In 1901 Herzl met Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany at Mikveh Israel, south of Jaffa on the road to Jerusalem. Palestine was ruled by the Turkish sultan, a friend and ally of the Kaiser. On a state visit the two met and Herzl greeted the Kaiser,
"Your majesty has the land of her dreams enchanted you?"
The Kaiser was very hot.
"It is impossible to dream here Herr Docktor. The heat does not allow it."
"Sorry," smiled Herzl, "we can't do anything about it, the land isn't ours."
"The land belongs to those who plant trees on it," said the Kaiser.
Later Herzl planted a tree on a cold November night atop a barren hilltop, a cypress sapling. Six years later Herzl died and that tree was destroyed by soldiers during World War One.
But some brave young man knew of the tree and found a branch from the cypress. There it lies today in the JNF building. More, there were seeds collected from the uprooted sapling.They were distributed to new Israeli settlements. From a single tree has come a great forest.
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