Ü Sonderausgabe 2010 B E R 110 1897 ILLUSTRIERTE 2007 JAHRE GEGRÜNDET 1897 VON THEODOR HERZL Theodor Herzl 150th Birthday 2. 5. 1860 3. 7. 1904 e should all just convert to enough to from his "a new blossoming of the Jewish spirit." Christianity.” A student giving turn him into fraternity for During his visit to Palestine in 1898, he Wthis answer to a teacher asking a Jewish anti- standing up arrived in Jerusalem late on a Friday. how to solve the problem of anti-Semitism hero, there is Herzl’s against its anti- Though ill and suffering from exhaustion, would undoubtedly be dismissed as a smart- declaration that in the Semitic tendencies. he nevertheless walked the great distance aleck. new state he envisioned, "We When he had yet to establish to his hotel so as not to contravene the laws Even if his name was Theodor Herzl? shall keep our rabbis within the confines of himself as a writer, he refused the offer of of the Sabbath. Whatever other This, in fact, is precisely how the their synagogues…” a prominent editor in Vienna to publish his considerations may have influenced him, visionary of the Jewish state first thought But to portray Herzl as anything other manuscript if he would only agree to adopt this decision also evidences a growing to put an end to the phenomenon: "In than an ardent defender of the Jewish faith a pen name less Jewish than his own. And respect for Jewish tradition that fully broad daylight, at twelve o'clock on a with a deep affinity to the Land of Israel even his plan for mass conversion would matured by the time he published Sunday, the exchange of faith would take would be to do him a terrible injustice, involve only the very young, thus making Altneuland in 1902. In it, the hero of the place in St. Stephen's Cathedral, with drawing conclusions about the man on the it "honorable, inasmuch as the leaders of novel - and Herzl's alter ego – gazes upon solemn parade and the peal of bells," he basis of isolated snapshots of his life taken this movement – myself in particular – the eternal capital of the Jewish people for wrote in his diary, recording his earliest out of context, rather than appreciating the would remain Jews…” the first time. "'Jerusalem!' cried Friedrich thoughts on the subject. continuum and complexity of his personal In any case, early in his short Zionist in a half-whisper, his voice trembling. He No less bizarre is that initially Herzl was journey. career, the "push” of anti-Semitism that did not understand why the sight of this not terribly bothered by the scourge of The profundity of Herzl’s meta- propelled Herzl from a trajectory of strange city affected him so powerfully… Jew-hatred, and even held his His eyes overflowed… and the brethren partially accountable hot tears coursed slowly down his for its occurrence and went so cheeks." far as to assert that there was a HERZL’S JEWISH JOURNEY Herzl writes in a similar vein of positive dimension to it. "In the Friedrich’s Passover experience Ghetto we have taken on a DAVID BREAKSTONE*) in Tiberias: "One guest at the number of anti-social Seder table pronounced the characteristics. Our character has been morphosis is perhaps best revealed in his engagement with gentile society to an Hebrew words of the Haggadah with the damaged by oppression and must be autobiographical short story, The obsession with creating a Jewish one, zeal of a penitent. He was finding himself repaired through some other sort of Menorah. "Deep in his soul he began to became coupled with the "pull” of Judaism again, and his throat was often so tight pressure…" Anti-Semitism, he believed in feel the need of being a Jew…" Herzl as a source of inspiration. The examples with emotion that he had to master his his pre-Zionist days, would serve that writes of the protagonist, who had long are many. longing to cry out aloud." purpose. ceased to feel any connection with his Following the First Zionist Congress, The antecedent of these sentiments can Such references account for the forebears, until, because of incessant anti- Herzl wrote in his diary of being called to be found in an autobiographical sketch he accusations hurled against Herzl that he Semitism "he now did something he could the Torah on the Shabbat preceding it: published in 1898, recalling his earliest was concerned merely with the not have done in the old days – he began to "When I stood on the bima I was more memories of the Jewish elementary school preservation of Jewish bodies and not with love his Judaism with an intense fervor." moved than on any of the days of the he attended, which "center around the the Jewish soul. Add to this that in his Such a statement suggests that Herzl’s Congress. The few words of the Hebrew thrashing I got because I could not recall seminal work