Herzl and the World Zionist Organization

In the past few classes, we have been studying about Theodor Herzl and his efforts to bring Jews from all over the world together in order to fulfill their dream of a Jewish homeland. The belief that Jews are a people who need a homeland of their own is called "Zionism." Herzl founded an group called the World Zionist Organization (or WZO) that still works today supporting Israel, helping Jews immigrate to Israel, and educating about Judaism.

The WZO holds meetings called World Zionist Congresses, to which every Jewish community sends representatives. The first World Zionist Congress met in 1897, in Basel, Switzerland. Each World Zionist Congress meeting allows Jews to set policies and elect officers to carry out their work of protecting, supporting, and educating Jews throughout the world and especially Israel.

The sixth graders just learned about two specific decisions of the World Zionist Congress. In class, we learned about Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem, and how it was chosen as a way of unifying Jews and expressing their hopes for a homeland. We also studied the Sixth World Zionist Congress (1903), where they had to decide whether they should accept a British proposal offering Jews a refuge in Uganda. You can find the short play, "Zionism without Zion", here.

Some of you might like to read some of Herzl's writings. You can find a selection from his novel Alteneuland (Old-New Land) here.