A Journey in Herzl's Footsteps: Dreaming the Zionist Dream

Now it's Herzl's turn. Last year Israelcelebrated the anniversary of its establishment against the backgroundof Tel Aviv's centenary anniversary. This year it will be celebratingthe 150th birthday of Theodor Herzl. In honor of the occasion, theWorld Zionist Organization, founded by the visionary of the Jewishstate more than a century ago, is organizing a journey in his footstepsto Paris, Basle, Vienna and Budapest before arriving in Jerusalem intime to participate in the opening of Independence Day festivities onthe mount that bears his name. Why all the fuss?

"Toooften the greatness of this man is measured only by the enormouscontribution he made to finding a political solution to the Jewishproblem," explains Dr. David Breakstone, a member of the ZionistExecutive and initiator of the trip, "but there is another facet ofHerzl's Zionism that is no less deserving of our awe and admiration:his utopian vision of what the Jewish state should look like."

Herzl a utopian? Indeed it appears so. Even a cursory perusalof his writings reveals that securing a Jewish homeland constitutedonly a partial fulfillment of his vision. Just two months before hedied, he wrote: "I truly believe that even after we possess our land,Zionism will not cease to be an ideal, for Zionism includes not onlythe yearning for a plot of promised land legally acquired for our wearypeople, but also the yearning for ethical and spiritual fulfillment."

"It is this aspiration that makes Herzl not only a toweringhistorical figure, but also a contemporary and compelling thinker. Heinsisted that the Jewish people concern itself not only with finding asafe place to call their own but also that they create on thatterritory an exemplary society that would benefit all of humankind,"explains Breakstone, who is also the founder of the Herzl Museum. Andit is this message, what he refers to as "positive Zionism," thatmotivated him to organize this trip in the first place. "Today theworld has an entirely skewed understanding of the Zionist idea," hesays. "Israel is portrayed as a military aggressor, and Zionism as amovement of occupation. As a result, even our own young people areoblivious to the humanitarian ideals on which it was founded and thatcontinue to inspire its adherents today."

The Zionist road show he is planning is intended tocounter these misconceptions. In each of the cities the group visitsthere will be a major event with the local Jewish communityhighlighting the values dear to Herzl that continue to be integral tothe Zionist enterprise today. It will open with a gala event at theParis Opera House that Herzl loved to frequent with a performance byNoa in the presence of Natan Sharansky, Chairman of The Jewish Agency,who spent 10 years in Russian labor camps for the part he played inadvancing the Zionist ideal. In Basel there will be a re-enactment ofthe First Zionst Congress at which the cause of Jewishself-determination was first brought to public attention. In Budapestthere will be a special Shabbat service in the legendary DohannySynagogue where Herzl celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. Throughout there willbe an emphasis on the imperative to strive for the sort of societyHerzl envisioned in his utopian novel Altneuland, one that championedArab-Jewish co-existence, free education through university, concernwith the environment, gender equality, and so much more.