Herzl grandparents' return to Mount Herzl reveals Zionism's roots through generations - editorial

Wandering through the burial plots of Zionist leaders on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl, one notices a striking absence of rabbis. The mountain, instead, is dominated by presidents, prime ministers, military commanders, and political figures whose decisions turned the Zionist dream into reality. The reburial of Theodor Herzl's grandparents, Shimon Leib and Rivka Herzl, near their grandson underscores that while the state's institutions were primarily built by secular leaders, the ideas sustaining Zionism originated within Jewish homes, communities, and places of worship.

The Herzl grandparents, shunned by prominent political roles, served as the gabbai of the synagogue in Zemun—today part of Serbia—where Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai, a pioneer of Jewish national revival, held the position of rabbi. Decades before political Zionism materialized, Alkalai championed the active return to the Land of Israel, rather than it remaining a mere theological pursuit.

While it's uncertain how much this ideology shaped young Theodor Herzl, it is impossible to underestimate the significance of family and upbringing, and the transmission of values across generations.

Theodor Herzl's grandfather, Shimon Leib, epitomized this inheritance. Although he held no high office and did not negotiate with emperors or draft political programs, his role as gabbai in the Zemun synagogue showcased the profound impact of Jewish consciousness passed down through generations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed President Isaac Herzog's sentiments, emphasizing that "Judaism is the basis of Zionism," with the Herzl grandparents' home being the foundation upon which the trunk, branches, and fruit of political Zionism grew.

This narrative transcends Herzl's assimilated Viennese upbringing and delves into the responsibility each generation bears in transmitting languages, memories, and traditions to the next. President Herzog aptly noted that "dreams are not passed down through written inheritance; they are passed around the Shabbat table, in the stories a grandfather tells his grandson." Jewish continuity, particularly for communities outside Israel, has been preserved through countless ordinary conversations that history rarely records.

As World Zionist Organization Chairman Yaakov Hagoel reminded us, Herzl left "two wills": one concerning his family, and another that "you and I fulfill every day, every hour" through the continuous work of building the State of Israel. This extends beyond the physical return of Herzl's grandparents to Mount Herzl, emphasizing that the work of Zionism requires ongoing commitment from every generation to uphold the ideals, identity, and sense of purpose that made the state's establishment possible.

The graves on Mount Herzl honor those who contributed to modern Israel's creation, and Wednesday's ceremony serves as a poignant reminder of the intergenerational legacy that underpins Zionism.