Herzl, Theodor. Medinat Ha-yehudim: Der Judenstaat. [“The Jewish State, An Attempt at a Modern Solution to the Jewish Question”]

FIRST HEBREW EDITION OF HERZL’S HERALD OF MODERN ZIONISM. Theodor Herzl founded political Zionism in this slim tract. An epochal call for the establishment of a Jewish State as a National Home for the Jewish People. “Herzl’s Der Judenstaat has remained the single most important manifesto of modern Zionism and is one of the most important books in the history of the Jewish People.” See Michael Heymann, Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana-Treasures of Jewish Booklore (1994) no. 46, pp.102-3 (illustrated) --------------------. NOT USED. KEEP FOR NEXT TIME: It is noteworthy that when discussing the role to be played by the Rabbis in the burgeoning movement, the Author observes that what binds us Jews together into a cohesive unit is the faith of our fathers, whereas linguistically, we long ago adapted the tongues of our various host nations (p.54). In the German original this sentence reads, “Wir erkennen unsere historische Zusammengehörigkeit nur am Glauben unserer Väter, weil wir ja längst die Sprache verschiedener Nationen unverlöschbar in uns aufgenommen haben”.