Herzl, Theodor, 1860-1904; Zionism; Zionists -- Austria -- Biography
When Herzl first appeared on the political scene, he thought of
courtiers and statesmen, of princes and kings. He found that they
could not be relied upon for truth or stability. They were encircled
by favorites and mercenaries. Enormous responsibilities rested upon
their shoulders but they seemed to behave with regard to these
responsibilities as if they were gamblers or amateurs. Herzl soon
realized that these were frail reeds that would break under the
slightest pressure. He came to put his trust in the Jewish people,
the only real source of strength for the purpose of redemption.
Confidence in themselves would give them power to breach their prison
walls. His aristocratic republic had to become a movement of
democracy. Only in "The Jewish State" will you find reference to a
movement based upon Jews who endorse a "fixed program," and then
become members under the "discipline" of leadership. When Herzl faced
the First Congress, he saw that this conception of Zionism was foreign
to the nature and character of the Jewish people. The shekel was the
registry of a name. It led the way to the elevation of the individual
in Zionist affairs, first as a member of a democratic army "willing"
the fulfillment, and then settling in Palestine to become the hands
that built the Homeland.
Arrayed in the armor of democracy, the Zionist movement made the
self-emancipation ideal of Pinsker live in the soul of Herzl. At a
number of Congresses, in his articles in Die Welt, Herzl showed how
that idea had become an integral part of his life, although his first
thoughts ran in quite another direction.
But his analysis of anti-Semitism and how to approach the problem
remains true today after Hitler, as it was true then after Dreyfus.
This was the authentic revelation that in his last days was fixed in
his mind. The homelessness of the Jewish people must come to an end.
That tragedy is a world problem. It is to be solved by world
statesmanship in cooperation with the reawakened Jewish people. It is
to be solved by the establishment of a free Jewish State in their
historic Homeland. Herzl manifested his utter identification with the
destiny of his own people at the Uganda Congress when he faced the
rebellious Russian Zionists, spoke words of consolation to them and
gave them assurances of his fealty to Zion. He died a few months
later.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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