Excerpts:
“Dr. Max Nordau, one of the founders of the World Zionist Organization, was named at birth Meir-Simcha. However, he was known as Max, a children’s doctor in Paris. The following story was told by Avraham Shmuel Yehuda, a Jerusalem Orientalist professor, in his book, ‘Ezer HaRav,; describing how Nordau became interested in Zionism. ”
“On the second night of First Zionist Congress in Basel, Nordau spoke in German, giving a long speech. He mentioned several times, as a motto, three words from Jeremiah, in Hebrew, ‘v’Shavu Banim l’Gvulam,’ ‘Our Children Have Returned to their Borders.’ When asked by a young representative at the congress how he found this verse, and especially in Hebrew, for this did not fit Nordau’s educational background, Nordau replied: ‘I know these words from the person to whom I am obliged all my Judaism and Zionism. A person whose name I don’t even know. A person who was, in essence, only a little boy of eight or ten.’”