NETSAH YISRAEL: DEVARIM HA-’OMDIM BE-RUM ‘OLAM YISRA’EL VEHA-YAHADUT. NEZACH YISRAEL, ISRAEL IS IMMORTAL AND WILL PREVAIL. A DISCUSSION OF THE MOST VITAL QUESTIONS, CONCERNING THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND THE JEWISH RELIGION. נצח ישראל: דברים העומדים ברום עולם ישראל והיהדות
Shikago [Chicago]: Bi-Defus ha-Mahaver, 1897. Item #43553
1st Edition. Original printed paper wrappers bound into period buckram boards, 8vo, 273 pages [misprinted as “173”] + [1] leaf; 25 cm. In Hebrew. English title from original rear paper wrapper, present here. Title translates as, “The Eternity of Israel: Things That Stand Above the World of Israel and Judaism.” Goldman 1067. Deinard 582. Singerman 5264. Deinard 582. Mishkin (Defuse Shikago be-'ivrit ube-yidish) 24.
"The first Hebrew work in America to react favorably to political Zionism" (Eisig Silberschlag in EJ), with publication in the same year as the First Zionist Congress in Basle.
“Schur wrote Netsah Yisrael in response to the threat to American Jews posed by Christian missionaries (particularly William Blackstone), Reform rabbis and socialists” (Goldman). Not coincidentally, the book's publication in 1897 also coincides with the founding in Vilna of the Jewish Labor Bund, whose goal was to bring Jewish workers across the Russian Empire into a single socialist party.
Netsah Yisrael “compared the Mosaic law with every known ancient or modern religious or political system..., in a manner which well demonstrates his broad culture and extensive reading, and comes to the conclusion that...Mosaism is immeasurably superior to all othersystems, from those of ancient Canaan and Egypt to Christianity" (Drachman, 81).
Zev Wolf Schur (aka William; 1884-1910), was a “pioneer Hebrew writer and journalist in the United States. Born in Lithuania, he settled in the United States in 1888 and spent most of his life in poverty. A friend of Abraham Mapu, Schur devoted himself to Hebrew literature, traveled and taught in many countries, including the Far East, and wrote about his voyages in the periodicals Ha-Meliz, Ha-Yom, and Ha-Shahar….
He was an ardent pioneer of the Hebrew press in America and, later, of political Zionism, participating in the Fourth Zionist Congress. Under his editorship the periodical Ha-Pisgah (1889–99), in which Tchernichowsky made his literary debut, attracted the best Hebrew writers in America and some Hebrew writers from abroad. After it ceased publication, it was continued as Ha-Tehiyyah (1899–1900).
Schur wrote several novels in Hebrew. His most important book is Nezah Yisrael (1897), a defense of Judaism against Christian attacks, against Reform Judaism, against socialism and anarchism. It affirms the twin axiom: the eternal existence of Jewry and the eternality of the Torah. Supporting nationalism, it was the first Hebrew work in America to react favorably to political Zionism” (Eisig Silberschlag in EJ).
Goldman notes, additionally, that Schur “lived in New York, Baltimore, Boston, St. Louis and Chicago.” His “Hebrew journal, Ha-Pisgah [Hapisgoh]” was “at times was the only Hebrew periodical publication in America, and he operated a Hebrew printing press.”
In Orthodox Judaism, the phrase Netzach Yisrael (the Eternity of Israel) proclaims the metaphysical belief that the Jewish people are immortal and destined to eternally endure, regardless of the historical, physical, or spiritual challenges they face. Rooted in the verse Netzach Yisrael lo yeshaker (1 Samuel 15:29), this foundational concept addresses the most vital questions regarding Jewish destiny, faith, and survival.
An English translation was proposed, but it never appeared (Kabakoff).
OCLC: 19150692. YIVO keeps their copy in their Rare Book Collection.
Card pocket removed. Modern Jewish Library bookplate, as well as turn of the 20th Century stamps & labels of the "Hebrew Literature Society Philadelphia." Donation inscription to the Society in year of publication on title page. Spine label, small stamp to margin of title page. Good+ Condition. Important work from an important leader of the turn of the century American Hebrew press. (BER-1) (AMR-72-11A-GGBBBDRLKKF).
Price: $400.00