What? There Was a Second Zionist Congress? Why Herzl’s remarks at it matter

Medallion commemorating the Second Zionist Congress, 1898, designed by Samuel Friedrich Beer, and struck in bronze in Paris. Beer was a well known Jewish sculptor and medallist, and was a personal friend of Theodor Herzl. The medal depicts an allegorical figure pointing to a new dawn/horizon for the Jewish people. From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, Toronto (www.herzlcollection.com). Photo by Kevin Viner, Elevator Digital, Toronto.

The First Zionist Congress held in Basel, Switzerland in 1897 is well known, and its 125th anniversary was widely celebrated in August 2022. Less well known is that there was a second and then even more Zionist Congresses. In fact, there were 22 Congresses held prior to Israel’s independence in 1948, and the in-person portion of the 38th Zionist Congress was celebrated in Jerusalem in April 2023. It was through these Congresses (six of which were held during the life of Theodor Herzl) that the many important steps in the journey from Herzl’s idea to Jewish statehood were discussed, approved, reviewed and implemented.

Delegate card for the Second Zionist Congress. From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, Toronto (www.herzlcollection.com). Photo by Kevin Viner, Elevator Digital, Toronto.

Press pass for the Second Zionist Congress. From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, Toronto (www.herzlcollection.com). Photo by Kevin Viner, Elevator Digital, Toronto.

The Second Zionist Congress was held in Basel, Switzerland from August 28 to 31, 1898 (the items pictured are from my personal collection).  It was at this Congress that female delegates were first accorded full voting rights (at the time, the only country in which women had equal voting rights was New Zealand).  This demonstrates the progressive forward-thinking nature of the Zionist movement.

At this Congress the foundations were laid for the establishment of the Jewish Colonial Trust, a financial institution that funded development in the Land of Israel, which was incorporated under the laws of England in 1899.  Hundreds of thousands of Jews around the world purchased shares in the Jewish Colonial Trust which reflected both their financial and moral support for the establishment of the Jewish homeland.

Jewish Colonial Trust warrant certificate issued in 1901. From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, Toronto (www.herzlcollection.com). Photo by Kevin Viner, Elevator Digital, Toronto.

Another notable event at the Congress was the presentation of a prototype of the Zionist flag, which after independence became the flag of Israel.

Official postcard with quote from Ezekiel 37:21: “I am going to take the Israelite people from among the nations and bring them to their own land.” From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, Toronto (www.herzlcollection.com). Photo by Kevin Viner, Elevator Digital, Toronto.

400 delegates attended the Congress (twice the number of delegates at the First Congress).  As was the case for all Congresses, verbatim minutes of the proceedings were taken and the minutes were published.

Minutes of the Second Zionist Congress (in German) printed in Vienna in 1898. From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, Toronto (www.herzlcollection.com). Photo by Kevin Viner, Elevator Digital, Toronto.

This was the first Congress attended by Chaim Weizmann,  the architect of the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and later Israel’s first President.  There were no photographs taken at the First Zionist Congress, so the first photographic evidence of a Zionist Congress was from the Second.

Photograph from inside of Congress hall. From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, Toronto (www.herzlcollection.com). Photo by Kevin Viner, Elevator Digital, Toronto.

Photograph from inside of Congress hall.
From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, Toronto (www.herzlcollection.com). Photo by Kevin Viner, Elevator Digital, Toronto.

Herzl’s opening remarks at the Congress included the following statement:  “We are ready to bring about the reconstruction of Judaism; we have everything in abundance, men, material and plans. What we require is the soil…no one will deny that there is an unbreakable connection between our people and this land.”

Theodor Herzl greeting Max Nordau at the Second Zionist Congress. From the set of 116 postcards issued by the Hebrew Publishing Company of New York in 1910.  From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, Toronto (www.herzlcollection.com).  Photo by Kevin Viner, Elevator Digital, Toronto.

Medallion commemorating the Second Zionist Congress which features five portraits: Herzl surrounded by Max Nordau, Bernard Laser, Max Mandelstam and Rabbi Moshe Gaster. From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, Toronto (www.herzlcollection.com). Photo by Kevin Viner, Elevator Digital, Toronto.

Watching from Canada the manner in which the current Israeli government is undertaking its judicial reform initiative, and the behavior of leading members of that government which is wholly inconsistent with the ideas that were discussed at the Second and other Zionist Congresses, one can’t help but wonder whether Herzl was wrong.

Is it possible that the connection between our people and this land can break?Hopefully the Israeli government steps back from the brink so we never have to find out.