Herzl.... The Jewish State

The founder of modern Zionism has lent his name to a children’s game - and a type of balcony.

 “Simon says put your hands on your head.”

“Put your hands down.”

Hope you didn’t put your hands down, dear reader, because Simon didn’t say. And more to the point, neither did Herzl.

That’s right, I’m talking about Theodor Herzl, the visionary of modern political Zionism who was born in Budapest in 1860, witnessed the anti-Semitism surrounding the Dreyfus trial and ended up promoting political sovereignty as the best answer to the Jewish question. The Herzl who outlined his blueprint for the Jewish state in “Der Judenstaadt” and “Altneuland,” in which he famously wrote that “If you will it, it is no dream.” Notwithstanding that little let’s-resettle-the-Jews-in-Uganda hiccup, it’s safe to say that Herzl is a pretty major figure in modern Israeli history.

So I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that kids on the playground are supposed to do exactly what he says, even if he has been dead for more than 100 years.

Yup, one name for the children’s game of Simon Says, where you follow commands only when they’re preceded by the words “Simon says,” is Herzl Amar, meaning “Herzl Said.”

It sure would have saved a lot of lobbying efforts if this game had been invented back in Herzl’s day. (“Oh, but Herzl said the Jews should have their own state. Guess we’ve gotta give it to them, then.”)

Alas, even now Herzl has competition for his role as the ultimate decider of whether or not small children should put their hands on their heads, as the game is also called Hamelekh Amar, “The King Said.” This is not far off from the origin of Simon Says, according to the explanation (whose veracity I can neither confirm nor deny) that Simon was originally Cicero, a Roman statesman and philosopher whose orders were apparently best obeyed on the double.

We know what Cicero looked like thanks to busts from the first century. As for Herzl, he has been immortalized in a famous photograph taken by Ephraim Moses Lilien on the balcony of Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois in Basel in 1902. The photo shows Herzl leaning over the balcony, his signature black beard reaching his sternum and his arms resting on the railing as he looks out over the Rhine.

Little did Theodor Herzl know that in the State of Israel he foresaw so clearly (perhaps while pondering the Rhine?), children would be playing Herzl Says and real estate agents would be describing a small balcony, ormirpeset – the kind where you can’t do much more than stand and look out over the railing – as a mirpeset Herzl. 

THEODOR HERZL: THE POPE DID NOT RECOGNIZE THE JEWISH PEOPLE

When Theodor Herzl came to the Vatican in 1904 to plead with Pope Pius X (picture) to alleviate the suffering of European Jews, the pope bluntly told him that:

«The Jews have not recognized our lord, therefore we cannot recognize the Jewish people».

This is information made available in yesterdays issue of Simon Wiesenthal Centers newsletter.

Herzl countered that perhaps terror and persecution were not the right means by which to enlighten them, but the pope rebuffed him: «They had ample time to acknowledge Christ’s divinity without pressure, but they didn’t».

Pope Pius XII warned Washington

Although the Vatican had no suggestions on how to save the Jews, it did have strong opinions about keeping European Jews out of Palestine. On June 22, 1943, the Vatican sent these points to its apostolic delegation in Washington:

«If the greater part of Palestine is given to the Jewish people, this would be a severe blow to the religious attachments of Catholics to this land. To have the Jewish people in the majority would interfere with the peaceful exercise of these rights in the Holy Land already vested in Catholics».

Refused to say «Israel»

Even after Israel was founded in 1948, the Vatican’s official newspaper insisted:

«Modern Israel is not the true heir of biblical Israel. … Therefore, the Holy Land and its sacred sites belong to Christianity, the true Israel».

Theodor Herzl. One of the fathers of modern day Zionism

In 1964, during Pope Paul VI’s historic visit to Jerusalem, he refused to publicly utter the word«Israel» and even his thank-you note to then-President Zalman Shazar was mailed to Tel Aviv, lest he be accused of acknowledging Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem.

Source: Simon Wiesenthal Center:

- Catholic Church’s long road to accepting Judaism. The Vatican today is not the same institution that once fostered anti-Semitism.