Theodor Herzl

Though historians argue about the importance of individuals to the course of history, the significance of Theodor Herzl in the development of Zionism and the eventual creation of the state of Israel is hard to deny. As detailed in the informative but uneven documentary "It Is No Dream: The Life of Theodore Herzl," the passion this unexpected man developed for creating a homeland for the Jews was the sine qua non for putting modern European Zionism on the map. When Herzl said, in his most famous quote, "if you will it, it is no dream," he proved as good as his word.

Though historians argue about the importance of individuals to the course of history, the significance of Theodor Herzl in the development of Zionism and the eventual creation of the state of Israel is hard to deny. As detailed in the informative but uneven documentary "It Is No Dream: The Life of Theodore Herzl," the passion this unexpected man developed for creating a homeland for the Jews was the sine qua non for putting modern European Zionism on the map. When Herzl said, in his most famous quote, "if you will it, it is no dream," he proved as good as his word.

It took more than half a century to fulfill Theodor Herzl's dream of a Jewish state. But it would take Israel even longer to meet Herzl's more intimate last wishes: to have his children buried next to him. On Wednesday, more than seven decades after their deaths, the bodies of two of Herzl's children were laid to rest here near the grave of the famed Zionist leader, whose public legend left little room for the unhappy saga of his troubled children.

A classical music event in Israel is expected to break the country's taboo on performing the music of Richard Wagner, the 19th century German composer and a well-known anti-Semite. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported this week that the event, scheduled for June 18, will feature orchestral musicians performing selections from Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" and other operas. The event will be an academic symposium at Tel Aviv University devoted to Wagner, conductor Arturo Toscanini and Theodor Herzl, the famed Zionist leader.

Nazi swastikas were daubed overnight on the tombs of modern Zionism's founding father, Theodor Herzl, and former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. Slogans on the tombs and those of lesser-known Zionist leaders indicated that the desecration was carried out by Jewish fanatics who consider the State of Israel an abomination. Some ultra-orthodox groups believe that the Messiah must come before Jews can re-establish a homeland in Israel.

A classical music event in Israel is expected to break the country's taboo on performing the music of Richard Wagner, the 19th century German composer and a well-known anti-Semite. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported this week that the event, scheduled for June 18, will feature orchestral musicians performing selections from Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" and other operas. The event will be an academic symposium at Tel Aviv University devoted to Wagner, conductor Arturo Toscanini and Theodor Herzl, the famed Zionist leader.

"Can Evil Beget Good"? Definitely! The evil act of the crucifixion of Christ led to the good act of the establishment of Christianity. The evil act of the Holocaust brought about the realization of a Jewish state--the land of Israel. True, Theodor Herzl in 1896 initiated the idea of a Jewish state, but there is some doubt whether without the Holocaust a Jewish state would have been established in this century. I can understand the objections of many persons who feel it is unethical to use data obtained in the most horrible way imaginable.

When Israel decided to redesign its bank notes, it ran into some trouble: No one, apparently, fit the bill. A year ago, a committee empowered by the Bank of Israel chose Theodor Herzl, David Ben-Gurion, Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin to adorn the country's four bank notes. A balanced choice, many would say: the visionary of the Jewish state, Israel's first prime minister, the hawk who forged peace with Egypt, and the soldier-turned-dove who made peace with Jordan and was slain while advancing the process with the Palestinians.

Among the copious anecdotes that Leon Botstein likes to relate about Richard Wagner and his ugly anti-Jewish views is an ironic one involving Zionist Movement founder Theodor Herzl. As Botstein has detailed in an essay, in 1895 Herzl was a journalist in Paris covering the Dreyfus affair, an army scandal with anti-Semitic taints that rocked French society. When he wasn't filing news reports, Herzl attended the Paris Opera, where he absorbed Wagner's volcanic music. He was inspired both by the German composer's artistry and his ideas about community-building, which some scholars believe helped shape Herzl's concept of a Jewish homeland.

Just 100 years ago, in late 1894, a French army officer of Jewish extraction was arrested, tried and falsely convicted of treason. The trial of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, and his formal degradation on a barracks square in front of a mob that shouted "Death to the Jews!" was witnessed by the Paris correspondent of a Vienna newspaper. Months later, Theodor Herzl wrote "The Jewish State," his clarion call for resolving the apparently irresolvable "Jewish problem": the misery of the poor Jews living in eastern Europe under the Tsar, but also the false and humiliating--and, as the Dreyfus Affair suggested, precarious--position of supposedly emancipated Jews in the West.

