Page 16 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - November 12

HISTORICALLY…
SO, WHO WAS DAVID EDER?
NICK REYNOLD, GIVAT OLGA
F Commission which he was leading to Palestine,
or many of us the הוח - David Eder Farm -
was one of the cornerstones of the
Movement in the early days, even if we
weren't incarcerated there. But who exactly was
this man who like “Old MacDonald” appeared to
have a farm?
David Eder was a man of
many parts. A doctor, one of
the founding psychoanalysts in
Britain, a socialist, a Fabian
and a Zionist, both in Palestine
and in Britain up to his death
in 1936. The הוח was dedicated
to him and his work and was
opened a year before he died,
but he probably never dug the
soil of mid Sussex.
His strong Socialist ideology
led him to practice medicine in
the mining villages in the
North of England and the slums David Eder
of London, but up till 1917, he had no contact
with the recently emerging Zionist movement
and even thought that the concept of Zionism
conflicted with his socialism.
His induction into Zionism was via his famous
cousin Israel Zangwill. The two of them had
shared a flat when they were students and had
remained close friends. Zangwill, the leading
proponent of the 'Uganda scheme' persuaded
Eder to join a mission to Cyrenaica (Libya) to
check out the possibilities of Jewish settlement
there.
Following that, even though Zangwill and
Chaim Weizmann (President of the Zionist
Organisation) were sworn political enemies,
Weizmann invited Eder to join the Zionist
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as its medical officer. From the moment that he
arrived in Palestine and for the rest of his life
Eder was an ardent Zionist, and a great devotee
of Weizmann.
The Zionist Commission's task
in Palestine was complicated
by the opposition of the British
military administration
(OETA) and in general the
atmosphere between the two
entities was continuously
strained. Each of the members
was given a specific task
which would help them to get
inside the Yishuv and throw
some light on its relationship
with the OETA. Eder's task
was to build up contacts with
the ultra religious Jerusalem
Jews and to try and find an alternative to the
הקולח (charity) system.
Most members of the Commission stayed for
only a few months, but Eder remained in
Palestine for a further four years. Weizmann
with his far-reaching role on the Zionist
international stage could not spend much time in
Palestine. When he left in September 1918,
officially Jabotinsky was his second-in-
command. Eder got on well with him, but in
reality it was Eder, who ran the show in
Weizmann’s absence.
Harry Sacher, who knew Eder for 40 years,
wrote that of all the leaders and friends within
the Zionist Movement Eder was the most
beloved of all. He described him as ‘a strong
character rooted in perfect integrity, perfect