Theodor Herzl: From Europe to Zion

256 Pages·2007·14.803 MB·English

by  Mark H. Gelber (editor), Vivian Liska (editor)

Conditio Judaica 67
Studien und Quellen zur deutsch-jüdischen Literatur- und Kulturgeschichte
Herausgegeben von Hans Otto Horch
in Verbindung mit Alfred Bodenheimer, Mark H. Gelber und Jakob Hessing

Theodor Herzl:
From Europe to Zion
Edited by
Mark H. Gelber
and Vivian Liska
Max Niemeyer Verlag
Tübingen 2007
Gershon Shaked (1929-2006)
in memoriam
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Contents
Introduction 1
Robert S. Wistrich
Theodor Herzl: Between Myth and Messianism 7
Denis Charbit
Herzl's Nationalism: Is it Ethnic or Civic? 23
Jacques Kornberg
Theodor Herzl: Zionism as Personal Liberation 43
Benno Wagner
Leaders 1904. Masaryk - Herzl - Kafka 57
Michael Berkowitz
Re-Imagining Herzl and other Zionist Sex Symbols 73
Eitan Bar-Yosef
A Villa in the Jungle: Herzl, Zionist Culture, and the Great
African Adventure 85
Daniel Hoffmann
»Dieses schlicht verschwiegene Bekenntnis«. Gustav G. Cohen, ein
unbekannter Freund Theodor Herzls 103
Jacob Golomb
Transfiguration of the Self in Herzl's Life and in his Fiction 115
Klaus Hödl
Theodor Herzl and the Crisis of Jewish Self-Understanding 129
Bernhard Greiner
»What Will People Say?« Herzl as Author of Comedies 149
VI Contents
Vivian Liska
Α Vision out of Sight. Theodor Herzl's Late Philosophical Tales 161
Mark H. Gelber
The Life and Death of Herzl in Jewish Consciousness:
Genre Issues and Mythic Perspectives 173
Frank Stern
Der Wandernde Jude - Herzl und der Zionismus auf der Leinwand 189
Na'ama Rokem
Making Use of Prose: The Politics of Genre in Theodor Herzl and
H.N. Bialik 201
Gershon Shaked
Mythic Figure or Flesh and Blood? The Literary Reception of Herzl
in Hebrew Poetry and in Nathan Bistritzki's »The Secret of Birth« 221
Anat Feinberg
»Mein Kampf«: George Tabori's Subversive Herzl Variation 235
List of Contributors 245
Index 247
Introduction
The one hundredth anniversary of the death of Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) in
2004 was marked by numerous public and scholarly activities in Israel,
Europe, and elsewhere internationally. This anniversary provided a timely
opportunity to reassess his career, writings, and their reception utilizing a wide
range of different approaches and methodologies. There have been fundamen-
tal shifts in the way Herzl has been viewed over the course of the last century.
There are several reasons which might explain these shifts that go beyond the
normal changes and innovations in critical methodologies and analysis during
this time period. Following the realization of Herzl's goal, that is, the demon-
strable success of political Zionism signalized by the establishment of the State
of Israel in 1948, it became clear that Herzl, the Utopian visionary and activist,
may have been more prescient than many of his contemporary and subsequent
antagonists had surmised. It is fair to say that his Zionist writings, for example,
Der Judenstaat (1896) and Altneuland (1902) generated as much controversy
and opposition within Jewry as did his political and diplomatic activities, the
creation of the World Zionist Organization under his leadership, and the inau-
guration of what is called in Zionist historiography Congress Zionism. Also,
Herzl's understanding of antisemitism was proven, unfortunately, to be quite
cogent, not only by the horrific tragedy of the Nazi genocide against European
Jewry, but also by the continuation of vicious antisemitism after the Shoah into
the 21st centuiy, especially in Europe.
