For me, as Chairman of the World Zionist Organization - the same institution envisioned, founded and first chaired by Herzl - it is a dual honor to carry out the will of a man who's vision, spirit, and resolute Zionist stance culminated in the ultimate contribution of a national initiative to build a sovereign state for the Jewish People in the land of Israel.

With a sense of historical mission, at the beginning of this week, I led a delegation to Bordeaux to participate in a departure ceremony, hosted by the local Jewish community for Paulina and Hans Herzl, at their resting place as of September 1930. We escorted the caskets from Bordeaux to Paris and on to our final destination, Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem, for interment at the side of their father, Benjamin Zeev Herzl.

Yesterday we closed a chapter in history. Yesterday, we completed an act of justice for Judaism, for history and for Zionism. Above all is the personal and humane justice paid to Benjamin Zeev Herzl, Israel's State Visionary.

This is a moving opportunity for me to express my gratitude for the leadership of the Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, who was the spirit and energy behind the important initiative to fulfill the will of Benjamin Zeev Herzl, seen in his steadfast dedication to this matter from the  day he took office through the present. I would also like to take this time to thank the many fine people in the office of the Prime Minister, who all mobilized to the task. Great thanks are deservingly extended to Dr. Ariel Feldestein, historian and researcher, whose dedication and research provided the driving force behind the advancement of this project.

A special heartfelt thanks is extended on behalf of the World Zionist Movement to the Chief Rabbi, Shlomo Amar, who, with exceptional skill and orchestration, with courage, with love for Israel and through a desire to unite the nation, handed down this extraordinary rabbinical decision which, as a reflection of his love for humankind, paved the way for this historic act.

It is appropriate to remind us all that Benjamin Zeev Herzl's vision of a Jewish State, exemplified by an exceptional ethical society is no less applicable today than it was century ago. If I may be so bold, I assert that it is perhaps even more relevant and important now more than ever before.

Though numerous are the remarkable achievements of the State of Israel in all areas of society, the challenge of creating an exemplary society is a dynamic task leveraged by the changing reality of the world we live in today.

On this important day, we are reminded of our commitment to bestow upon the next generation, our sons and daughters, the Jewish values, humanitarianism and Zionism expressed by the State Visionary. At this time, at the end of a difficult and painful war, at a time of national reflection, on the eve of the New Year, this is the most important mission we have placed before ourselves – to expand and deepen our connection to the fundamental values that constitute our nation, to gather strength and faith from them and in sum we must solidify them as foundations, firmly set in our lives in the State of Israel.

On this day we remember our dedication to the vision of Herzl – to encourage Aliyah among members of the Jewish People from the four corners of the globe and to expand the Jewish education of the younger generation around the world, thereby strengthening their connection with their Jewish identity and the State of Israel; positioning it at the heart of the Jewish World.

On the eve of this New Year, I praise the completion of this important historical process of bringing Paulina and Hans Herzl for burial in the State of Israel. At this time it is fitting to remember the youngest child of Herzl, his daughter Trude, who perished in the Holocaust and whose final resting place remains forever unknown.

Blessed be their eternal memory.

May this be a blessed year for the Jewish People and the State of Israel.

Shana Tova,

Zeev Bielski  

zeevik@jafi.org

Photo Credit: Ziv Koren (France) / Gpophoto ( Israel)

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