THE FIRST MODERN ZIONIST MEDALS

Seventy-eight years ago this week, on May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was established. To celebrate this monumental event in Jewish history, here are some related medals from my personal collection.

Theodor Herzl was the founder of political Zionism, whose purpose was to create a modern homeland for the Jewish people. Witnessing the public degradation of Alfred Dreyfus – the French Jewish army officer falsely accused of treason – and hearing antisemitic shouts in the streets of Paris, Herzl became convinced that Jews needed a sovereign state. In 1897, Herzl created the Zionist Congress; the first meeting was held that year in Basel, Switzerland. Following the success of that inaugural meeting, for the second Zionist Congress in 1898, Herzl asked his friend Samuel Friedrich Beer, a sculptor who had gained recognition as a portraitist, to design a medal to commemorate the gathering, held again in Basel.

 

That medal is seen here in the first two photos. It is struck in heavy bronze and measuring 63 mm in diameter. The obverse depicts a standing female figure pointing to a new dawn, with a weary man holding a shepherd's crook, his wife holding a newborn, and their two children looking up at her. This scene is an allegory for a new direction for the Jewish people. The reverse features the Hebrew verse "Behold and I take the sons of Israel from among the nations and I have brought them to their land" (Ezekiel 37:21). The medal is signed "Beer 1898 Paris," as it was produced in France.

In the November 26, 1898 issue of the American political magazine Harper's Weekly, there was a lengthy and detailed report on the goings-on at the second Zionist Congress, held in the last days of August 1898. The article displays photographs of the attendees at the conference, a photograph of Herzl, the flag of the Zionist Congress, and pictures of both sides of this medal. Addressing the medal, it states, "How proud we were of this commemorative medal, partly because designed by a French-Jewish Zionist, and struck off in the mint of France (an act of rare and saving grace anno Dreyfus), furthermore because it so graphically illustrates the purpose of Zionism!" The article concludes with a highly complementary description of the figural scene on the medal.

While this medal was officially issued for all the attendees of the second Zionist Congress, the following medal was an unofficial issue by an unknown private party for sale to the public as a souvenir. Made of brass with an integral loop so it could be worn around the neck or used to carry on one's person (for example, as a pocket watch fob), this medal is 30 mm in diameter. The obverse features portraits of the leading Zionist figures during this time period, with each portrait identified with the leader's last name in Hebrew. As expected, in the center appears Theodor Herzl.

 

To read the complete article, see:
Souvenirs from the Dawn of Zionism (https://jewishpress.com/souvenirs-from-the-dawn-of-zionism/)

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