Ariel Bulshtein
Times of Israel, Aug. 28, 2022
“… my journey follows the psychological and personal motives of the heroes, of which they themselves are sometimes unaware. There’s a person behind every narrative, and I wanted to show that.”
The city of Basel in Switzerland is hosting a unique event this week. Led by the World Zionist Organization, delegates from around the Jewish world are expected to arrive to mark the 125th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress – held in the Swiss city in 1897 – which paved the way for the future State of Israel.
“I wish I could have heard Herzl speak at the first congress,” Moshe Luna, who has recently published his debut novel about the legendary Zionist leader, told Israel Hayom.
Bold and original, “The Triple Voyage” offers an alternative narrative to Herzl’s story and dives into untold chronicles of Early Zionism.
Luna continued, “I wish there were inventions like video or Facebook in Herzl’s time. I would like to have heard him. Many of the Zionist founders were smart and good people, but none like Herzl. He was endowed with a unique flight. Only someone with his way of thinking could lead both practical and spiritual people.”
Luna’s book pays homage to the man that at the end of August 1897 stood at the center of an event hall in Basil and outlined the path that eventually led to the establishment of the Jewish state.
“Herzl is an exceptional figure both in Jewish and world history,” Luna notes. “Everyone can relate to him in a way, because we all have the desire to do something right and good, only that with Herzl it was on a massive scale, so much so one could have thought he was disconnected from reality. He knew that his vision was not easy to comprehend. No wonder he said the now-famous quote ‘If you will it, it is no dream.’
“My profession is actually high-tech, not writing, and originally I thought to write an old-time adventure book. And yet, those who read ‘The Triple Voyage’ in depth will notice other layers, which go beyond the rules of the genre of adventure and suspense. I tried to bring to the fore the feelings of the person who created such a significant turning point in the life of the Jewish people. …SOURCE