Theodor Herzl

Theodor Herzl

Theodor Herzl (2 May 1860 in Pest, Kingdom of Hungary – 3 May 1904 in Edlach, Austria) was born into an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Pest, Hungary. Some Sephardic ancestry has been suggested but has not been documented. The family later moved to Vienna, Austria, after the death of his sister Pauline.

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Zionism

Confronted with antisemitism in Vienna, Herzl reached the conclusion that anti-Jewish sentiment would make Jewish assimilation impossible, and that the only solution for Jews was the establishment of a Jewish state. His idea was was well received and eventually resulted in the creation of the nation of Israel.

Family life

Herzl married Julie Naschauer, the 21-year-old daughter of a wealthy Jewish businessman in Vienna on 25 June 1889. The marriage resulted in the birth of two girls and one boy, Hans Herzl.

Views regarding circumcision

Although the Herzl family was strongly Jewish, Herzl and his wife did not support circumcision as required by the alleged Abrahamic covenant, so when Hans was born on 10 June 1891, they protected Hans from the pain and trauma of Brit Milah on the eighth day, although that was customary for Jews.

Publications

• Herzl, Theodor (1896): Der Judenstaat. Leipzig & Vienna: M. Breitenstein's Verlags-Buchhandlung.

Death and re-interment

Herzl died of heart failure on 3 May 1904 when he was 44 and his intact son Hans was 13. Herzl was buried in the Döbling Cemetery of Vienna, but later was exhumed and re-interred on 17 August 1949 in a special location of great honor chosen by a special commissiion on Mount Herzl, a prominence near Jerusalem that was named in his honor. His other family members also were later re-interred in the Mount Herzl national cemetery.

External links

• Wikipedia article: Theodor Herzl. Retrieved 19 February 2024.