Moses Hess. Rom und Jerusalem, die letzte Nationalitätsfrage [“Rome and Jerusalem, the Ultimate National Query”]

(ZIONISM).

Eduard Wengler

Leipzig

1862

FIRST EDITION. German with occasional Hebrew. The J. J. Speyer copy (private secretary to Baron Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild)

IMPORTANT ZIONIST TREATISE BY THE FATHER OF ZIONIST SOCIALISM. Born into a religious household in Bonn in 1812, Hess was greatly influenced by Socialist ideologies, in particular the writings of Karl Marx. His anthropological studies of the liberation movement of oppressed nationalities resulted in his publication of the present text, in which he concluded that the Jewish people needed a national center, around which a nucleus of men devoted to the religious mission of Israel could gather to pursue their ideals. This future Jewish state had to be based on the following foundations: Acquisition of land by the nation as a whole, creation of legal conditions under which work can flourish, and “the founding of Jewish societies of agriculture, industry and trade in accordance with Mosaic, i.e. socialist, principles.” (Rom und Jerusalem, Letter 12). The title “Rome and Jerusalem” derives from Hess’s notion that there are “two world-historical races:” Aryans and Semites. The Aryans aim to beautify life; the Semites to sanctify it.