158 FROM THOSE WHO KNEW HIM BEST 



a purposeful, steady and firm resolve. He was not 

 living in New York, but he frequently visited the city 

 and then he too would join the "Russian Colony." 



At the tea house he was one of them and his visits 

 were hailed as an event. He was welcomed royally. He 

 would listen to the endless discussions and inquire into 

 the details of the various local developments. But he 

 never failed to impress upon his subject-matter his own 

 personality. Idealist as he was, he did not detach him- 

 self from the world of practical things. He too had an 

 idea of an universal and all inclusive social order, but 

 he did not insist upon the necessity of applying this 

 world program within a limited sphere. All the world 

 was his, so far as his sympathies were concerned, but 

 what interested him was the actual contribution that he 

 and his fellows could make. 



To these fellows of his he turned with his appraisal. 

 What can you expect of people who fritter their lives 

 away in useless discussion? You neglect your bodies 

 what use can you be to the world if you cannot look after 

 yourselves ? Why do you stay in the city ? What future 

 does this cafe hold in store for you? Bent on destroying 

 the lure of the city, he never tired in picturing the beau- 

 ties and glories of the country. He loved nature; the 

 city, he felt, was not the place for mankind to grow. 



He suffered in his realization that the life of his com- 

 rades was based upon a wrong tendency a tendency that 

 seemed to grip all about him. He knew that so long as 

 they clung to the city, there could be no hope for his 

 people. For it was the fate of the Jews that lay nearest 

 his heart. In America he saw a wonderful opportunity 

 for Israel to start life anew. But this could not be 

 brought about by a passive attitude on the part of the 

 leaders among the Jews ; it was they who must blaze the 



