Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History 

accessible at thejewishnews.com

62 | MAY 16 • 2024 
J
N

‘If You Will It, It Is No Dream’
M

ay 14 will mark the end of Israel’s 75th anniversary year. It’s 
been a rough year for the Jewish 
homeland and for America’s 
Jewish community at-large. 
The year began with joyous celebrations 
around the world in April and May 2023, 
but five months later, a heinous, patently 
evil attack by Hamas terrorists on innocent 
Israelis and foreign visitors on Oct. 7, 2023, 
prematurely ended the festivities.
Israelis united, as they 
always have over the past 
75 years when faced with a 
major existential threat. The 
war against Hamas in Gaza is 
ongoing, but Israel still stands 
strong today.
The end of Israel’s 75th 
anniversary year is a good 
time to remember someone 
who is, perhaps, most responsible for a 
Jewish homeland: Theodor Herzl. No single 
person can, of course, create a nation. It 
takes thousands and thousands of commit-
ted people. When David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, took 
the lead in declaring a modern State of Israel on May 14, 1948, he had 
600,000 Jews in Eretz Israel behind him and millions around the world 
supporting his efforts.
However, Ben-Gurion was acting upon a Zionist dream for which 
Theodor Herzl was the leading proponent. Although the idea of a 
return of the Jews to Zion predated Herzl, he was the singular person 
who demonstrably grew the dream. Or, as Herzl famously said: “If you will it, it 
is no dream.”
Born in Austria-Hungary, Herzl (1860-1904) was a journalist, lawyer, writer, playwright and, most of all, 
a committed political activist who is considered the “Father of Modern Political Zionism.” While working 
in Vienna, Herzl witnessed extreme antisemitism, and he decided that there was only one solution: Jews 
must have a homeland. 
To champion the cause of a Jewish nation, Herzl published Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) in 1896. 
This brief but remarkable document provided his rationale for the concept of Jews migrating to the area 
that would become modern Israel. It was also a detailed manifesto for how the nation should be managed. 
The dream of a Jewish nation was realized in 1948; his plans for administration largely remained on paper. 
Herzl then chaired the first Zionist Conference in Basel, Switzerland in 1897. This global conference for 
Zionism continues to this day. 
Herzl died young at 44 years old. It is believed that he simply worked himself to death.
There are over 2,000 pages that cite Herzl in the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History. Indeed, he appears 
in the Detroit Jewish Chronicle and JN in every year from 1916 until the present. Just search for “Theodor Herzl” and you will find 
plenty of good reading about a remarkable person who was instrumental in changing the modern Jewish world. 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN archives, available for free at thejewishnews.com.

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

