covers, folds to Addenda as issued. Very Good Condition. Important. (B) (Brit-2-11-GGOLDBCCS).

Price: $450.00