soul

of blessed memory

Herzls In
Herzliya

Times of Israel

A

head of the 120th anniversary
of the First Zionist Congress
that Theodor Herzl organized
in Switzerland, 120 men and women
named for him gathered in Herzliya,
Israel, to celebrate his legacy.
On Aug. 29, 1897, Herzl, a journalist
who was born in what today is Hungary,
convened in the city of Basel some 200
participants from 17 countries, includ-
ing 69 delegates from various Zionist
societies. The gathering, the first of its
kind in terms of scale, is widely regard-
ed as a watershed in the effort to create
a Jewish state.
To honor his contribution to the
establishment of the State of Israel in
1948, a group photo was organized for
120 men and women named after Herzl

84

August 31 • 2017

jn

TWITTER VIA TIMES OF ISRAEL

continued from page 82

Men and women named for Theodor Herzl

at the Israel Air Force
uncle Sammy stayed in
House in the coastal city of
Romania and also named
Herzliya, whose name also
his firstborn son Herzl.
is a tribute to Herzl.
Both the uncle and his son
Among those pho-
immigrated to Israel in
tographed was Herzl
the 1960s. Bodinger said
Bodinger, a former com-
his cousin also was at the
mander of the Israel Air
photo shoot in Herzliya.
Force. On Aug. 25, he told
“They say no one is irre-
Army Radio that while
placeable, but I don’t know
his parents named him in
if someone else could
honor of the Zionist activ-
have started the great
ist, it was also the name
process that Herzl put in
Theodor Herzl in 1897
of his paternal grandfa-
motion, with all the argu-
ther, who “disappeared in
ments, even on whether to
Romania during the war”
establish a Jewish home in
and is presumed to have been murdered Uganda,” Bodinger told Army Radio. “It
in the Holocaust.
turned all right in the end, despite the
Bodinger’s father immigrated to pre-
arguments. Jews will always argue.”
state Israel in 1933, where he married
Summing up the event he organized,
Herzl wrote in his diary: “At Basel, I
a Jewish woman from India. Bodinger’s

founded the Jewish State. If I said this
out loud today l would be greeted by
universal laughter. In five years perhaps,
and certainly in 50 years, everyone will
perceive it.”
The Foreign Ministry launched a cam-
paign earlier this month on social media
to celebrate the 120th anniversary. It set
up an account on Twitter called
@HerzlTweets, which features quotes by
the visionary journalist.
BuzzFeed earlier this month pub-
lished its own nod to Herzl, ranking
him as the owner of the best beard of
all the participants of the First Zionist
Congress in an article titled “The Best
Beards From The First Zionist Congress
– Ranked.”
Herzl has no direct descendants left
today. His only grandson killed himself
in 1946. •