" With them the colonies began to flourish, the debts were
paid off, and a better regime set in. "There was no crime or
drunkenness," says Bentwich, "in those settlements, and the only usurer
was a Russian peasant, who charged the Jewish borrowers thirty-six per
cent for loans. If ever I saw practical religion carried into daily
life, it was among those brave and sober Hebrew ploughmen."[12]
Whatever may be one's views on Zionism, there can be no doubt that it
has proved a power for good in Russia. It introduced new ideals and
revived old expectations. It has accomplished, in a measure, the fond
hope of the Maskilim and awakened within the Russian Jew a feeling of
self-respect and a "consciousness of human worth." Different and
contending elements it has coalesced into one. It has, above all,
brought back to the fold the doubting Thomases and careless Gallios,
even the avowed scoffers, among the Jewish youth, and imbued them with
courage and pride,[13] and given them a new shibboleth, _Meine Kunst der
Welt, mein Leben meinem Volke_ ("My art for the world, my life for my
people").
"We have seen our youths return to us," writes Lilienblum,[14] "and our
hearts were filled with joy.
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