Celebrating The Balfour Declaration in Pictures
By David Matlow
Imagine that you have an impossible dream – a dream that you’ve had every night of your life. Then imagine you are told that your dream will come true, and you are told this by a person who has the power to actually make it happen. How would you feel?
From left, David Abramovitz, president of the Toronto Zionist Organization, Meyer Michaelson, secretary and treasurer of the Toronto Zionist Organization and Esther Michaelson take part in the Toronto Zionist parade to celebrate the Balfour Declaration in 1917. ONTARIO JEWISH ARCHIVES/BLANKENSTEIN FAMILY HERITAGE CENTRE
The Jewish community marches in a parade in St. Catharines, Ont., to commemorate the Balfour Declaration in 1917. ONTARIO JEWISH ARCHIVES/BLANKENSTEIN FAMILY HERITAGE CENTRE
Now imagine everyone you know has the same dream – a dream that your parents, and their parents, all had, as well. How would they feel when they are told that their dream will come true, too?
The Balfour building at the corner of Spadina and Adelaide in Toronto, ca., 1930. ONTARIO JEWISH ARCHIVES/BLANKENSTEIN FAMILY HERITAGE CENTRE
I imagine that is how the Jewish community felt on Nov. 2, 1917, when Lord Balfour, on behalf of the U.K. government, wrote to Lord Rothschild, saying that, “His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object.”
This important correspondence became known as The Balfour Declaration. It was a very big deal.
It is hard now, 100 years later, to sense the exhilaration that was felt at the time. It is impossible to feel how important the Balfour Declaration was to the Jewish People, how thankful world Jewry was to Lord Balfour for doing this and how, with this one letter, Jews around the world started to see their future in a totally different way. But it is important to try.
The Balfour Young Judea felt crest, ca., 1930. ONTARIO JEWISH ARCHIVES/BLANKENSTEIN FAMILY HERITAGE CENTRE
As we now have the State of Israel, and most of us never experienced the world before it, we run the risk of not appreciating it enough. Thanks to the Ontario Jewish Archives, we can see how the Jewish community of Ontario celebrated the Balfour Declaration. From this, we can extrapolate the joyous celebrations in Jewish communities around the world.
The Balfour Declaration was an important step towards the creation of a national home for the Jewish People. With Israel’s independence in 1948, we have a national home at last, and with our continued dedication and commitment to the State of Israel, we will have a national home to last.
This is what was celebrated in 1917. We should continue the celebration each and every day.
Republished with permission by Author from The Canadian Jewish News
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