One of the most popular areas of Jewish document collecting is the wide-ranging world of Rosh Hashanah greeting cards. The cards all have voices, and behind each is a story of time and place that provides a religious, political, social, cultural, and artistic map of Jewish history and practice wherever Jews have resided – which is essentially everywhere.
In sum, how Jews celebrated Rosh Hashanah provides a significant and interesting reflection of the Jewish gestalt.
The breadth of the subject may be gleaned from my own collection, which contains several thousand items including, for example, entire volumes on the Tashlich ceremony; the Kapparot ritual; cards depicting Jews fleeing European persecution and illustrating the “coming to America” immigration experience; the aliyah experience and the kibbutz galiot (the ingathering of the exiles) phenomenon; schedules for Yamim Noraim services in synagogues throughout the world; Rosh Hashanah cards, notes, and letters from great rabbanim, both throughout Europe and in Eretz Yisrael; and Rosh Hashanah cards written and signed by a variety of public officials and famous personalities.
Perhaps my favorite volume is “one-of-a-kind oddities” which include, for example, a Rosh Hashanah card I had John Dean (see: Watergate hearings) inscribe for me while we were speaking at a national legal ethics conference; an extremely rare letter Sandy Koufax wrote to me commenting on his decision to honor Yom Kippur rather than pitch the opening game of the 1965 World Series; and Rosh Hashanah greetings from the Vatican – written in perfect Hebrew (1937).
In this article, however, the focus is on a unique area: Zionist Congress Rosh Hashanah cards, particularly the First Congress, held in Basel, Switzerland.
As the First Zionist Congress was indisputably one of the seminal events in modern Jewish history, it is not surprising that it became the subject of some of the most beloved, beautiful, and rare Rosh Hashanah cards ever created.
Before Herzl’s publication of Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State, 1896), none of the previous attempts to convene general assemblies of the Jewish national movements had succeeded in creating a body similar in character and scope to the Zionist Congresses. Herzl convened the first congress as a symbolic parliament for those in sympathy with the implementation of Zionist goals, but it became much more; as he famously wrote in his diary, “Were I to sum up the Basel Congress in a word – which I shall guard against pronouncing publicly – it would be this: at Basel I founded the Jewish State.”
The First Zionist Congress was to have taken place in Munich, but due to considerable opposition by the local community leadership, both Orthodox and Reform, it was transferred to Basel and held at the concert hall of the Basel Municipal Casino between August 29 and 31, 1897. Herzl acted as chairman of the congress, which was attended by some 200 participants from seventeen countries, 69 of whom were delegates from various Zionist societies and the remainder of whom were individual invitees. Following a festive opening in which the representatives were expected to arrive in formal dress, tails, and white tie, the congress turned to the formulation of the Zionist platform, which became known as the Basle Program.
According to the version submitted to the congress by a committee chaired by Max Nordau, “the aim of Zionism is to create for the Jewish people a home in Eretz Yisrael secured by law.” Herzl’s proposed language, which was ultimately adopted, provided that:
Zionism seeks to establish a home for the Jewish people in Eretz Israel secured under public law. The Congress contemplates the following means to the attainment of this end:
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The promotion by appropriate means of the settlement in Eretz Yisroel of Jewish farmers, artisans, and manufacturers.
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The organization and uniting of the whole of Jewry by means of appropriate institutions, both local and international, in accordance with the laws of each country.
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The strengthening and fostering of Jewish national sentiment and national consciousness.
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Preparatory steps toward obtaining the consent of governments, where necessary, in order to reach the goals of Zionism.
