Although ultra-Orthodox Israelis don’t stand as the siren blares on Holocaust Memorial Day, the memory of European Jewry’s destruction continues to shape their community
Torah student in a Pale of Settlement study hall, early 20th century, Russian Ethnographic Museum, St. Petersburg | Photo processing/adaptation: Хомелка
Evangelical Prophet of Zion – William Hechler
Who would have guessed that the man who crops up most frequently in Theodor Herzl’s diaries was an Evangelical pastor? William Hechler’s religious fervor led him to Zionism, which in turn inspired him to place his many illustrious connections at Herzl’s disposal, putting the young movement on the map
William Hechler introduced Theodor Herzl to Grand Duke Erederick of Baden I Courtesy of Disc-in Ltd. and Friends of Zion Museum
Full Circle – Hora
Though nostalgically associated with Israel’s early days, the hora was originally neither socialist nor Jewish. So how did this folk dance become synonymous with young Zionists circling under a starry sky?
Orphaned Holocaust refugees from Romania dancing the hora at Working Women’s Farm in Petah Tikva | Photo: Zoltan Kluger, Israel Government Press Office