is experiences in England, Herzl resolved to present his plan
to the public at large. The _Address to the Rothschilds_ which was the
first complete writing of his plan, forged in the heat of inspiration
was thoroughly reworked and emerged as his great book _Der
Judenstaat_. Its title was: _The Jewish State: An Attempt at a Modern
Solution of the Jewish Problem. Der Judenstaat_ may properly be called
Herzl's life work; his philosophy of the world, his views on the
state, on the Jewish people, on science and technology, as we have
seen them developing to this, his thirty-fifth year are concentrated
in the book.

The "Jewish State" was published in an edition of three thousand. It
was read by small circles in various European capitals. It was sent to
leading personalities in the press and political circles. It was soon
translated into several languages. Herzl received many letters from
authors and statesmen in which the work was praised. But the general
German press, especially the Jewish-controlled press, took a negative
attitude. A number of journalists alluded to the adventurer who would
like to become Prime Minister or King of the Jews. No mention of the
"Jewish State" appeared in the Neue Freie Presse, then or ever. The
Algemeine Zeitung of Vienna said that Zionism was a madness born of
despair, The Algemeine Zeitung of Munich described it as a fantastic
dream of a feuilletonist whose mind had been unhinged by Jewish
enthusiasm.

It was upon the Jewish masses that Herzl made a tremendous impression.
He dawned upon Jews of Eastern Europe as a mystic figure rising out of
the past. Little was known of his pamphlet, for it was kept out of the
country by censorship in Russia. Only its title got their attention
and the stories told of Herzl--the Western Jew returning to his
people--gripped their hearts and stirred their imagination. He was
greeted by one of the Galician Zionist societies as the leader who,
like Moses, had returned from Midian to liberate the Jews. Max Nordau,
that devastating critic of art and literature, was swept off his feet
and described the pamphlet as a revelation, Richard Beer Hoffman, the
poet, wrote to Herzl saying "At last there comes again a man, who does
not carry his Judaism with resignation as if it were a burden or a
misfortune, but is proud to be the legal heir of an immemorial
culture."

It became clear to Herzl that he would have to take an active part in
the task he had set forth in "