The Serbian town that connects Theodor Herzl and Rabbi Alkalai

The news that the remains of the grandparents of Theodor Herzl, the founder of political Zionism, were transferred from Serbia to Israel and buried in Jerusalem in a state ceremony on Wednesday, August 5, has attracted considerable public attention in our country.

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The reason for this is that many people were unaware of the connection between the man known as the "modern Moses" and Serbia.

And the connection between Theodor Herzl and Serbia is extensive.

The Herzl family lived in Zemun, a municipality of Belgrade, for a long time, where Shimon Leib Herzl and Rivka Herzl were until recently buried in the Jewish cemetery. And just as the Herzls left their mark on Zemun, Zemun also left its mark on the family. This was particularly significant because the famous Zemun rabbi Yehuda Alkalai, an intellectual precursor of Zionism, was a close friend of Shimon and Rivka Herzl. It is also believed that he officiated the wedding between Theodor Herzl's parents - Jakob and Jeanette - and that he significantly influenced Herzl's ideas, although historians disagree on this point.

"There is a rich array of great figures (Gedolei Yisrael) in the long history of the Jewish people. Among them is the distinguished figure of the Zemun rabbi Yehuda ben Shlomo Chai Alkalai. Independently, and before Moses Hess, Leo Pinsker, Zvi Kalischer and Samuel Mohilever, he was a protagonist in the Jewish national revival," Aleksandar Stajner wrote in an article for the Jewish Almanac 1968/70, 55–66, adding:

"Rabbi Alkalai, as early as 70 years before the Basel Program (1897), advocated in his writings and actions the restoration and development of Eretz Israel. 90 years before the Balfour Declaration (1917), he understood the need for and importance of diplomatic activity. His practical spirit advocated establishing a general Jewish fund, Tzedakah Klalit (general charity), for the purchase of land - about 60 years before the establishment of Keren Kayemet LeIsrael (1901) - as well as a second investment fund based on Maaser (tithing) (1868), 52 years before the establishment of Keren Hayesod (1920). He was among the first in the modern era to advocate the revival of Jewish secular culture and the transformation of the sacred language into a living national language. In his first book, Shema Yisrael (Hear, O Israel, 1834), 62 years before Dr. Theodor Herzl's Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State, 1896), he essentially presented the same idea concerning the necessity and indisputable right of a people to live in the land of their forefathers. There is no doubt that Rabbi Alkalai is among the small number of thinkers and pioneers of the Jewish national renaissance."

As noted, the family name Alkalai appears in the Balkans as early as the 15th century, and this Sephardic family originated in Alcala in Castile. Fleeing the persecution during the Inquisition, the family left Spain for Thessaloniki in 1492. Yehuda Alkalai was born in Sarajevo in 1789, and after completing his studies he was offered "the honor of serving as hacham and teacher at the Jewish school in Zemun," where he lived for half a century, from 1825 to 1874.

"Yehuda Chai Alkalai, as a contemporary of significant events in the world, was able to observe the impact of the French Revolution, as well as the liberation movements in the Balkans from the Ottoman rule. The First Serbian Uprising had a profound influence on his intellectual world. The oppressed position of his Jewish community stimulated the Zemun rabbi's fighting spirit and future activities," Stajner wrote.

At that time, the Herzl family was also among the Jewish immigrants living in Zemun.

"The reasoning of some historians appears justified (there is no documentation) that the views of Rabbi Alkalai, indirectly, contributed significantly to the concept of Dr. Theodor Herzl. As a young intellectual, Herzl believed that Judaism was a category that was dying out and would soon disappear among other peoples. He underwent a transformation only in his mature years. The decisive influence on this change was the well-known Dreyfus Affair of 1894," Stajner wrote, adding:

"Dr. Theodor Herzl's father, Jakob, was born in Zemun. His grandfather, Shimon Yehuda Herzl, was one of the students and followers of the Zemun hacham. He frequently visited his son and grandson in Budapest. He spoke about life and work, about Rabbi Alkalai's ideas concerning the organization of settlements, a congress, diplomatic negotiations, appeals to rulers for support, negotiations with the Sultan concerning a permanent lease of Palestine, the shekel, a national fund, the establishment of a bank, and loans. For years, Theodor listened to his grandfather. He was 19 years old when his grandfather died. Does it not seem logical to assume that the path of Yehuda Chai Alkalai, at that particular moment, had a major influence on Dr. Theodor Herzl?"

According to the account, Yehuda Chai Alkalai left Zemun at the age of 75, after half a century of service, and went to Jerusalem, where he spent the final five years of his life.

Theodor Herzl was born in Budapest in 1860, where his parents had moved from Zemun. They later moved to Vienna, where, at the age of 24, Theodor earned a doctorate in law. He worked as a journalist and writer. Just one year after the Dreyfus Affair, he published The Jewish State, and soon afterward founded the Zionist Organization. He convened the First Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897, transforming the idea of Jewish national self-determination into an organized political movement.

Theodor Herzl died in Vienna in 1904 at just 44 years of age. In his will, he requested that he eventually be buried in Jerusalem. His wish was fulfilled in 1949, one year after the establishment of Israel.

(Telegraf Nauka)