Theodor Herzl Second Zionist Congress Shana Tova Postcard.

HERZL, Theodor (Second Zionist Congress).

Item Number: 89044

Rare 19th century Shana Tova postcard from the Second World Zionist Congress featuring a central portrait of Theodor Herzl flanked by other Zionist leaders Bernard Lazare, Max E. Mandelstamm, Theodor Gaster and Max Nordau. Below the portraits is a biblical verse in Hebrew from Ezekiel 37:21, “Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land” with images of a farmer in Eretz Israel and figures praying at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. Paired with a rare silk handkerchief with floral embroidery and an engraved portrait of Herzl flanked by New Year’s greetings in Yiddish. Both items are in near fine condition. The postcard measures 5.5 inches by 3.5 inches. The handkerchief measures 10 inches by 10 inches. A rare and desirable piece of Judaica.

Founded by Theodor Herzl, the Modern Zionist movement emerged with the main goal of reestablishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine, then an area controlled by the Ottoman Empire. Chaired by Herzl, the Second Inaugural Zionist Congress was held in Basel, Switzerland from August 28th to August 31st, 1898. With nearly double the participants of the First Zionist Congress held in Basel the previous year, the second congress laid the foundation for the creation of the Jewish Colonial Trust, which would serve as the main financial arm of the movement in the development of Palestine. In his opening speech on the first day of proceedings, Herzl called for an end to the opposition barriers to Zionism that had been created by some Jewish leaders and the conquest of the Jewish religious communities still in opposition.