Treasure Trove: From Herzl to Moses to … who?

There are many similarities between Moses and Herzl.

Each grew up outside the mainstream Jewish establishment: Moses in Pharaoh’s home and Herzl in an assimilated environment. Each had an experience that caused him to dedicate his life to the Jewish people: for Moses when he intervenes when an Egyptian is beating a Hebrew and for Herzl when he witnesses the Dreyfus trial and its aftermath. Both had a plan to lead their people back to the Land of Israel. Both were initially rejected by their people. Both succeeded in leading their people back to Israel, but neither of them entered the land with them.

In 1901, the Argentinian delegates to the Fifth Zionist Congress gave Theodor Herzl a thick book of greetings from the Zionists of Buenos Aires.   

The book is a panegyric (I had to look it up, it means a published text in praise of someone or something). I asked Suzanne Berns, the Curator of the Theodor Herzl Archive at the Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem, what is inside the book. She replied:

“It is a volume of praise, poetry, and dedications, donated by the Zionists of Buenos Aires to Theodor Herzl, the Actions Committee, and the delegates, in honor of the Fifth Zionist Congress, held in Basel in 1901.

The book contains celebratory texts, poems, and laudatory dedications expressing admiration for Herzl and support for the Zionist idea.

In addition to the collective tributes, the volume also includes personal dedications, accompanied by photographs of the individuals who wrote them. This lends the book a particularly intimate and vivid character, combining public homage with personal expression.”

The book’s ornate cover was reproduced on this 1997 postcard for an exhibition held at Tel Aviv’s Diaspora Museum to mark the 100th anniversary of the first Zionist Congress.

Within a large Star of David, Moses is seen emerging from the clouds and handing his staff to Herzl, who stands on an elevated platform. Beneath Moses are people who experienced the Exodus from Egypt with him. Beneath Herzl are people in formal wear, the clothing Herzl insisted that delegates wear to the Congress. Moses emerges from dark clouds. The sun rises over a mountain behind Herzl.

The scene is bordered by images of farmers working the land (which could be in Palestine or in agricultural colonies established by Baron Hirsch in Argentina), a modern city with a train and port, and an angel pointing forward.

The first Passover seder is Wednesday night, April 1. We will gather around the table and retell the miracle of the Exodus from Egypt. The Jewish people had a remarkable leader in Moses who helped make this happen. The Jewish people since have had other remarkable leaders, including Herzl, to whom the staff of leadership was passed in this image.

Is there a leader of the calibre of Moses and Herzl to whom the staff can be passed today? If so, who is it? If not, how do we develop or find such a person?

Happy Passover. Chag Sameach.

To everyone in Israel, I know this is a difficult and stressful time. If you have read this far in the article, I hope it has given you a few minutes of distraction. I hope that a leader emerges that can truly lead the Jewish people to a place of peace and a Jewish state that fully fulfills the highest dreams of Herzl and the other early Zionist leaders. I hope that as we celebrate the holiday of freedom, you become free of the need to run to shelters and that all people are free of fear. As shared in this week’s #herzlbreak, the fight for freedom continues:

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14WxyBDK44X/

Our hearts are with all of you. Be safe.

–

For more treasures from the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, which has appeared weekly in the Treasure Trove column in the Canadian Jewish News (www.thecjn.ca) since February 2021, see https://herzlcollection.com/treasure-trove

Treasure Trove is a program of The Herzl Project.