4 h 49 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a demand for safety becomes a plan for a state?
In The Jewish State, Theodor Herzl confronts growing hostility toward Jews in Europe. Writing in 1896, he argues that the Jewish question is national, rather than religious or social. His proposed answer is a Jewish homeland recognised by the world's powers. This short pamphlet asks readers to follow his argument from a diagnosis of exclusion to a proposal for political change.
Herzl does not stop at the idea of a homeland. He sketches an organisation and a company, considers territory, and outlines labour and government. He also questions the hope that assimilation can secure acceptance. The stakes are both personal and political: whether Jews can find a lasting home within existing societies, or must seek a state of their own.
What you’ll discover
- A national question Follow Herzl's case for treating Jewish exclusion as a problem requiring a political answer.
- The limits of assimilation Examine why Herzl challenges the hope that blending into surrounding societies will bring acceptance.
- An idea takes shape See how a proposed organisation and company turn a broad vision toward practical tasks.
- Land and world consent Explore the linked questions of choosing territory and seeking recognition from the world's powers.
- Work, peace and law Consider Herzl's imagined society through his plans for fair labour and a form of government.
Who will love it
For readers who love political history, are curious about the roots of Zionism and the state of Israel, and enjoy seeing how a movement began on paper.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The Jewish question is a national question
- Assimilation fails where Jews become visible
- Build a society and a company together
- Choose a land, and seek the world's consent
- Design a state around work, peace and law
- A plan that others tested and challenged
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Der Judenstaat
by Theodor Herzl · 1896
Herzl sketches a Jewish homeland, with a society, a company and a plan to win the world's recognition.
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In short
The Jewish State is a pamphlet of about eighty pages, written by Theodor Herzl and published in Vienna in February 1896. Herzl was a Jewish journalist and playwright who worked as a Paris correspondent for a leading Viennese newspaper.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The Jewish question is a national question
Herzl opens by saying that his idea is an old one. It is the restoration of a Jewish state. He then insists that the troubles of the Jews are not a matter of faith. In his view, nobody persecutes Jews today for their theology. They are treated as a distinct people, and others see them that way whether the Jews wish it or not.
He also rejects the idea that the problem is merely social or economic. Governments and reformers had tried to treat it as a question of manners, law or trade. Herzl argues that these fixes miss the point. The question exists wherever Jews live in noticeable numbers, and it follows them where they go.
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What is The Jewish State by Theodor Herzl about?
It is a pamphlet arguing that the Jewish question is a national one that only a Jewish state can solve. Herzl proposes a political society, a financial company, a choice of land and a plan for government.
When was The Jewish State written and published?
Herzl wrote it in 1895 and early 1896, and it was published in Vienna in February 1896 under the German title Der Judenstaat. An English translation appeared in the same year.
Did Herzl want the state in Palestine?
He considered both Palestine and Argentina. He saw Palestine as the historic homeland with the strongest pull, while Argentina offered fertile land. The Zionist movement soon focused on Palestine.
The author
Theodor Herzl
1860–1904 · Austrian writer and Zionist leader
Theodor Herzl was born in Budapest in 1860 and died in Austria in 1904. He lived in Vienna and worked in Paris as a journalist. He wrote The Jewish State, published in 1896, and the novel Altneuland, published in 1902. He organized the first Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897.
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