Please look around you, ladies and gentlemen. The Jew of today is no longer the same as 30 years ago. He is proud, acknowledged and a citizen. At this very moment there is a controversy, especially in the country from whence I come, as to whom is to be credited. The revolutionary parties claim: We turned the Jew into a citizen, a fighter. From the psychological and historical aspect this is untrue. It was something else which caused the revolution within the soul of the Jew. It was a tiny scrap of paper, the 'Zionist Shekel'. Those who were raised in other countries, in the more priviledged ones, cannot comprehend this. When the poor and downtrodden Jew was spoken to about 30 years ago about the struggle for law and justice, he would answer; 'Who and what am I? I am only a poor beggar and have to keep my mouth shut. Only the powerful and affluent have the right to decide on public issues whether it be a deputation to the "governor" or the settlement of the Jews in Palestine.' It did not occur to him that he also had a right to an opinion.

         Then, Herzl came on the scene. Many of Herzl's achievements will be taken away from him; but one thing will always remain to his credit. He gave that humbled Jew the Shekel. After three or four years, we already saw what a change came over that poor Jew. The vision of Zion, hope of a nation, a new sun in the sky, the redemption of the Jewish people. And he, the downtrodden, would be given the power to determine and decide. He says to himself: 'The World Zionist Congress will soon be held. Who knows, perhaps a question will arise, where a single vote can decide the issue. Or, perhaps it will be the delegate to be elected from my city and it will be decided by a few votes among which perhaps is my vote. And, the question whether the Jewish people is taking the right path or not is to be decided by the vote of the simple man, by me. I have the casting vote and it is my responsibility. It is up to me if the Jewish people takes the right path. I am the maker of history! Me, the poor, and you, the wealthy, have only one vote. We are equal. We are citizens.'

         Twenty years of revolutionary propaganda could never bring about that miracle within the soul of the humble Jew as did the Shekel, the notion that the rich and the poor have equal rights.

(Address at the 16th Zionist Congress, Zurich, August 1929, Speeches, 1927-1940) (pp.63-64)