Rabbi Jonathan Kligler

Beginning in the 1880s some Jews despaired of ever being truly integrated into the life of Europe. A new idea emerged, to reconstitute the Jewish People as a modern nationalist movement, intent on creating a Jewish national home in our ancient homeland. With the publication of Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) in 1896, and by convening the First World Zionist Congress, Theodore Herzl catapulted this far-fetched idea onto the global stage, and a movement was born.