Printer Friendly

Email to A Friend

Friday May 27, 2005

New Herzl museum tells the life story of the father of Zionism

by greer fay cashman
jerusalem post service

jerusalem | The new Herzl Museum, which was slated to open this week in Jerusalem, is “trying to bring [Theodor] Herzl out of the past and into the future, according to David Breakstone.

Breakstone, head of the Department for Zionist Activities at the World Zionist Organization, adds that Herzl was not only concerned with a providing a refuge for Jews. “He was also extremely concerned with creating a model society.”

Now, members of the society that Herzl played such a seminal role in creating, have the chance to learn more about the man behind the dream of a Jewish state.

The museum on Mount Herzl — initially conceived by Orit Shaham-Zover, curator of the Palmah Museum that opened in 1999 in Ramat Aviv — was developed over a two-year period by Shaham-Zover and film director Ron Assouline.

“It’s a very serious project, because we had to discuss a lot of matters and raise a lot of issues,” Assouline says of the multimedia experience, in which the past and the present are beautifully blended in an hour-long program of video footage.

The plot of Udi Armoni’s script is based on the fact that Herzl — a frustrated playwright before he became a nation builder – turned himself into a “director,” as well as an actor on his own stage, in forging relations with Jewish and world leaders.

The experience is like watching a play within a play, with screens behind screens offering new scenes on all four walls.

The plot starts in a theater hall where Micha Levinson, one of Israel’s top directors, tries to persuade actor Lior Michaeli to take on the role of Herzl for an upcoming production.

“Herzl the fisherman?” asks Michaeli.

“No, Herzl the Zionist visionary,” retorts Levinson.

“What’s to play?” Michaeli reacts. “All you need is a beard and a balcony.”

“You can’t play the part if you don’t understand the vision,” says Levinson.

But it’s not enough for Michaeli to take on Herzl’s dream: He must also learn the manners and the mannerisms of the man. To teach him, Levinson brings in Ernestine Loeffler, the heroine of “Altneuland,” Herzl’s most famous work. Not only does she teach him to behave like Herzl, she also teaches him to waltz, so that he feels at home in 19th-century Vienna.

In the first room, visitors are transported to late 19th-century Paris and the anti-Semitic sentiments and intrigues that led to the Dreyfus trial, which in turn, inspired Herzl’s vision of a Jewish state.

On one of the video screens, a French officer, engaged in conversation with another, complains that Jews are polluting their country.

While the museum highlights Israel’s accomplishments, it does not ignore the flaws.

Anticipating many visits from school groups, Breakstone says: “We want to let children know that more steps need to be taken, and [let them know] what their role is in the Zionist enterprise. What we have,” he observed in relation to the state, “is not a finished product, but a work in progress. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, but there’s more to be done.”

Built at a cost of $3 million, most of which was provided by the Jerusalem Foundation, the museum includes a book-lined study with authentic pieces of furniture from Herzl’s home.

ISRAEL IN THE GARDENS

Did you find this article interesting? Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and you'll be notified each week when "J." goes online. We'll tell you about the most important stories of the week and give you a link to each one.

This page contains a BETA version of Amazon contextual links. They are marked by the dashed underline.  Your purchases support our site. At times they point to items which are not related to the actual link. Please alert us by email if you discover objectionable links.