Forged Nation
“We are a people—our enemies make us a people even against our will, and this is nothing new in our history. In times of distress, we become one union, and suddenly we feel that our strength is great. Yes, it is so; our strength is great enough to acquire for ourselves a land, to settle and live in it—a land that will be an example to many. We possess all the spiritual and material means necessary for our purpose.”
(1896)
These words were written in 1896 by Theodor Herzl in his foundational political work The Jewish State, more than half a century before the establishment of Israel in 1948. In this passage, Herzl argues that Jewish national identity is often solidified not only by shared religion or culture, but by shared adversity: throughout history, hostility from others has forced Jews to recognize themselves as one people. He suggests that moments of crisis generate unity and reveal a collective strength that might otherwise remain dormant. That strength, he insists, is sufficient not merely for survival, but for sovereignty — for acquiring land, settling it, and building a state that would serve as an example to the world. At the time, however, many contemporaries — including large segments of the Jewish community — regarded Herzl’s vision as unrealistic, even delusional. The idea that a stateless, dispersed minority could diplomatically and politically secure a homeland and found a modern state seemed fantastical in late 19th-century Europe. Yet history would unfold in ways that gave his once-dismissed proposal enduring significance.
Herzl’s claim that Jewish peoplehood is “forged” in moments of threat feels newly resonant amid the last few years of war and political turmoil.