Herzl’s Grandparents to Be Reinterred Beside Him in Jerusalem

The remains of Shimon and Rivka Herzl, the grandparents of Theodor Herzl, the founder of the state, will be brought to Israel from Belgrade in the coming days and buried beside him on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. That was reported today (Sunday) in "Israel Hayom."

The burial ceremony will take place on August 5, the 77th anniversary of Herzl’s burial in Jerusalem, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog in attendance.

According to the report, the move was planned by World Zionist Organization Chairman Yaakov Hagoel, who worked with the authorities in Serbia and with the local Jewish community. The report said the effort was seen as especially significant "in light of the role played by the grandfather and grandmother of the founder of the state in their grandson’s life. Over the years, the two inspired his Zionist outlook and, in a certain sense, guided him toward his vision. 

Shimon, who was close to the spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Zemun and one of the earliest forerunners of Zionism, Rabbi Yehuda Shlomo Alkalai, served as gabbai of the Sephardic synagogue in the Jewish community, and he maintained frequent ties with Rabbi Alkalai. The grandfather of the founder of the state held fast to his Jewish identity and even grew stronger in it, worked within his community on behalf of the idea of establishing a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, and in this way directly influenced the young Binyamin Ze’ev."

Shimon Herzl died in 1879 and was buried in the Jewish section of the cemetery in the town of Zemun, on the outskirts of Belgrade. Rivka Herzl, Herzl’s grandmother, who was born in 1809 and passed away in 1888, is also buried in the Jewish section of the cemetery.

It is worth noting that after the establishment of the state, the remains of the founder of the state were brought up from his grave in Vienna and reburied in August 1949 on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, alongside his parents and sister. Many years later, in September 2006, the remains of his two children were also brought to Israel and buried beside their father. In 2007, the remains of Herzl’s only grandson, Stephan Theodor Norman, were brought from a cemetery in Washington for burial in Jerusalem.