An Unpromising Land: Jewish Migration to Palestine in the Early Twentieth Century

302 Pages·2014·1.477 MB·English

by  Gur Alroey

An Unpromising Land
Stanford Studies in Jewish History and Culture
edited by Aron Rodrigue and Steven J. Zipperstein
An Unpromising Land
Jewish Migration to Palestine
in the Early Twentieth Century
Gur Alroey
stanford university press
stanford, california
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
©2014 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.
All rights reserved.
This book is published with the financial assistance of the Faculty of Humanities at
the University of Haifa.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of
Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Alroey, Gur, author.
An unpromising land : Jewish migration to Palestine in the early twentieth century /
Gur Alroey.
pages cm -- (Stanford studies in Jewish history and culture)
“The skeleton of this book is my Hebrew publication Imigrantim: Ha-hagirah
ha-yehudit le Eretz Israel bereshit ha-meah ha-esrim (Immigrants: The Jewish
Immigration to Palestine in the Early Twentieth Century), which appeared in two
editions in 2004 ... The present book is an expansion of the previous Hebrew
editions.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8047-8932-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Palestine--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century. 2. Europe,
Eastern--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century. 3. Jews, East
European--Palestine--History--20th century. 4. Jews, East European--Migrations--
History--20th century. 5. Immigrants--Palestine--History--20th century.
I. Title. II. Series: Stanford studies in Jewish history and culture.
jv8749.a436 2014
304.8'5694047089924--dc23
2013045877
isbn 978-0-8047-9087-1 (electronic)
Typeset by Bruce Lundquist in 10.5/14 Galliard.
To the memory of
PAULA HYMAN
1946–2011

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Introduction: Aliyah versus Migration 1
1 Three Revolutions and the Pogroms 33
2 Reaching a Decision 63
3 Profile of the Immigrants 105
4 The Journey to Palestine 127
5 Adaptation and Acclimatization in the New Land 163
6 Leaving Palestine 209
Conclusion 233
Notes 243
Bibliography 267
Index 277

Illustrations
Figures
Figure 1.1 Distribution of emigrants from the port of Odessa
according to countries of origin, 1905–1914. 61
Figure 3.1 The waves of Jewish immigration to the
United States and Palestine, 1905–1914. 110
Figure 3.2 Immigrants’ composition to Palestine and the
United States by sex, 1905–1914. 112
Figure 3.3 Immigrants’ composition to Palestine and the
United States by age, 1905–1914. 112
Figure 3.4 Immigrants’ composition to Palestine and the
United States by occupation, 1905–1914. 116
Figure 3.5 Immigrants’ composition by their preference
for place of settlement in Palestine, 1905–1913. 117
Figure 3.6 Capital (in roubles) of immigrants to Palestine
who left from Odessa, 1905–1910. 118
Figure 3.7 Composition of immigrants to Palestine who left
from the port of Odessa, in accordance with their motives
for traveling, 1905–1913. 119
Figure 3.8 Composition of immigrants who sailed to Palestine
on the advice of relatives, 1905–1913. 120