Furthermore, it has become clear on the basis of surveys, population studies,
and informed calculations and predictions that the Zionist idea has become in
the early 21st century the foremost popular ideology among world Jewry. On
one hand, Zionism has proven to be flexible and inclusive enough in order to
appropriate sectors of Jewry which historically opposed it. On the other hand,
regarding Jewish demographics alone, Zionism appears to have provided the
Jewish people with the only social and political framework in which the Jew-
ish population increases yearly on the basis of natural reproduction or the ratio
of more live births than deaths. That is, while world Jewry was demographi-
cally and geographically transformed by the vicissitudes and dislocations of
the Jewish experience in the 20th century, by the end of the 20th century and in
the first years of the 21st century, a plurality and perhaps also soon a majority
of world Jewry was or would be in fact resident in the Jewish State. There
2 Introduction
appears to be no general agreement about exact numbers, but the trend is clear
and obvious. Furthermore, we submit that the recent, although short-lived,
popularity of post-Zionism and the rise of diasporism within Jewry are sure
signs of the triumph of Zionism within Jewry at large. How a marginal, minor-
ity and in some ways extreme Jewish national movement was able to succeed
to this degree within a century and establish its national home as a political
state and appropriate large sectors of the Jewish people in different ways, is
not easy to explain. But the name of Herzl is ineluctably associated with this
historical transformation. As is well known, Herzl, one of the foremost intel-
lectual architects of Zionism and the state idea, predicted with ebullience at the
time of the First Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897 that within fifty years, a
Jewish State could come into existence. At the time, it appeared by and large
to be a totally unrealistic political goal, if not a great folly.
The present volume is comprised of essays which reflect part of the interna-
tional scholarly and intellectual activity characteristic of the Herzl year in
2004. The core of this collection consists of revised lectures which were deliv-
ered at an international conference, »Theodor Herzl, from Europe to Zion,«
which was organized by the editors of this volume and the Institute of Jewish
Studies at the University of Antwerp. Additional revised lectures given during
the Herzl year complement the Antwerp talks. Most of these were delivered at
an international conference held in 2004 in Israel, »Theodor Herzl - Then and
Now,« organized by Jacob Golomb and Robert S. Wistrich and the Center for
Austrian Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In effect, Israeli,
European, and North American scholars from different disciplines in the hu-
manities and social sciences bring new perspectives to bear on controversial
issues which inform the contemporary discussion of Herzl and Zionism. Also
new material and analysis is provided regarding unknown or little known as-
pects of Herzl's reception on stage and on screen. Of course, Herzl is not re-
sponsible for the political, social, or cultural problems of the State of Israel.
But, the complex reality of the state, embattled as it often is on several fronts at
once, appears to loom largely over the scholarly discussions. The failure of the
state to achieve peace with the Palestinians and with some of its Arab
neighbors is perhaps the most important aspect in this regard, and it seems to
be a sub-text in several of the contributions to this volume.
It appears to be in the background of a few essays found in this collection.
For example, Robert S. Wistrich, in his article on »Herzl between Myth and
Messianism,« attempts to analyze Herzl's Zionism as a secularized messianic
movement, maintaining that Zionism ultimately sought a reconciliation be-
tween Jewry and the nations of the world. Also, Denis Charbit, in his piece on
Herzl's nationalism, situates his analysis broadly within the contemporary
scholarly debate regarding the construction of nationalisms. In this context, he
seeks to test Herzl's own nationalism against other varieties of nationalist
endeavor and identification. In »Theodor Herzl and the Crisis of Jewish Self-
Introduction 3
Understanding,« Klaus Hödl discusses the impact of Vienna on Herzl in terms
of the way this unique cultural setting with its own nationalities issues exerted
certain impact on the specific conversion to Zionism in this case. And, Jacques
Kornberg, in his contribution, pinpoints Herzl's Zionism within the larger
discussion about the European Enlightenment, as well as within the framework
of the debate about Jewish integration and assimilation in Europe. Romberg's
essay poses some questions regarding the possibility of determining the extent
to which Herzl's Zionism was European and to what extent it might be Jewish.
Thus, Kornberg discusses the possible categorization of Herzl, on one hand, as
a Jewish thinker, and, on the other hand, as a European one. Kornberg also
raises the issue concerning the positioning of Herzl's proposed Jewish State
between Europe and the Orient. In his early Zionist writings, for example in
Der Judenstaat, Herzl envisioned the Jewish State as a potential barrier for
Europe against the barbaric East. In this sense, Zion would assume a protective
role on the border between Occident and Orient. However, later on in his ca-
reer, after he had founded the Zionist Organization, visited in the land of Is-
rael, and come to a deeper understanding of world Jewry and Jewish history,
he entertained the idea of the Jewish State in Zion, for example in Altneuland,
as a bridge between East and West. The Jewish State would thus become a
bustling and prosperous transportation and commercial hub, linking East and
West, Africa, Asia, and Europe, and it would serve to facilitate cross-cultural
transfers. The special role of Africa in Zionist consciousness and Israeli cul-
ture, beginning with Herzl's championing of the Uganda plan, is discussed at
length by Eitan Bar-Yosef in his contribution to this volume.
