The Jewish State: The Historic Essay that Led to the Creation of the State of Israel
Originally published in 1896 as Der Judenstaat, The Jewish State has taken its place among the likes of The Communist Manifesto and Common Sense as polemic writings which have changed modern history. Theodor Herzl’s advocacy for a separate, independent Jewish state as a remedy for centuries of hostility and persecution served as the basis for modern Zionism. And though his vision would not be realized in his lifetime, it did set the course for the creation of the Israel we know today.
This edition, based on the original translation to English by Sylvie D’Avigdor, includes a foreword by Alan Dershowitz, who is among Israel’s most prominent and most vocal scholars defenders. The Harvard law professor, who has been calledIsrael’s lead lawyer in the court of public opinion, discusses The Jewish State’s place in history and its impact today.
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Community Reviews
Theodor Herzl was a Hungarian/Austrian play writer then semi-famous journalist. A competent writer. He was not a practicing Jew. One of the numerous atheists who had big dreams about their own future and used their Jewish ancestry to make a name for themselves.
New Zionism was a thing for 15 years before his book yet he didn't know it and hadn't read the other books and pamphlets. Jews were already slowly moving to Jerusalem. Yet they were small organizations starting and collapsing as Jerusalem was dirt poor and nasty. Israel overall as an area looked uninhabitable for Westerners.
Zionism was thousands of years old. Yet it was not systematized before Herzl and his intellectual fellows in Europe felt the extreme anti-Zionism upcoming and created a full plan for all Jews. Europeans wanted them gone. And by then Ottoman Palestine/Israel was a dirt poor area not really used by anyone for anything besides as a holy place for a few tourists. Jews kept being killed, pushed out, moving back there. But Western Jews were now so rich that this horrible unlivable place needed technological updates to be livable. The Jews who went there often went there to die. It needed to become a place for young Jews picking it over big cities in Europe.
The book goes over how Jews will move there and create a utopia. Shall they speak Hebrew? Create a Jewish state for only Jews? Herzl didn't know much about the area and didn't even know Hebrew was useful as a modern language. He changed his ideas over time yet he is the atheist socialist Jew all the way. He doesn't speak for modern Israel as his idea was merely to move there and live happily with everyone. All religions and ideas. You'd spend most of your time in theaters and operas not trying to defend yourself and your family. Most Jews who moved there were like him, but over time Israel adapted to the conditions instead of trying to recreate Paris in the Middle East.
Some rate it 1 star as some sort of hate speech by a radical insane maniac wanting power. He was merely arrogant and wanted to be famous to get more women. He didn't quite know if his idea was even possible or how it would look like. The book hence reads dry as clearly it's a clueless left-winger writing about an ideal scenario not based on reality. Yet with Kibbutz these ideas were in fact implemented and created Israel. It's just that socialist Kibbutz didn't work and constantly went bankrupt and were bailed out. Today Israel is a mix of those old orthodox Jews just there to read the Torah and die. Then the socialist Western dreamers. And then the pragmatic Jews adapting to the conditions at hand. All live together.
The issue with the book is not that it's so Zionist it's too much. It's barely Zionism according to the modern definition. He's presenting a careful dull idea. The issue is actually that he is not Zionist enough. His ideas are so weak and dreamy they make no sense. When Israel was created they had to fight Britain to get rid of them first for example.
New Zionism was a thing for 15 years before his book yet he didn't know it and hadn't read the other books and pamphlets. Jews were already slowly moving to Jerusalem. Yet they were small organizations starting and collapsing as Jerusalem was dirt poor and nasty. Israel overall as an area looked uninhabitable for Westerners.
Zionism was thousands of years old. Yet it was not systematized before Herzl and his intellectual fellows in Europe felt the extreme anti-Zionism upcoming and created a full plan for all Jews. Europeans wanted them gone. And by then Ottoman Palestine/Israel was a dirt poor area not really used by anyone for anything besides as a holy place for a few tourists. Jews kept being killed, pushed out, moving back there. But Western Jews were now so rich that this horrible unlivable place needed technological updates to be livable. The Jews who went there often went there to die. It needed to become a place for young Jews picking it over big cities in Europe.
The book goes over how Jews will move there and create a utopia. Shall they speak Hebrew? Create a Jewish state for only Jews? Herzl didn't know much about the area and didn't even know Hebrew was useful as a modern language. He changed his ideas over time yet he is the atheist socialist Jew all the way. He doesn't speak for modern Israel as his idea was merely to move there and live happily with everyone. All religions and ideas. You'd spend most of your time in theaters and operas not trying to defend yourself and your family. Most Jews who moved there were like him, but over time Israel adapted to the conditions instead of trying to recreate Paris in the Middle East.
Some rate it 1 star as some sort of hate speech by a radical insane maniac wanting power. He was merely arrogant and wanted to be famous to get more women. He didn't quite know if his idea was even possible or how it would look like. The book hence reads dry as clearly it's a clueless left-winger writing about an ideal scenario not based on reality. Yet with Kibbutz these ideas were in fact implemented and created Israel. It's just that socialist Kibbutz didn't work and constantly went bankrupt and were bailed out. Today Israel is a mix of those old orthodox Jews just there to read the Torah and die. Then the socialist Western dreamers. And then the pragmatic Jews adapting to the conditions at hand. All live together.
The issue with the book is not that it's so Zionist it's too much. It's barely Zionism according to the modern definition. He's presenting a careful dull idea. The issue is actually that he is not Zionist enough. His ideas are so weak and dreamy they make no sense. When Israel was created they had to fight Britain to get rid of them first for example.
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