April 30: Old New Land

Theodor Herzl completed writing his Utopian novel about a revived Jewish homeland, Altneuland (“Old New Land”) on this date in 1902, after three years of writing. Herzl envisioned a land two decades later, ruled by benevolent technocrats and uplifted by modern technology, mechanized agriculture, a mixed economy with many coops, and a democratic, egalitarian culture. The shared Jewish language is Yiddish, alongside Hebrew and German; the Temple has been rebuilt (but not on the Temple Mount), along with a Palace of Peace, and the Jews are mostly secular or minimally religious, children of the European enlightenment. The Arabs of Palestine are welcoming to the influx of immigrants who, in the words of one character, “have enriched us, why should we be against them?” Herzl’s novel, written in German, was published that year and translated into Yiddish and Hebrew. It became an inspirational touchstone for the Socialist Zionist movement, and the phrase adapted from the novel’s epilogue -- “If you will it, it is no fairy tale,” became a popular Zionist slogan. Herzl died two years later at the age of 44.

“The Jews who will it shall achieve their State. We shall live at last as free people on our own soil, and in our own homes peacefully die. The world will be liberated by our freedom, enriched by our wealth, magnified by our greatness. And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all humankind.” -Theodor Herzl