Herzl believed that the establishment of a Jewish State would see the end of anti-Semitism and therefore the end to the Jewish problem.
“If we only begin to carry out the plans, Anti-Senitism would stop at once and for ever. For it is the conclusion of peace.” 23
He failed to see how much the world would shrink due to technology, the mass media, and communications.
“In order to assess the status of Israel in the international community, it may be useful to look at the Middle East’s only democracy as ‘the Jew among the nations.’” 24
The nation of Israel is in the land; but it is surrounded by hostile nations.
“… No other civilized nation in the history of the world-including totalitarian and authoritarian regimes-has ever been as repeatedly, unfairly and hypocritically condemned and criticized by the international community as Israel has been over the years.” 25
Herzl saw that the Jews could not achieve national actualization while they were living as foreigners in foreign lands where they were not welcome, and where they were fiercely persecuted and denied the rights to live as citizens of the state. He recognized that the Jews were a nation without a home, and that they needed a home in which they may grow and conduct there own affairs in the way that they saw fit. Herzl did not see that eventually, the same international community in which they were suffering for almost two thousand years would bereave them of their freedom to conduct their political affairs in the way that they see fit.
Israel: The Jew among the nations is right!
For I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for war: The city shall be captured, the houses plundered, and the women violated; and a part of the city shall go into exile. But the rest of the population shall not be uprooted form the city. Then the LORD will come forth and make war on a day of battle. On that day, He will set His feet on the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall split across from east to west, and one part of the Mount shall shift to the north and the other to the south, a huge gorge. And the Valley in the Hills shall be stopped up as it was stopped up as a result of the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah.-And the LORD my God, with all the holy beings, will come to you. And the LORD shall be king over all the earth; in that day there shall be one LORD with one name. 26
Hear, O Israel! The LORD our God, the LORD is One. 27
Theodor Herzl died in 1906, forty-two years before the declaration of the Jewish State by David Ben-Gurion on May 14th 1948. His work and his vision were truly prophetic and miraculous; and his leadership was of epic proportion. His words ring in our ears today:
“Therefore I believe that a wondrous generation of Jews will spring into existence. The Maccabeans will arise once again. Let me repeat once more my opening words: The Jews who wish will have their State.” 28
References
1 Lloyd P. Gartner, History of the Jews in Modern Times (Oxford, 2001), 251
2 Carl E. Schorski, The Journal Of Modern History (1967), 373
3 Essays and Addresses by Theodor Herzl, translated from the German by Harry Zohn, Zionist Writings, Volume One: January, 1896-June, 1898, (Herzl Press, New York, 1973), 16-17
4 Edited by Gideon Shimoni and Robert S. Wistrich, Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State (Jerusalem, 1999), 162
5 Theodor Herzl; Foreword by Chaim Weizman, The Jewish State (New York, 1943), 19
6 Ibid., 92
7 Ibid., 94
8 Edited by Gideon Shimoni and Robert S. Wistrich, Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State (Jerusalem, 1999), 15
9 Theodor Herzl; Foreword by Chaim Weizman, The Jewish State (New York, 1943), 17
10 Ibid., 18
11 Ibid., 76
12 Edited by Gideon Shimoni and Robert S. Wistrich, Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State (Jerusalem, 1999), 140
13 Ibid., 87
14 Ibid., 122
15 Theodor Herzl; Foreword by Chaim Weizman, The Jewish State (New York, 1943), 27
16 Essays and Addresses by Theodor Herzl, translated from the German by Harry Zohn, Zionist Writings, Volume One: January, 1896-June, 1898, (Herzl Press, New York, 1973), 13
17 Edited by Gideon Shimoni and Robert S. Wistrich, Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State (Jerusalem, 1999), 322
18 Stephen M. Wylen, Settings of Silver (New York, 2000), 390
19 Edited by Gideon Shimoni and Robert S. Wistrich, Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State (Jerusalem, 1999), 172-173
20 Ibid., 161-162
21 Theodor Herzl; Foreword by Chaim Weizman, The Jewish State (New York, 1943), 63
22 Edited by Gideon Shimoni and Robert S. Wistrich, Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State (Jerusalem, 1999), 304
23 Theodor Herzl; Foreword by Chaim Weizman, The Jewish State (New York, 1943), 110
24 Alan M. Dershowitz, Israel: The Jew among the Nations (2002). Nativ is a publication of the Ariel Center for Policy Research (ACPR). ‘The doors of Nativ are open to diverse subjects and authors, on the understanding that all texts published will serve as stimuli for high-level debate on issues of vital interest to Israel.’
25 Ibid.
26 Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (Jewish Publication Society) Zechariah 14:1-5;9
27 The Holy Bible (King James Version) Deuteronomy 6:4
28 Theodor Herzl; Foreword by Chaim Weizman, The Jewish State (New York, 1943), 111
Bibliography
Theodor Herzl; Foreword by Chaim Weizman, The Jewish State (New York, 1943)
Zionist Writings, Volume One: January, 1896-June, 1898, (Herzl Press, New York, 1973)
Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State (Jerusalem, 1999) Lloyd P. Gartner, History of the
Jews in Modern Times (Oxford, 2001) Stephen M. Wylen, Settings of Silver (New York, 2000)
The Holy Bible (King James Version) Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (Jewish Publication Society)
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