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