page_title: Second Zionist Congress
section_title: Committee on Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Second Zionist Congress / Outcomes of the Congress / Committee on Culture
context_page_description: The Second World Zionist Congress met in Basel, Switzerland on 28 August 1898. and was the second meeting of the Zionist Organisation. The World Zionist Congress brought together delegates from across the world to raise funds, lobby support and create the institutions that would one day form the modern day Jewish State known as Israel, which was established in 1948. The Congress met every year from 1897 to 1901. The main focus of the Second Congress, as set out by its chair, Theodore Herzl, was to engage with Jewish communities in the diaspora and encourage them to adopt Political Zionism.
  The three day congress established the Jewish Colonial Fund whose aim was to fund the successful migration of Jews to Palestine, as well as the establishment of a Committee on Culture. Other notable events of the congress were the presentation of an early prototype of the modern day Israeli flag, and the arrival of the first delegates of Socialist Zionism to the Congress.
context_section_description: The committee was established on the final day of the Congress after some controversy. Oscar Marmorek proposed a list of members for the committee which was rejected by Nachman Syrkin because there was an over-representation of Orthodox Rabbis on the proposed list. Debate ensued but the list was accepted nonetheless. The aims of the Committee were based upon Leo Motzkins report on his visit to Palestine. Motzkin's report revealed attempts at spoken modern Hebrew, and it was decided that the WZO would support the revival of the Hebrew Language and subsequent literature, as well as focus resources into establishing a 'zionistic culture' in the new settlements. This would include establishing more schools and expanding the existing ones in Jaffa.
caption: The Flag of Israel used today (pictured above) is very similar to the one that was proposed to the Second Zionist Congress in 1898.