Breaking The Jewish Code Perry Stone

to keep the Zionist vision of a Jewish homeland alive when there was no homeland. Rabbis knew the promise: God will “ . . . gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isa. 11:12). They looked for a leader to fulfill these expectations. When the French emperor Napoleon conquered Poland and Russia, his decisions to tear down the walls of the Jewish ghettos and remove the laws of injustice against the Jews, plus restore a Jewish council (Sanhedrin), gained the attention of the Jews. Marching to Jerusalem, he declared his intent to reestablish Jewish sovereignty over the Holy Land. Many Jews were convinced that Napoleon was introducing a new messianic era. Some Hassidic Jews believed the French leader would help restore Israel and help introduce the final redemption. Of course, Napoleon met his Waterloo, and the Jews remained in Europe without the redemption of their promised homeland. The late 1800s saw a new stirring for the restoration of Israel as a Jewish state. In 1886, Theodor Herzl wrote an inspiring book, The Jewish State , which stirred up great interest on the Jewish homeland question.15 Through his efforts, the First Zionist Congress was held in Basel, Switzerland, one year later. Thus a Z ionist movement for the restoration of a Jewish homeland in Palestine began to take root. When World War I concluded, a Jewish chemist, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, had assisted the British in developing a new system for providing acetone, a chemical needed to make ammunition. Without it, the British would have lost the war. Following the war, Weizmann gained favor with the British government and convinced the British foreign secretary,