Spokesperson & Prophet

A vicious wave of anti-Semitism swept Eastern Europe in the 1880's. Organized Russian massacres of Jews called pogroms sparked a mass Jewish flight to America. Lazarus responded with some of her most powerful works. Because her popularity enabled her to reach a dual audience, she became both a spokesperson for and a fiery prophet of the American Jewish community.

source | full image

In secular magazines she railed against international anti-Semitism as well as the false stereotypes that fostered dangerous prejudice against Jews everywhere- even in America. At the same time, she used Jewish publications to inspire passion for a new homeland in Palestine.

Her serial article, "Epistle to the Hebrews," appeared in American Hebrew, a popular journal among middle class Jews. Lazarus called on her readers to join in creating a new nation, reminding them that, "Until we are all free, we are none of us free." While Lazarus' language sometimes reflected her elitism and social Darwinist beliefs- in one poem immigrant Jews crawl, "blinking forth from the loathsome recesses of the Jewry..."- her forward thinking ideas contributed to what was soon to be termed Zionism.

Lazarus' book Songs of a Semite was published in 1882 and celebrated by many as her best work. It consisted of Jewish themed poems as well as a lyric drama. Lazarus dedicated the play, The Dance to Death, to author George Eliot, a source of inspiration for her ideal of a new Jewish nation.

source | full image

Notes

Next—Advocacy