Der Judenstaat he suggested transformation was not only rational but blessing choked my throat with emotion." all the details of the Exodus from Egypt. that the Jewish state might be established in emotive as well. In fairness, however, it In his opening address to the Congress Today there are many schoolmasters who Argentina, and that a few years later he need be recorded that even "in the old he declared that "Zionism is a return to the would like to thrash me because I proposed the Uganda option be explored, days” when he was not actively involved Jewish fold even before it is a return to the remember them too well." and it is not difficult to understand why his in Jewish life, Herzl consistently carried Jewish land,” and later asserted that the These are but a few of the many examples detractors accuse him of lacking Jewish his Jewish identity with steadfastness and Jewish people did not merely aspire to testifying to Herzl’s conscious return to his sensibilities. And as if all this were not pride. As a student, he was expelled settling on Jewish soil, but sought as well To be continued page 3 PUBLISHER AND EDITOR IN CHIEF DR. JOANNA NITTENBERG DR. DAVID BREAKSTONE We express our appreciation to FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF THE HERZL CENTER IN JERUSALEM and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael CHAIRMAN OF ITS EXECUTIVE COUNCIL. Israel Ministry of Diaspora Affairs his special edition honoring Theodor thoroughly appreciated through the vast and THerzl’s 150th birthday was produced in range of articles, often authored by such collaboration with the Department for renowned writers as Martin Buber and Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zionist Activities of the World Zionist Achad Haam. How did Jewish thinkers, Organization. how did Theodor Herzl himself perceive his for their support of the On the initiative of Dr. David Breakstone, times ? With contributions by Zionism’s Journey in Herzl's Footsteps Head of the Department for Zionist most illustrious proponents, such as Max Activities, World Zionist Organization, a Nordau, Franz Oppenheimer, Berthold and this special supplement of trip was organized which followed Theodor Feiwel and many more, the editions of the Illustrierte Neue Welt. Herzl’s journey - from Paris through Basel, first years of the Welt afford a profound and Vienna, and Budapest, to its culmination, fascinating insight into the intellectual Editorial Board Mount Herzl. It is thus a great honor for our environment at the turn of the century. In no newspaper to co-produce this special edition other contemporary publication were DR. JOANNA NITTENBERG DR. DAVID BREAKSTONE - all the more so as the “Illustrierte Neue political events expressed with such Illustrierte Neue Welt World Zionist Organization Welt“ was founded by Theodor Herzl. authenticity. Launched on June 4, 1897, Die Welt served A detailed account of the newspaper’s initially as a journalistic outlet to promote changing destinies, from its origins to the the First Zionist Congress. Theodor Herzl, present day can be found in the book an acclaimed journalist and writer in his “Wandlungen und Brüche – von der Welt time, was not allowed to express his Zionist zur Illustrierten Neuen Welt“ (Rifts and convictions in the Neue Freie Presse, even Transformations – from the “Welt“ to the as one of its prominent staff-writers and “Illustrierte Neue Welt“). reporters. The editor-in-chief, Moritz Benedikt, an assimilated Jew, feared that Today, one of the newspaper’s special such "sectarian” ideas would only increase aspirations is to resuscitate the memory of the pronounced anti-Semitism already forgotten or undiscovered artists and prevalent in Austria. authors whose life and work was altered or Herzl founded the newspaper under great disrupted in the wake of the Holocaust. time pressure and financial constraints. Several generations of German speaking Besides advancing Herzl’s Zionist ideas the Jews worldwide view the “Illustrierte Neue paper aimed also to be a forum where Welt“ as a precious source of information Jewish problems and possible solutions on Jewish affairs in Austria, be it on could be presented. The question of Jewish contemporary or historical issues. Reports identity was a recurrent theme discussed in on Israel and expert analysis of the Middle the Welt, where arguments between cultural East are the publication’s main focus. In and political Zionists loomed large. This terms of audience and content, the paper’s multi-faceted subject, a topic of heated implicit mission is to function as a bridge - debate among Jews for over a century which between Diaspora and Israeli Jews as well even now retains its relevance, can be as the Jewish and the non-Jewish world.