Nahum Sokolow

Biography

Sokolow was born in 1859 in the shtetl of Wyszogród near Płock in the Russian Empire (today in Poland) to a rabbinic family. His father, a descendant of Rabbi Nathan Nata Spira ("Megaleh Amukot"), moved to Płock in 1865. Sokolow studied in the study houses of Wyszogród, Płock, Lowicz, Sompolno, Koło, Kutno, and others. A polyglot, he studied foreign languages from a young age, becoming fluent in Russian, German, English, French, and Italian literature. His father wanted him to study for the rabbinate but with the intervention of Baron Wrangel, the governor of Płock, he enrolled in a secular school. He married at eighteen and settled in Makov, where his father-in-law lived, and earned a living as a wool merchant. In 1883, upon arriving in Warsaw, he pursued broad general studies. In 1884, he began writing for the Hebrew newspaper Ha-Tsfira, later becoming its editor and owner. The paper appealed to both enlightened Jews and the Haredim.

In 1884 (Hebrew year 5645), he founded the annual literary almanac HaAsif, which was published until 1889, with a final volume appearing in 1894. He later published Sefer HaShanah ("The Yearbook") in Warsaw between 1899 and 1902, considered a continuation of HaAsif. In 1889, he also edited Sefer Zikaron le-Sofrei Yisrael HaChayim Ittanu Hayom – a biographical collection of contemporary Jewish authors, as an appendix to HaAsif. He was a prominent contributor to the periodical Ivri Anochi.

In 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, he moved to London to work with Chaim Weizmann.

Sokolow is regarded as the father of modern Hebrew journalism. He established European standards for Hebrew press, emphasizing factual, up-to-date, and accurate reporting. He pioneered the Hebrew reportage (news article) style, developed a unique linguistic register blending layers of Hebrew with his own neologisms for foreign words. He introduced the Yiddish feuilleton genre to Hebrew, pioneered travel writing, and was the first Hebrew journalist to include a regular weekly literary supplement. He also formulated an early concept of journalistic ethics centered on truth and accuracy, avoiding sensationalism.

David Lazar wrote of Sokolow:

Our prosaic and cynical generation can no longer comprehend the reverence that bordered on worship that surrounded Nahum Sokolow, 'HaOreach LeShabbat' – as he signed his feuilletons in Ha-Tsfira. People didn't merely read him – they 'studied' his words as if they were a page of Talmud.

Initially, Sokolow opposed Theodor Herzl’s idea of establishing a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, believing it could harm the moshavot. However, within a year, he became an ardent supporter. In 1897, he covered the First Zionist Congress as a journalist. Around 1900, Herzl sent him to meet the Rebbe of Ger, one of Poland's leading rabbis, in an effort to win him over to Zionism – the meeting was unsuccessful.

Zionist activism

In 1902, Sokolow translated Herzl’s Altneuland into Hebrew, coining the name Tel Aviv (later adopted as the name of the first Hebrew city). He explained the name as a combination of "Tel" (an ancient ruin) and "Aviv" (spring, renewal).

In 1906, After Herzl's death, Sokolow was asked to become the secretary general of the World Zionist Congress. In the ensuing years, he crisscrossed Europe and North America to promote the Zionist cause. After moving to London, he was a leading advocate for the Balfour Declaration in which the British government declared its support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In 1906, he became editor of the Zionist organization's central German publication Die Welt. In 1908, he founded the Hebrew weekly Ha-Olam. In 1910, he resigned from all his positions due to internal Zionist disputes.

In 1911, the 10th Zionist Congress elected him to the Zionist Executive, where he handled diplomatic matters. Unlike others, Sokolow remained close to Orthodox Judaism and studied Talmud daily. He negotiated with France, securing the Cambon Declaration in support of Jewish settlement in Palestine. Alongside Chaim Weizmann, he was instrumental in securing the Balfour Declaration. That same year, his masterpiece Ishim ("Figures") was published – a collection of portraits of influential Jews. In 1919, his monumental two-volume history, History of Zionism, was published in English.

On 6 February 1917, a meeting was held in Maida Vale with Weizmann to discuss the results of the Picot convention in Paris. Following their displacement of Gaster from leadership, Sokolow and Weizmann continued their efforts and received official recognition from the British government.

Historian Martin Kramer argues that securing the assent of Britain's French and American allies, as well as that of the Vatican—which controlled many Christian holy sites in the Land of Israel—was a necessary precondition for the Balfour Declaration. On 4 May 1917, Sokolow obtained the support of Pope Benedict XV, who described the return of the Jews to Palestine as "providential; God has willed it".

France's assent followed in the Cambon letter of 4 June 1917, signed by Jules Cambon, head of the French foreign ministry's political section.

Family

At seventeen, Sokolow married Rivka, daughter of Rabbi Yitzhak Zvi Segal of the Makow family, who encouraged his intellectual pursuits. They had several children: daughters Maria, Helen, Sofia (Zusia), and Selina (Tselina); and sons Henry, Leon, and Florian. His daughter Maria married Stanisław Mendelson, founder of the Polish Socialist Party.

His daughter, Dr. Selina Sokolow, served as his secretary, later his physician, dedicating her life to him and to Zionism. Her nephew George, son of Florian, served as her aide until his death in 1967. Florian was killed in the London Blitz. Selina remained in London, never married, and had no children. In 1957, she attended the inauguration of Beit Sokolow in Tel Aviv.