When Israel decided to redesign its bank notes, it ran into some trouble: No one, apparently, fit the bill. A year ago, a committee empowered by the Bank of Israel chose Theodor Herzl, David Ben-Gurion, Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin to adorn the country's four bank notes. A balanced choice, many would say: the visionary of the Jewish state, Israel's first prime minister, the hawk who forged peace with Egypt, and the soldier-turned-dove who made peace with Jordan and was slain while advancing the process with the Palestinians.

Among the copious anecdotes that Leon Botstein likes to relate about Richard Wagner and his ugly anti-Jewish views is an ironic one involving Zionist Movement founder Theodor Herzl. As Botstein has detailed in an essay, in 1895 Herzl was a journalist in Paris covering the Dreyfus affair, an army scandal with anti-Semitic taints that rocked French society. When he wasn't filing news reports, Herzl attended the Paris Opera, where he absorbed Wagner's volcanic music. He was inspired both by the German composer's artistry and his ideas about community-building, which some scholars believe helped shape Herzl's concept of a Jewish homeland.

It took more than half a century to fulfill Theodor Herzl's dream of a Jewish state. But it would take Israel even longer to meet Herzl's more intimate last wishes: to have his children buried next to him. On Wednesday, more than seven decades after their deaths, the bodies of two of Herzl's children were laid to rest here near the grave of the famed Zionist leader, whose public legend left little room for the unhappy saga of his troubled children.

Just 100 years ago, in late 1894, a French army officer of Jewish extraction was arrested, tried and falsely convicted of treason. The trial of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, and his formal degradation on a barracks square in front of a mob that shouted "Death to the Jews!" was witnessed by the Paris correspondent of a Vienna newspaper. Months later, Theodor Herzl wrote "The Jewish State," his clarion call for resolving the apparently irresolvable "Jewish problem": the misery of the poor Jews living in eastern Europe under the Tsar, but also the false and humiliating--and, as the Dreyfus Affair suggested, precarious--position of supposedly emancipated Jews in the West.

Theodor Herzl Gaster, 85, a renowned scholar who published the first English translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Gaster published "The Dead Sea Scriptures," the first translation of the ancient scrolls, in 1957. The book sold more than 200,000 copies. The scrolls, written by a Jewish sect around the time Christianity was founded, were discovered in a cave in 1947. His other books included "Myth, Legend and Custom in the Old Testament" and "The Oldest Stories in the World."

"Can Evil Beget Good"? Definitely! The evil act of the crucifixion of Christ led to the good act of the establishment of Christianity. The evil act of the Holocaust brought about the realization of a Jewish state--the land of Israel. True, Theodor Herzl in 1896 initiated the idea of a Jewish state, but there is some doubt whether without the Holocaust a Jewish state would have been established in this century. I can understand the objections of many persons who feel it is unethical to use data obtained in the most horrible way imaginable.

Theodor Herzl Gaster, 85, a renowned scholar who published the first English translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Gaster published "The Dead Sea Scriptures," the first translation of the ancient scrolls, in 1957. The book sold more than 200,000 copies. The scrolls, written by a Jewish sect around the time Christianity was founded, were discovered in a cave in 1947. His other books included "Myth, Legend and Custom in the Old Testament" and "The Oldest Stories in the World."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just formed a new government in Israel. But nothing of substance will change. Peace negotiations will not resume; settlement activity will expand; war with Iran will still be threatened; and Israel will move even closer to becoming an international pariah. When President Obama speaks to the Israeli public, he will no doubt treat his counterpart cordially, but that won't mute the shocking honesty of what he has already said: An Israeli government led by Netanyahu cannot be a partner for productive peace talks.

Nazi swastikas were daubed overnight on the tombs of modern Zionism's founding father, Theodor Herzl, and former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. Slogans on the tombs and those of lesser-known Zionist leaders indicated that the desecration was carried out by Jewish fanatics who consider the State of Israel an abomination. Some ultra-orthodox groups believe that the Messiah must come before Jews can re-establish a homeland in Israel.