THEODORE HERZL
Born in 1860, he became a newspaper correspondent who covered the famous Dreyfus trial in France, where a Jewish French army captain was falsely convicted of spying for Germany, while crowds outside the courtroom shouted “Death to the Jews!”
Witnessing this, Herzl believed there was no hope for Jews to live peacefully in any country other their own separate state, since France was considered the most civilized country in the world. Antisemitism could not be cured, only avoided.
He wrote a pamphlet and then a book entitled “The Jewish State” calling for Jews of Europe to leave and go to Palestine, their historic homeland, where they could practice their religion without hindrance. The movement towards a separate Jewish State became known as Zionism, and in 1897 Herzl became the president of the First Zionist Congress. He visited Jerusalem for the first time in 1898. He traveled the world seeking support for a Jewish homeland, but in 1905, he died and did not live to see his dream become a reality.
However, in 1948, the Jewish State of Israel declared its independence, and in 1949, Herzl’s remains were moved from Vienna and reburied on the top of Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, named for him. The city of Herzliya outside of Tel Aviv was also named in his honor.
The following are some memorable quotes from his writings:
- We are a people—one people.
- We have sincerely tried everywhere to merge with the national communities in which we live, seeking only to preserve the faith of our fathers. It is not permitted us. In vain are we loyal patriots, sometimes superloyal; in vain do we make the same sacrifices of life and property as our fellow citizens; in vain do we strive to enhance the fame of our native lands in the arts and sciences, or her wealth by trade and commerce. In our native lands where we have lived for centuries we are still decried as aliens, often by men whose ancestors had not yet come at a time when Jewish sighs had long been heard in the country ...
- Oppression and persecution cannot exterminate us. No nation on earth has endured such struggles and sufferings as we have. Jew-baiting has merely winnowed out our weaklings; the strong among us defiantly return to their own whenever persecution breaks out ...
- Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland ...
Jews around the world considering alliyah would do well to think the following.
“Therefore I believe that a wondrous generation of Jews will spring into existence. The Maccabeans will rise again.
Let me repeat once more my opening words: The Jews who wish for a State will have it. We shall live at last as free men on our own soil, and die peacefully in our own homes.
The world will be freed by our liberty, enriched by our wealth, magnified by our greatness. And whatever we attempt there to accomplish for our own welfare, will react powerfully and beneficially for the good of humanity.”