World History
 Free Class
 Jesus is alive and
 God is in control!  HistoryTour.net

Famous Name

May 2, 1860 - July 3, 1904

Hungarian Jew, Author, and Father of Modern Political Zionism

by Rit Nosotro First Published:: 2003

( )

---

"At Basle, I founded the Jewish state . . . . If not in five years, then certainly in fifty, everyone will realize it." Theodor Herzl penned these words just 51 years before the founding of the modern state of Israel. Writer, journalist, and playwright, Herzl gave Political Zionism its true foundations in the modern world, though he did not live to see his dream come to fruition.

Born in Budapest (then simply "Pest"), Hungary, in 1860, Herzl came from an only nominally Jewish family. His grandfather was an orthodox Jew, but Herzl's father had turned from the faith. Theodor and his sister, Pauline, were raised in the secular, Enlightened fashion of 19th century Europe. Jacob Herzl, Theodor's father, was a prosperous business, even a millionaire by some standards, but lost much of his money in 1873. The family moved to Vienna, Austria, after Pauline died in 1878. There Theodor studied law at the university, graduating with a doctorate at the age of 24. His true penchant, however, had always been for writing, and within a year of his graduation Theodor had given up the bar for a more literary career.[1]

Working for one of the most widely read papers of his time as the Paris correspondent during a time of great turmoil in that country, Herzl began to travel broadly in Europe and especially in France. So he was at hand to witness the Dreyfus Trial in 1894 (when a Jewish military officer was accused of treason and humiliatingly stripped of his position), along with its accompanying anti-Semitic demonstrations. This profoundly impacted Herzl, building on the effects of the anti-Semitism he had first experienced in university to persuade him something must be done.

He had written The Ghetto the year before, in 1893, to deal with some questions of anti-Semitism, but with the Dreyfus Trial Herzl began to realize integration into European culture simply would not solve the Jews' difficulties. He came to view anti-Semitism as an irreparable constant in society and conceived the idea that the only solution was to set up a Jewish nation. Establishing a Jewish state would give Jews acceptance in the world, they would no longer be a "national anomaly"[2] but a country with rights in the framework of national politics, and the problem of anti-Semitism would be moved onto an entirely new plain.

In 1895 Herzl met Max Nordau, who encouraged him to push on with the Zionist movement and who would later become his friend and assistant. With the publishing of Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) in 1896, Zionism began truly to gain popularity among the Jews in general, but Jewish leaders remained lukewarm about the idea. Transcending generalities and moving on to practical particulars, Herzl proposed the foundation of a stockholder-owned company to gather funds for the establishment of an official Jewish homeland. This company would eventually be embodied in the "Zionist Organization" of 1897. In 1902 he laid out more of his hopes for the specific structure of the Jewish state in his book Altneuland (Old New Land). Herzl envisioned the nation based on the modern, secular, European ideas of the late Enlightenment, pushing for religious freedom and creating a picture almost of "socialist utopia."[3]

All Herzl's theorizing and popularizing came to a head in late August of 1897 when the First Zionist Congress convened in Basle, Switzerland. The "Basle Program" was officially adopted to begin enacting some of Herzl's plans and to promote the idea of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Also, the World Zionist Organization was established as an official, political arm for the movement, and Herzl was (not surprisingly) elected president. From 1897 to 1902 six more Zionist Congresses met. At this time the Jewish National Fund (the Otzar Hityashvut Hayehudim) and a Zionist newspaper (the Die Welt) also came into being.

With a solid backing from his fellow Jews, Herzl shifted his efforts outward. In 1898 he met with Kaiser Wilhelm II, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and the British government in attempts to gain support for his plans. Kaiser Wilhelm and the Sultan flatly turned him down. The British offered the Jews Uganda as a homeland. Needless to say, this was not what the Zionists had hoped for. But with persecution mounting in Russia at the turn of the century, the need for a Jewish homeland became more urgent. After the Kishinev pogrom of 1903 (which he witnessed), Herzl proposed the Uganda Program as an intermediate measure to provide immediate relief to persecuted Russian Jews. This generated fierce division in Zionist ranks, and the issue would not be resolved (with ultimate rejection of the scheme) until after Herzl's death.

In 1904 in Austria, Theodor Herzl died of pneumonia and heart complications. His family life had not been a happy one, himself constantly travelling and his wife mentally unstable in later life. All three of his children also died tragically (one from drug addiction and medical problems, another by suicide, and the youngest in a concentration camp) years after their father. But the movement of Political Zionism had received its starting push, and, in 1948, the state of Israel was declared. Herzl's bones were moved to Mount Herzl, in Jerusalem, and reburied there.

"If you will, it is no fairytale," Herzl once wrote. This saying became a motto of the Zionists as they sought to reestablish God's people in the homeland He had given them centuries before. As Herzl also once said, "God would not have sustained [the Jewish] people for so long if it had not been designated some destiny in human history." According to some, dubious sources[4] and based on some of his own early ideas (such as the mass conversion of Jews to Christianity in order to avoid persecution)[5], Herzl's dedication to the Jewish religion is arguable, but he was clearly dedicated to the survival of the Jewish people. The movement he began was a turning point in history. And, as Romans 11:28-29 reminds us, "from the standpoint of God's choice [the Jews] are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." God has a special plan for Israel and a special place in His heart for them.

Endnotes:

[1] C.D.I. Systems 1992 (LTD) and Keter. "Junior Judaica, Encyclopedia Judaica for Youth" CD-ROM. 21 November, 2008.

[2] Jewish Virtual Library. "Theodor Herzl." American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (2008). 21 November, 2008.

[3] ibid.

[4] Wikipedia hints Herzl may have been an atheist, but its own source for this information is inaccessible and thus also doubtful. Also, other of Herzl's quotes indicate belief in God.

[5] About Israel. "Theodor Herzl - Background." (2003) 21 November, 2008.

Bibliography:

About Israel. "Theodor Herzl - Background." (2003) 21 November, 2008.

Isseroff, Ami. "Theodor Herzl." Zionism-Israel Information Center. (2005-2008) 21 November, 2008.

Jewish Virtual Library. "Theodor Herzl." American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (2008). 21 November, 2008.