Herzl the King

On a hill overlooking Jerusalem, the once-mocked Theodor Herzl lies buried in honor as the man who envisioned the modern Jewish state. Neither warrior nor financier, neither theologian nor trained statesman, he was simply a foresighted Viennese journalist who at the beginning of the 20th century brought together from all parts of Europe those Jews able to assess the coming anti-Semitism and join him in the Zionist movement. Like Moses, Herzl led his people to the promised land but did not get to enter it—dying in his forties, alone, and broken by the still-unrealized task. Here is his story.