Binyamin Ze'ev (Theodore) Herzl and the Zionist Movement
Suggested Educational Activities

Supplementary Material for Teachers -- the text book, "Reshit haTziyyonut", chapter 11, pp. 123-134.

Notes to the Educator:

This will probably be the participants' first encounter with Herzl and the expansion and diplomatic progress of the Zionist movement. This can be addressed at various ages, levels of sophistication and depth.

The "angle" one could use for all of these, is to examine the entry of a member of the Austrian Jewish community from the periphery to center stage in the space of one year. He was an incredible visionary, differentiated from others by his driving force, who succeeded in convincing many people at grass-roots and at the top [although far from all] that Zionism was a viable enterprise, creating an increasing degree of unity around focal issues as time went on.

1. Presentation of the Topic

Assignment:

Ask what, in the opinion of the students, were the necessary conditions for the ascent and success of national movements, in general, and the Zionist movement, in particular.

Procedure:

1. Have participants create a time-line from 1881 to 1917 and mark in the Pogroms, the first and second aliyot, the Dreyfus Trial, Herzl's publication of "Der Judenstaat" [The Jewish State], the first seven Zionist Congresses, using background materials from this module and other files. Each two or three participants fill in one item on the chart, so that this is done quickly. The chart may be kept for the subsequent modules on Herzl.
2. Ask the group what they notice about the events on the chart and formulate some answers to the causes of the rise of national movements, generally.
3. The ensuing discussion should raise the following points: A. Motivation B. Suitable Political Conditions C. Suitable Leadership [see notes for review, below]
4. Now, investigate whether these points existed in the case of Herzl and the Zionist movement - and which was most important.

   Provide each with a copy of Herzl's statement, "At Basle I founded the Jewish state ...", as quoted above, together with the Zionist platform [also above].

   • Ask whether they agree with the first.
   • Ask how realistic they feel the platform was in those days OR
   • Follow-up with a debate at the "First" Zionist Congress for and against the resolution [as voted], with the possibility of amendments being inserted [on the nature of the homeland - democratic, secular, socialist, Jewish nature], to be introduced by different groups and voted on separately...

   Allow time to read further documents if necessary, prior to discussion, including the four means of "securing a national homeland" [5 - Basle].

2. The Centenary of the First Zionist Congress in Basle: Reporter's Workshop

(This program is a follow-up or alternative format for the review.)

Program Outline

1. Divide participants into groups.
2. Each group becomes the editorial board of a newspaper. They are responsible for preparing an issue marking the hundredth anniversary of the First Zionist Congress.
3. Each group now decides on a special name for the issue, a headline for the lead story, subjects of the different articles, layout, and so forth.
4. Materials required:
   Bristol board (oak tag) / large, poster-sized sheets of newsprint; markers or crayons, scissors, paste, staplers; photocopy pictures of major personalities from books or download from websites.

Notes for the Review

1. Motivation

   The idea of the return to Zion and the establishment of a national movement existed before Herzl's appearance (see lesson on the Proto-Zionists and the Hovevei Tzion).

2. Suitable Political Conditions

   Anti-Semitism in Europe led the Jews to seek a solution to the Jewish problem in the establishment of a Jewish national movement.

3. Suitable Leadership

   Two out of three of the necessary conditions for the establishment of a national movement (motivation and suitable political conditions) existed before Herzl's appearance on the stage of history. The third condition was met in the unique personality of Binyamin Ze'ev Herzl.

   Herzl's basic perception of the fundamental problems of the Jewish people was not new. However, by strength of his dynamic personality and his success in combining vision and action, Herzl transformed the image of Zionism beyond recognition.

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