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Benjamin Ze'ev (Theodor) Herzl (Hungarian: Herzl Tivadar, Hebrew: בנימין זאב הרצל (Binyamin Ze'ev Herzl)) (May 2, 1860 – July 3, 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist who founded modern political Zionism.
Herzl was born in Budapest, Hungary, but the family moved to Vienna when Theodor was 18. There, he studied law, but he devoted himself almost exclusively to journalism and literature, working as a correspondent for the Neue Freie Presse in Paris, occasionally making special trips to London and Istanbul. Later, he became literary editor of Neue Freie Presse,and wrote several comedies and dramas for the Viennese stage.
As a young man, Herzl was engaged in the Burschenschaft association, which strove for German unity under the motto Ehre, Freiheit, Vaterland ("Honor, Freedom, Fatherland"), and his early work did not focus on Jewish life. His work was of the feuilleton order, descriptive rather than political.
The Leader of the Zionists
From April, 1896, when the English translation of his Der Judenstaat ("The Jewish State") appeared, Herzl became the leading spokesman for Zionism. It is widely believed that Herzl was motivated by the Dreyfus Affair, a notorious anti-Semitic incident in France in which a French Jewish army captain was falsely convicted of spying for Germany. Herzl had been covering the trial of Dreyfus for an Austro-Hungarian newspaper. He also witnessed mass rallies in Paris following the Dreyfus trial where many chanted "Death To The Jews!", and in June, 1895, he wrote in his diary: "In Paris, as I have said, I achieved a freer attitude toward anti-Semitism... Above all, I recognized the emptiness and futility of trying to 'combat' anti-Semitism."
Herzl complemented his writing with practical work to promote Zionism on the international stage. He visited Istanbul in April, 1896, and was hailed at Sofia, Bulgaria, by a Jewish delegation. In London, the Maccabeans group received him coldly, but he was granted the mandate of leadership from the Zionists of the East End of London. Within six months this mandate had been approved throughout Zionist Jewry, and Herzl's travelled constantly to draw attention to his cause. His supporters, at first few in number, worked night and day, inspired by Herzl's example.
In 1897, at considerable personal expense, he founded Die Welt of Vienna and planned the first Zionist Congress in Basel. He was elected president, a position he held until his death in 1904, and in 1898 he began a series of diplomatic initiatives itended to build support for a Jewish country. He was received by the German emperor on several occasions, was again granted an audience by the Ottoman emperor in Jerusalem, and attended The Hague Peace Conference, enjoying a warm reception by many other statesmen. In May, 1901 he met for the first time with Sultan of Turkey, but the Sultan refused to cede Palestine to Zionists, saying, "I'd rather be penetrated by iron than see Palestine lost."
In 1902–03 Herzl was invited to give evidence before the British Royal Commission on Alien Immigration. The appearance brought him into close contact with members of the British government, particularly with Joseph Chamberlain, then secretary of state for the colonies, through whom he negotiated with the Egyptian government for a charter for the settlement of the Jews in Al 'Arish, in the Sinai Peninsula, adjoining southern Palestine.
On the failure of that scheme, which took him to Cairo, he received, through L. J. Greenberg, an offer (Aug., 1903) on the part of the British government to facilitate a large Jewish settlement, with autonomous government and under British suzerainty, in British East Africa. At the same time, the Zionist movement being threatened by the Russian government, he visited St. Petersburg and was received by Sergei Witte, then finance minister, and Viacheslav Plehve, minister of the interior, the latter of whom placed on record the attitude of his government toward the Zionist movement. On that occasion Herzl submitted proposals for the amelioration of the Jewish position in Russia. He published the Russian statement, and brought the British offer, commonly known as the "Uganda Project," before the Sixth Zionist Congress (Basel, August 1903), carrying the majority (295:178, 98 abstentions) with him on the question of investigating this offer, after the Russian delegation stormed out. In 1905 after investigation the Congress decided to decline the British offer and firmly committed itself to a Jewish home land in in the historic Land of Israel.
Herzl did not live to see the rejection of the Uganda plan, he died in Vienna in 1904 of heart failure at age 44. His will asked that he be buried in the future Jewish state together with his three children. In 1949 his remains were moved from Vienna to be reburied on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. In 2006 the remains of two of his children were moved from Bordeaux (France) and placed alongside their father.
Judenstaat and Altneuland
Where as his first brochure and his first congress address lacked all religious thought, and his famous remark that the return to Zion would be preceded by a return to Judaism seemed at the moment due rather to a sudden inspiration than to deep thought, subsequent events have proved that he was right. His last literary work, Altneuland (in Eng. The Old New Land), is devoted to Zionism. The author occupied his free time for three years in writing what he believed might be accomplished by 1923. It is less a novel, though the form is that of romance, than a serious forecasting of what can be done when one generation shall have passed. The keynotes of the story are the love for Zion, the insistence upon the fact that the changes in life suggested are not utopian, but are to be brought about simply by grouping all the best efforts and ideals of every race and nation; and each such effort is quoted and referred to in such a manner as to show that Altneuland ("Old-New land"), though blossoming through the skill of the Jew, will in reality be the product of the benevolent efforts of all the members of the human family.
Herzl envisioned a Jewish state which combined both a modern Jewish culture with the best of the European heritage. Thus a Palace of Peace would be built in Jerusalem, arbitrating international disputes - but at the same time the Temple would be rebuilt, but on modern principles. He did not envision the Jewish inhabitants of the state being religious, but there is much respect for religion in the public sphere. Many languages are spoken - Hebrew is not the main tongue. Proponents of a Jewish cultural rebirth, such as Ahad Ha'am were critical of Altneuland.
Herzl did not foresee any conflict between Jews and Arabs. The one Arab character in Altneuland, Reshid Bey, who is one of the leaders of the "New Society", is very grateful to his Jewish neighbors for improving the economic condition of Palestine and sees no cause for conflict. All non-Jews have equal rights, and an attempt by a fanatical rabbi to disenfranchise the non-Jewish citizens of their rights fails in the election which is the center of the main political plot of the novel.
The name of Tel Aviv is the title given to the Hebrew translation of Altneuland by the translator, Nahum Sokolov. This name, which comes from Ezekiel 3:15, means tell — an ancient mound formed when a town is built on its own debris for thousands of years — of spring. The name was later applied to the new town built outside of Jaffa, which went on to become the second-largest city in Israel. Nearby is Herzlia, named in honor of Herzl.
Books written by Theodor Herzl
- The Jewish State (Der Judenstaat) (ISBN 1-59986-998-5)
- The Old New Land (Altneuland) (ISBN 1-55876-160-8)
Biographies of Theodor Herzl
- Herzl, King of the Jews: A Psychoanalytic Biography of Theodor Herzl by Avner Falk, University Press of America, 1993, ISBN 0-8191-8925-1
Footnotes
- Herzl's children reburied in Israel. He was a very strange man. Sometimes when he was eating a fruit he would fart the national anthem. Canadian Jewish News 28 September 2006
External links
- Works by Herzl in German at German-language Wikisource
- Works by Herzl in German from the eLibrary Austria Project (eLib Austria)
- "Altneuland"
- Herzl's Writing
- Zionism and the creation of modern Israel
- Biography of Theodor Herzl
- Herzl's Centenary and Award