I have a very old paperback of this with a copyright of 1956. This "Doubleday Anchor Original" is a bold and interesting book for the laymen. Though my copy is not and should not be used for a scholary tool. It is a step in that direction.

I 've read other translation of the scrolls but find them not as appealling or poetic or powerful. This translation shows the intense care and knowledge of it's subject. It's very important to keep good writings like this available to all believers of those that think they can honer the traditions of true caring for creation and God. This book is very connected to the Essene Gospel of Peace of Jesus Christ by Edmond Bordeaux Szekely. I read these constantly together. The question is why do important writings like this go out of print.

Herzl's writings and activity got the push for a Jewish State going. This pamplet is an overly optimistic approach to starting a new Jewish state circa just pre-1900. Very little of Herzl's ideas actually ever came about to fruition from what I understand about history, and its a good thing too, otherwise Israel would probably be communist today.

The further I read, the more sad I became as I considered how only something as horrible as the Holocaust could bring the Jewish population of the world back into their traditional land. However, Herzl's purpose was exactly to prevent persecution of the Jews. The only prophetic thing in this book was his speculation that some Jews would need to go through a little more suffering before they came around to the idea of a Jewish state. No one could contemplate the "Final Solution" however.

Herzl's Utopian-like ideas were interesting solutions to many problems the future nation of Israel would actually face.

You will learn something from this book if you are either a student of History or the Bible, but don't expect a short read.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the creation of Israel. 'The Jewish State' is written by Theodor Herzl who ultimately believed in the mass migration of the Jewish populace as the only means of survival and solution to the 'Jewish Problem.' Herzl recognized first-hand the increasingly belligerent and anti-semitic sentiments permeating throughout the world. Several locations were meticulously scouted and Palestine was chosen for its bibilical provenance.

Theodor Herzl was not originally a Zionist nor did he ponder the anti-semitic tendencies that was threatening to perpetually relegate the Jews to a proletariat class. When Herzl witnessed the Dreyfus Affair, it finally instilled in him irrefragable proof of everyday anti-semitic sentiments and how it had adversely infiltrated the lives of the Jewish people. Theodor Herzl ultimately came to realize that the 'homelessness of the Jewish people must come to an end' (17). In fact, Herzl later declares in this quasi-manifesto that it was the Dreyfus affair that made him a Zionist (35). He comes to believe that the 'Jewish masses must be organized for the support of the Zionist movement' (49). Additionally, he contends that the 'Jewish question is neither nationalistic nor religious. It is a social question' (31). The vim of this book is in how Herzl meticulously delineates a perennial solution to the Jewish problem. It's one thing to preach diplomacy, it's another to execute a vision.

In brevity, here is Herzl's plan: 'Let the sovereignty be granted us over a portion of the globe large enough to satisfy the rightful requirements of a nation; the rest we shall manage ourselves' (92). The conception of this plan was ambitious, the execution monumental in scope, laborious in labor, and I suspect the opposition was plentiful. Nevertheless, in spite of the skeptics and pessimists, a State was erected. An excellent read!

"The Jewish State," was the means by which author, Theodor Herzl, rallied world Jewry to the cause of establishing a national homeland for his people. Published in 1896, this little pamphlet ignited age-old passions among Jews the world over and began the drive for the establishment of the first Jewish State in 2000 years. By doing so, Herzl set in motion events that monopolize the world's attention today.

In "The Jewish State," Herzl outlines the plan for establishing his state. In a logical, step-by-step process he defines how the land would be colonized, financed, and administered. Palestine and Argentina are suggested as possible sites. However, Palestine emerges clearly as the desired locale for spiritual and emotional reasons. Anyone trying to establish a state could use this pamphlet as a guide. Yasser Arafat should be given a copy!

Emerson said that American colonists fired, "the shot heard 'round the world," at Lexington and Concord. Herzl fired a similar shot by publishing "The Jewish State." He, no less than the colonists, started a revolution by his actions. Both ultimately achieved their goals of establishing a state for their peoples. However, America did not have to endure a Holocaust to facilitate an exodus to our shores; unfortunately, Israel did.

