Theodor Herzl's message is for everyone

(JNS) — Theodor Herzl has been with me my whole life.

I know that is an odd statement from a Canadian who has lived his entire life in Toronto. I am not related to Herzl and, of course, I never met him. Yet I feel very close to him.

My earliest memory of Herzl is of a family visit to his grave in Jerusalem in 1966. I co-wrote and performed in a play about him when I was in seventh grade and organized Herzl-related programming at summer camps in Ontario. When I go to Israel, I revisit his grave to pay my respects.

I celebrated my 50th birthday in Basel at the Three Kings Hotel, the site of the...