Some of the essays in this volume focus on Herzl as a »man of the moment«
and his various visual images and their importance for the burgeoning Zionist
movement (Michael Berkowitz). Frank Stern investigates these images and
their cultural context, as well as their significance as propaganda in early Zion-
ist film. Daniel Hoffman supplies new information concerning Herzl's friend-
ship with Gustav C. Cohen, which in turn sheds light on Herzl's intimate circle
of acquaintances and their importance to him, both in terms of male bonding
and personal assistance and regarding political and financial support. Benno
Wagner, in his contribution, is interested in assessing Herzl's qualities and
profile as a leader, while considering the complicating comparative aspects of
the perception of him in a leadership role. In order to adumbrate this portrait,
Wagner chooses to include in his discussion two very dissimilar counterparts
to Herzl: T. G. Masaryk and Franz Kafka. Jacob Golomb considers Herzl as a
»Grenzjude,« a marginal Jew, who attempts to negotiate the limits of marginal-
ity in his writings, especially in his »Philosophical Tales.« The »Philosophical
Tales« are also of great interest in another essay (Vivian Liska) included in this
volume, especially to the extent that they reveal and partially conceal subtle
dimensions of the tension between Herzl's commitment to his writing (and to
his literary career and to his family) as opposed to his commitment to political
4 Introduction
and diplomatic activity on the stage of world history. This essay and others
appear to question the extent to which the Herzl myth was already being con-
structed by him during his lifetime.
The specific topic of the development of the Herzl myth, its contours, and
its various versions in different genres is treated at length (Mark H. Gelber) in
more than one contribution to this collection. The reception of Herzl on the
stage, for example in plays by Nathan Bistritzki (Gershon Shaked) and George
Tabori (Anat Feinberg), also raises the issue of the debunking of that myth or
the production of a subversive countermyth, which also poses difficult ques-
tions regarding both the heroic image of Herzl and the historical course of
Zionism, as it strove to realize the movement's program. At the same time, the
theatrical reception of Herzl in Europe and in Zion serves to bring to mind
Herzl's own stature as a dramatist. In his essay, >»What Will People Say?<
Herzl as Author of Comedies,« Bernard Greiner analyzes the manner in which
Herzl, following the example of Hugo von Hofmannsthal, attempted to »attain
the social« in his light comedies. At the same time, this analysis contributes to
our broader understanding of some aspects of the aesthetics of Zionism. Along
similar lines, in her contribution Na'ama Rokem utilizes notions of the rela-
tionship of the prosaic to prose, derived to a degree from her reading of Hegel,
in order to probe the role of literature, especially prose writing, within the
process of the revolutionary transformation of Jewish life within Zionism. As a
counterpart to the analysis of Herzl, Rokem includes in her paper a section on
Haim Nachman Bialik, who is sometimes paired with Herzl. In this connec-
tion, Bialik represents the spiritual father, the poetic and cultural inspiration of
modern Zionism, while Herzl represents the movement's political father, who
inspired its political destiny and diplomatic mission.
*
The editors would like to thank the individual contributors for their scholarly
efforts, which led to the realization of this project. Grants from the Research
Foundation - Flanders (FWO) and the Flemish Community Department of
Education financed the International Herzl conference in Antwerp in 2004.
Special thanks are due to the staff of the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Uni-
versity of Antwerp, especially Katrien Vloeberghs and Jan Wolf (+), who has
since passed away, for their stellar organization of the Antwerp conference.
Also, the editors are grateful to Jacob Golomb, Robert S. Wistrich, and
Alma Lessing of the Center for Austrian Studies at the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem, for facilitating the publication of several papers that were delivered
at the Herzl Centennial Conference in Israel. A generous grant from the Insti-
tute of Jewish Studies at the University of Antwerp made the publication of
this volume possible. Regarding the technical process of preparing the essays