JUNE 30 • 2022 | 9

essay
Herzl’s Yahrzeit Is Coming Up 
O

n July 3, it is Herzl’s 
yahrzeit. Truly, a sad 
day for the Jewish 
people at the time in 1904 and 
now, an important and inspira-
tional day on the 
Zionist calendar. 
Herzl was 
buried in Vienna, 
Austria, in 1904. 
However, he was 
so confident that 
a Jewish state 
would one day be 
established that he requested in 
his will to be buried in a metal 
coffin so that it would be easy to 
transport his body to Israel.
There were attempts to 
move Herzl’s remains right 
away. However, the outbreak of 
WWI and then WWII halted 
the mission. Hitler’s rise to 
power in Germany and then 
the annexation of Austria made 
it difficult for the thousands of 
Austrian and European Jews to 
continue their annual pilgrim-
age to Herzl’s grave in Vienna 
on his yahrzeit. Nevertheless, 
the custom continued in secret, 
including memorials and pro-
cessions in the cemetery. 
Forty-four years after his 
death, in 1948, his dream for 
a Jewish state was realized 
and one year later, in 1949, his 
request was finally fulfilled. 
Herzl’s final journey from 
Vienna to Jerusalem was 
planned to the tee. In a com-
plex operation, Herzl’s grave 
was opened in Vienna and his 
remains, as well as his family 
members, were transferred to 
Israel. Military planes accom-
panied the El Al plane that 
transported the coffin to the 
shores of Israel. The burial pro-
cession began in Ben Gurion 
Airport, passed through Tel 

Aviv and then reached its final 
destination on Mount Herzl in 
Jerusalem on Aug. 17, 1949. 
About 250,000 people 
participated in the various 
events, a fifth of the Israeli 
population at the time. In 
Haifa, white doves were 
released when the planes 
passed over the city. In Tel 
Aviv, rabbis remained near 
the coffin throughout the 
night and recited parts of the 
Mishnah and Psalms; their 
prayers were broadcasted on 
loudspeakers. Upon entering 
Jerusalem, the casket passed 
under an honorary arch 
bearing the biblical verse 
from Ezekiel the Prophet: “I 
will lift you from your graves. 
My people, I bring you to the 
Land of Israel.” This quote also 
adorned his coffin drape along 
with a quote from Psalms, 
“Those who sow in tears, will 
reap with joy,” symbolizing 
Herzl’s personal sacrifice for 
the Jewish people. 
At last, on Mount Herzl, his 
casket was buried under soil 

brought in white silk bags from 
all over Israel to metaphorically 
bury him in and with every 
part of Israel. The citizens 
present at the gravesite then 
pledged “If I forget Jerusalem, 
let my right hand whither.” A 
line which originated from 
the Jewish people during 
the Babylonian Exile, which 
went on to become a famous 
motif in the diaspora: a quote 
even Herzl recited during 
the Uganda Crisis at the 6th 
Zionist Congress. 
July 3 is fast approach-
ing. Services are held yearly 
at his grave sight on Mount 
Herzl and are attended by the 
Israeli prime minister and 
president. There, they will 
commemorate a revolutionary 
person, who dared to do the 
unimaginable. 

Miri Weissman is originally from New 

Jersey and made aliyah in 2020. For 

her national service, she worked as a 

tour guide at Mount Herzl and a social 

media manager for The Herzl Center. 

This was first published on the Times 

of Israel blog.

year are:
• Expand JFS’ strong 
suicide-prevention program 
across the region, including 
enhancing training and 
development.
• Analyze employment, 
pay and benefit structures 
to ensure competitive 
employment packages across 
the agency.
• Explore and implement 
policy changes based on 
agency-wide DEI learnings 
and discussion.
• Perform a comprehensive 
program assessment to 
optimize operational and 
financial performance while 
meeting community needs.
There’s nothing out of 
the ordinary here. We’re 
not opening a taco stand 
nor moving to the Upper 
Peninsula. We’re charting a 
course to know where we are 
heading and to ask you to 
help us get there and to help 
keep us accountable. 
Since 1928, Jewish 
Family Service has helped 
the community. First, the 
Jewish community and 
now the Jewish and broader 
communities. And we are 
planning on being here long 
after our 100th birthday. 
We help our neighbors 
who can’t make ends meet.
We help people struggling 
with mental health problems.
We help bubbies and 
zaydies to age in place.
Thousands of people a year, 
one at a time, as the heart of a 
stronger community. 

Perry Ohren is a social worker and 

has been Jewish Family Service’s 

CEO since 2011. He is a past chair 

of the Board of Directors of the 

international Network of Jewish 

Human Service Agencies and serves 

on the Board of Directors of NEW 

(Nonprofit Enterprise at Work).

Miri 
Weissman

WIKIMEDIA

Herzl’s Coffin in 
Tel Aviv in 1949

“IF YOU WILL IT, IT IS NO DREAM.” 

— THEODOR HERZL 

