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...
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