As we commemorate Israel's 75th anniversary of statehood, join us on Tuesday, April 25 at 7:00 pm online or in person (87th street, NYC) as we explore the life and legacy of Theodor Herzl.
How did Theodor Herzl, a cosmopolitan and assimilated European Jew, become the leader of the Zionist movement? With his often-conflicting personas (artist and a statesman, rationalist and an aesthete, and stern moralist who also possessed deep, and at times dark, passions), why did scores of thousands of Jews, many of them from traditional, observant backgrounds, embrace Herzl as their leader? Author and historian Derek Penslar draws on Herzl’s vast body of personal and political writing to explore Herzl’s path to Zionist leader and how his short life created his enduring legacy.
Derek Penslar is the William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History at Harvard University. His previous books include Jews and the Military: A History and Shylock’s Children: Economics and Jewish Identity in Modern Europe.
This program is in partnership with Park Avenue Synagogue and Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning
Buy Theodor Herzl: The Charismatic Leader and save 30%! Just use code HERZL at checkout.
By Derek Penslar
Published February 18, 2020
256 pages
“Excellent” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A masterful new biography of Theodor Herzl by an eminent historian of Zionism
The life of Theodor Herzl (1860–1904) was as puzzling as it was brief. How did this cosmopolitan and assimilated European Jew become the leader of the Zionist movement? How could he be both an artist and a statesman, a rationalist and an aesthete, a stern moralist yet possessed of deep, and at times dark, passions? And why did scores of thousands of Jews, many of them from traditional, observant backgrounds, embrace Herzl as their leader?
Drawing on a vast body of Herzl’s personal, literary, and political writings, historian Derek Penslar shows that Herzl’s path to Zionism had as much to do with personal crises as it did with antisemitism. Once Herzl devoted himself to Zionism, Penslar shows, he distinguished himself as a consummate leader—possessed of indefatigable energy, organizational ability, and electrifying charisma. Herzl became a screen onto which Jews of his era could project their deepest needs and longings.