Zionism and Theodor Herzl

Zionism and Theodor Herzl
What is Zionism, and why is it so controversial? And how (and why) did Theodor
Herzl, a secular writer, who didn’t know anything about Judaism, transform an
ancient longing into a modern political movement that resulted in the
establishment of the State of Israel?
Short answer - antisemitism.
Herzl was present at one of the most explosive trials of the day, which came to be
known as the Dreyfus Affair. In the case, Alfred Dreyfus, a high-ranking Jewish
officer in the French army, was falsely accused of espionage and sentenced to life
imprisonment on Devil’s Island (he was later exonerated).
It wasn’t just the trial that got Herzl started on his journey towards Zionism. The
cries of “Death for the Jew” that were casually hurled around on the streets of
Paris made him understand that a Jewish state was necessary to remove the
problem of Anti-Semitism entirely.
Herzl never saw the country he envisaged, but due to his actions, and the actions
of the Zionist leaders that followed, in 1948 the State of Israel came into being.
Born in 1860 in Hungary, Herzl was a totally secular Jewish playwright and journalist. He
spoke no Hebrew, no Yiddish, and had no Jewish education. The one thing he knew
about Jews was that everyone seemed to hate them. He became obsessed with a way to
overcome antisemitism, or what the rest of the world termed the "Jewish Problem." His
first solution might be surprising. The future father of Zionism envisioned a mass
conversion of Jews to Christianity as being the only answer to antisemitism.
But he soon realized that in addition to the fact that the Jews weren't so down to
convert, he also understood that the rampant antisemitism of the time was not only
about religion. Antisemitism was about Jews as a people. He was strongly influenced by
statements he heard from professional Anti-Semites, like German philosopher, Karl
Dühring, and Hungarian politician, Gyözö Istóczy. Dühring wrote that the Jewish
Problem was, quote:
Gyözö believed that there was only one solution, he wanted the Jews out, and they even
beat Herzl to his own idea with the antisemitic slogan, "Jew, go to Palestine.”. The final
nail in the coffin, was the Dreyfus Affair. Alfred Dreyfus was an assimilated Jewish
officer, in the French Army, who was framed for espionage. Despite evidence pointing to
his innocence, Dreyfus was court-martialed, convicted, and sent to Devil's Island. But,
what does this have to do with Herzl? Well, at the time of the trial, Herzl was working as
a journalist in France, covering the case. Witnessing the crowd outside the trial
shouting, "Death to the Jew!" convinced him once and for all, that if a Jew could go so
far in society as Dreyfus, reaching the high rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and still be a
victim of such antisemitism, then assimilation would never solve the Jewish Problem. He
was convinced that the Jews needed a better option. And that option would be Zionism.
That the outcasts of the world would return en masse to a land from which they had
been exiled 2000 years earlier, that the ruling powers in the European and Arab world
would be okay with that, and that this would eradicate antisemitism around the world.
By establishing a modern political Jewish state, Herzl actually hoped and expected that
antisemitism would vanish from the world entirely. The very point of Israel's existence
would mirror all other nations, and if the Jews could just be like everyone else, then
there would be no need to be hated because the Jews would cease being the "Other."
But other Zionist thinkers, like Herzl's disciple, Ze'ev Jabotinsky
saw the need for a state a bit differently, arguing that antisemitism would always exist,
and that the belief that the world would be cured of it, was pollyannish in the extreme.
Instead, he saw Zionism as more of a self-defense against antisemitism, rather than a
cure for it.
Herzl wrote the book on the Jewish state, the movement that would later be called
Zionism had already existed for decades. Since the 1860s, thousands of Jews had been
immigrating and building communities in what was then Ottoman-controlled Palestine,
and reviving the Hebrew language. Now, most of it had to do with escaping catastrophic
antisemitism, but a lot of it also had to do with Jews wanting to return to the land where
they had maintained a historic and religious connection for thousands of years. Earlier
Zionist activists, like Leon Pininski, who founded the Lovers of Zion movement, 15 years
before the rise of Herzl, don't really get the credit they deserve. So, what did Herzl bring
to the table? Well, Herzl managed to turn the informal Zionism, into a modern political
nationalist movement. He helped revive the idea that the Jews were a nation. He wasn't
the first to express that idea, but he was the first to bring it to life in the modern era.
Now the question arises that isn't Judaism just a religion? Like Christianity or Islam? And
if so, why did the Jews need their own state? And the short answer is, yes, it's a religion,
and it's also a nation. See, the Jews had begun as a nation with a religion, and had lived
in their national homeland, which was Israel/Judea, from around 1000 BCE, until 70 CE,
when they were kicked out by the Romans. Herzl thought it was a mistake for Jews to
lose sight of their national identity. Herzl argued that a nation without a homeland is an
unwelcome stranger to other nations. And to Herzl, this was the cause of antisemitism.
The Jews were the only people in history, who persisted to exist after losing their
homeland. Because of this, they were eternally wandering strangers, the ultimate
"Other." If they wanted to be accepted by everyone else, then they had to be like
everyone else, and have their own country. Finally, as a nation, Herzl believed the Jews
had the right to rule themselves in their homeland. He didn't succeed in creating the
State in his lifetime, but he did succeed in bringing the Zionist idea onto the world stage,
by establishing the annual Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland. He later wrote in his
diary,
And almost 50 years to the day after the first Zionist Congress, the State of Israel was
founded. Soon, various approaches to Zionism would develop in sync with Herzl's ideas,
embracing all sorts of different ideologies. There would be Cultural Zionism, Labor
Zionism, Socialist Zionism, and Religious Zionism.
But in many ways, the core of all forms of modern Zionism lies in Herzl's conception of
peoplehood, why is Zionism so controversial? Well, if you deny the Jews their right to
define themselves as a people, then the question of whether they have the right to their
own state in their ancestral land becomes very thorny. But, if the Jews are a nation and
a people, then isn't that what all nations do? Or at least aspire to do? how do you
balance this with the rights of self-determination of another people, the Palestinians,
who lay claim to the same piece of real estate?
Theodor Herzl’s plays:

Reference videos:
https://youtu.be/wg5regNS-_M?si=tO6bYeFGZ1x46TGq
https://youtu.be/OGWQUilit9Q?si=K4pIuN90gUw435qo

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Theodor Herzl’s plays:

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