Today, the Jewish State exists in the form of modern Israel. Born out of controversy, this state exists as a prosperous, democratic entity, in the midst of numerically superior and extremely hostile Arab states. Jews have their home, but they have to fight daily to keep them. Is this what Herzl envisioned? Did he do the world a favor by establishing his state? The verdict is still out. One thing is clear. The roots of the current controversy that has American soldiers fighting in Afghanistan can be traced back to Israel, and Israel's roots can be traced to Herzl's pamphlet. Reading, "The Jewish State," is therefore essential to understanding current events. I strongly recommend it to any serious student of Middle Eastern affairs.

Learning a little something is always a plus in a book, and THE BEGGAR'S CUP, by Eric Blau gave me a little bit of something I didn't know before. I knew nothing about the making of Israel - except that it is a made country. And Herzl was all new to me - although I am still not sure I learned too much about him.

The circle of Moe Cohen leaving Kolkowicz and coming to the US - believing he was the only survivor and then Zach and Kalia joining the Burnside Synagogue and meeting Horowitz - who is from the same town in Poland. Was he one of the boys that left with Cohen? I re-read the early part of the book but not many names were listed.

The book was all over the place - and Moe bowing out of the story and becoming a side shadow was disappointing to me. He was the story... Zach's half-this half-that dilemna, and Kalia insane craving to be Jewish were distracting. Even at the end, I am still not sure what they accomplished for themselves. Are they happy because they have returned to their "people"? Or because they have found a way to relate to God? This book brings this question up very nicely - and it was something that I kept reading to see if they answered this (Zach & Kalia) but they never quite addressed it.

It seemed to be mostly about the trappings for them.

The constant dilemna that Herzl faces between his real human side and his urge to create a homeland and people placing him on a pedestal. And the way he seems to have wanted that pedestal status. The unfortunate deception and persecution that Jewish people have been subjected to over and over throughout history. The struggle to keep Israel alive in its infancy, which is a struggle that persists as we speak. That Israel is at all is amazing - well, it has help, but still...

An excellent read.

Having recently focused my personal reading on various aspects of Jewish culture, I found Beggar's Cup to be a unique treatment of this particular facet of history. Told from the viewpoint of a Gentile screen writer who learns that his father was a Jew, Beggar's Cup takes the reader on the journey with the writer as he struggles to understand his paternity, his own views of God and religion, and the Jewish hero, Theodor Herzl, whose story he becomes obsessed with telling on screen. The story is told half in the present tense and half as the screenplay of Herzl's life. Tells something of human nature in the process. Most enjoyable to those who acquaint themselves a bit with Jewish history, particularly the role of Theodor Herzl, beforehand.

... I was born (1927) in Budapest and since 1940 I live in Israel. I read this book from cover to cover in 1984. The author's efforts to gather all the facts about the Budapest youth of Theodor Herzl ("Binyamin Zeev" Herzl in Israel) the father of secular, cosmopolitan Zionism, were not very successful. (Dori is Herzl's childhood nickname). Nevertheless, I was impressed by the thorough description of the status of Jews in Austria - Hungary at the time of Herzl's youth, in the second half of the 19th century. For anyone interested in the latter this is a stimulating book. It is sober and objective and well illuminates the background on which the Zionist idea germinated in Herzl's mind, much later, at the time he was reporting on the Dreyfus trial from France. The book may well serve as evidence that secular Zionism is the rational reaction of European Jewry - one of the most productive and educated ethnic groups in the world - to the mindless persecution by Christianity. (I realize, of course, that quite recently, the Pope has done his best to condemn antisemitism... Unfortunately, this condemnation came too late to prevent the Holocaust).

Although this book is biographical based on documentation, it reads like a novel. I always thought the seeds for WW II were sown after WW I but you can find them in this book at the end of the 19th century. Herzl is a very interesting character and Amos Elon brings him to life.

Pawel attempts and largely succeeds at placing Herzl and the Zionist movement in its historical and cultural setting. He thoroughly and without sentiment unveils the conflicts and crises that drove Herzl to become the international leader of Zionism. The rise of Jewish nationalist sentiment and the personalities involved in its emergence are well presented. I especially enjoyed the depiction of the Vienna of Herzl's era. I recommend it for readers with an interest in the origins of the Zionist movement and its uniquely gifted leader, Theodor Herzl.