But here even before all this, as a prophet without a people, a false Jew arose for him who wanted to be a covenant, thinking and working for the establishment of a Jewish state in the borders of the United States of America, on the land in Eilean More, New York. And the name of the country is Ararat, similar to the name of the mountain on which Noah’s ark rested during the flood.
Mordechai Emanuel Noah was born in Philadelphia in 1785, less than ten years after the founding of the future empire. Influenced by the values of American freedom, Noah decided to add the persecuted Jews to the American project, at least for a short time, until they could return to their country. He sincerely believed that only in the USA would the Jews find rest. At the beginning of the 19th century, he gave a speech at the dedication ceremony of the second synagogue in New York, in which ‘ he announced that the revival of the synagogue was necessary. The impressive speech left its mark on two future US presidents, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. In 1825 Noah began to fulfill his temporary dream for the Jews; In the city of Buffalo, the state “Arrat” was established. In a carnival parade, with hundreds marching behind him, Noah stood and announced himself as “Judge of Israel by the grace of God”. The leader of the nation of Israel.
Only Zion will magnetize Jews
The Jewish-British writer Israel Zangwill, the leader of the Jewish territorial movement that was created at the beginning of the twentieth century, entered this historical drama, which is completely forgotten. After the Zionist Organization rejected the Uganda plan, Zangwil withdrew from it and founded the “Jewish Territorial Organization”, which promoted initiatives to establish a national home for the Jews in various areas. Among other things, areas in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Angola and other countries were investigated. “A country without a people for a people without a country”, the slogan was identified by him. And here too, literature preceded reality. In 1899 he sat down to write the short novel that really was – the story of the self-appointed leader, Mordechai Emanuel Noah, and the founding of the state of Ararat.
The plot follows a character nicknamed “So-and-so”, an unfortunate poet who walks the streets of a Jewish ghetto, in Germany at the beginning of the 19th century. “His black eyes looked into him, and more than they were sharpened by the tragedy of Jewish death, the tragedies of Jewish life were burned in them.” It seems to him that since the darkness of the Middle Ages “the persecution of the Jews has not spread its feathers to such a display”, and he was very much looking for a solution to the problem of the Jews. He wonders why the Jews can’t fight for themselves, if not with strength then at least with money, with the Baron’s help.
One day the streets of the ghetto are crowded and excited. A strong poster was placed on the synagogue: “Here I am, Mordechai Emanuel Noach, citizen of the United States, former consul of Tunis, city and kingdom, high sheriff of New York, legal adviser and diplomat and ruler and judge in Israel by the grace of God, hereby calling… to all the Jews of this world to inform them that a prepared and ready refuge is offered to them.” – a reserve located in a free country that is ready to guarantee. the peace of the Jews – “a land flowing with milk and honey in which Israel will find peace, each under the vine and under his fig tree, and they will find great ability in the science of government and in the study of culture and the Talmud until May they are preparing with all their strength for the resurrection of their old heritage.”
The Jewish people laughed in front of the man who crowned himself the leader of the Bible. Only one and only one was used for the mission, a spirit struck him, and he said: “In the name of God, I revive, renew and restore the basis of the rule of the Jewish nation under the auspices of the Constitution America. and defend the laws of the United States, and by doing this I confirm and establish forever our rights, our name and status, our strength and our strength among the nations of the world , as they were established by all the comments below. the government of Israel’s judges.”
From now on, that’s how the journey to the new state begins. He invites Jews from all over the world, as well as the Karaites and the Samaritans – they will all gather together in the new state. Together, the two go to Grand Island to find the country that will be “a beacon of justice for the nations of the world”. They connect with the local Indians, whom they refer to as part of the ten lost tribes, collaborate with the Freemasons and integrate them into the state institutions. , and laying the cornerstone for the foundation of the state in a colorful parade. However, in the end their dreams are dashed into the uninhabited desert. Noah finally abandons Ararat, and realizes that it is “our only hope in Palestine. Zion alone attracts the Jews like a magnet.”
An invitation to think about the future
Zangvil’s story was translated into Hebrew and published in 1943 by Yitzhak Lebanon, and was printed once more in 1961. Oded Volkstein’s new translation gives the text a contemporary and accessible shine. The story itself is too short to contain a book, but the articles that have been added, about the work of Zagwill and Emanuel Noach, make it deeper. It is not a great work of literature but an insight into an interesting historical phenomenon, both the main character of the book and its author, both related to how the Jews live.
In these terrible days, new and painful lines of the Zionist story are being written. By diving into an ancient imagination of a past future we are subjecting ourselves to our own imagination – what Jewish future we seek , what stories we want to tell now, and how they meet reality. In this context, reading “Noah’s Ark” ignites the collective imagination and invites ideas of new arks amidst the flood that washes over us.
Yisrael Zangvil wrote an innocent and rather simple novel, full of political scenes around the world and colorful descriptions of what happened along the way. There is something comforting about reading an old-fashioned vision that imagines the future state of the Jewish people. We know and bear what happened to the Jews from then to this day, but this small act of writing invites us to imagine new big imaginations and write them down. Each forgotten piece of imagination can become a piece of complete reality. Even scenes that aren’t true are part of the big story we tell.
