A Homage to the Dream and Reality of the Jewish State
In Herzl’s Footsteps: A Homage to the Dream and Reality of the Jewish State
by Michael Cole, Temple Warden and Archives Committee
“In Basel, I founded the Jewish State,” Theodor Herzl wrote at the end of the first Zionist Congress in 1897. When I came to Basel, I wanted to have my picture taken in the same spot as the iconic photo of Herzl, pensively looking out over the Rhine from the balcony of The Three Kings Hotel. I have a kind of affinity with the founder of modern Zionism.
Like Theodor Herzl, I am a quintessential Diaspora Jew. Western culture—its art, literature, music—was Herzl’s culture, as it is mine. Like him, I also have a profound attachment to the Jewish homeland, and I have a daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren who live there.
Herzl would be surprised by the way in which the Jewish state has developed. He conceived of it as a kind of Vienna on the Mediterranean: a sophisticated urban society. To at least some extent, the modern State of Israel has become that. However, Herzl also thought that the Jewish state would be welcomed by its Arab neighbours and that it would bring about the end of antisemitism around the world. In this, he was less than prophetic.
Herzl also believed that it would be a mostly secular society. A Jewish state of haredim, and one constantly at war, would not be to his liking—or mine. The thought of my grandchildren going off to fight yet another war frightens me. (I am, however, gratified that they attend a traditional, but far from haredi, synagogue.)
Theodor Herzl said after that very first Zionist Congress in 1897, “Perhaps In five years, but certainly in fifty years,” there would be a Jewish state. In this, he was, indeed, prophetic. He miscalculated by only one year. (Coincidentally, 1897 was also the year in which Holy Blossom moved into its grand new synagogue on Bond Street. It was a time of great optimism in the Jewish world!)
We have an opportunity, at the next Zionist Congress, to follow in the footsteps of Theodor Herzl and have a voice in the kind of Jewish state Israel will become. Learn more & VOTE REFORM here!
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!