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Zionism and anti-Zionism—two expressions very popular in our days. What is Zionism and what is anti-Zionism? What does a Jewish person generally thinks when she or he speaks about Zionism?
In this post, I want to explore the concept of Zionism.[1] In my next post(s) I want to write about anti-Zionism.
A short definition of Zionism
Tzion or Zion is a term used in the Bible to refer to Jerusalem and, by extension, the entire nation of Israel. Zionism is the idea of the return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel.
The term Zionism was first coined by Nathan Birnbaum (1864-1937) who founded the first nationalist Jewish student’ movement in Germany (and who later turned against political Zionism).
Zionists believe God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people and it is their God-given right to live there!
Even in exile, where the Lord sent His people Israel because of their sin, there was always a longing within the Jewish hearts to return to Zion/Israel.
Moreover, the longing to return to Zion and the love for Zion influenced Jewish thought, life, and literature during the almost 2000 years of the Jewish people living in diaspora (outside of the land of Israel)
The Jewish people never forgot Zion.
Psalm 137:5-6 (TLV)
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither.
May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I cease to remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem above my chief joy.
In one of my previous posts, I argued from the Bible that the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people, regardless of what the UN says.
The land of Israel always remained at the center of Jewish consciousness. One can see that by looking at the Jewish prayers and the customs during the Jewish festivals.
Over history, as it happens today, the Jewish people prayed three times a day that God will restore them to their homeland. And during the celebration of Passover, the Jewish people greet each other with—Next year in Jerusalem. These two habits (and many other) highlight the salience of the land of Israel in Jewish consciousness.
No matter where the Jewish people lived on earth, they always longed to return to Israel and they never forgot their homeland.
Like the psalmist said in Psalm 137—a Psalm that was written in Babylon when the Jewish people lived there in exile because they disobeyed the Lord. The psalmist, while in exile, thought about his homeland, Israel.
What people often cannot recognize about the Jewish people is that throughout the centuries, small numbers of Jewish people continued to live within the land of Israel, even under dreadful circumstances (like under the rule of the Romans or the Muslims or the Christian Crusaders). The Jewish people continued to come to live and die in Israel, even if they had to start a new life all over under harsh conditions.
And living in Israel was very difficult for the Jewish people. It was so hard living there that the Jewish communities outside of Israel had to send ongoing charitable contributions (known as khalukah) to the Jewish people living in the land of Israel in order for them to support themselves and survive.
The rise of modern Zionism—the context
The rise of modern Zionism in the late 1800s was more of a political movement within the Jewish communities—but I believe with all my heart it was God inspired. Its focus was on Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people.
The idea of Israel (and not Europe or America or any other country or place in the world) being the homeland of the Jewish people originated from the Bible. Again, I want to point to one of my posts where you can read why Israel was, is, and will always belong to the Jewish people.
First, I want to point out to the context of the rise of Zionism. Second, I will write about the contribution of Theodor Herzl—the father of modern Zionism.
In the late 1800s, two major events happened that paved the way for the rise of modern Zionism (I say modern Zionism because Zionism is as old as the Bible and it begins with Gen 12:1-3).
The Russian pogroms
The first event is about the beginnings of the pogroms in Russia. The term “pogrom” originally described a violent riot or massacre directed against the Jewish people in Russia, often with the tacit or explicit approval of the authorities (even though in our days it can refer to any other ethnic groups).
The three waves of pogroms in Russia took place during the 1881-1884, 1903-1906 and 1918-1920.[2]The Jewish people today sometimes use the word ‘pogrom’ to refer to any anti-Semitic attack.
During the pogroms in the late 1800s, many Jewish people emigrated to America, but others moved to Zion or Israel. The Jewish people who moved to Israel established farming cooperatives throughout the land (a type of agricultural organization where land, machinery, and other resources were collectively owned and managed by a group of farmers), later known as kibbutz(im).
Despite the many hardships faced by the first Jewish pioneers in the land of Israel, the Jewish dream of a Jewish home in the land of Israel grew.
The Dreyfus Affair
The second event that paved the way for the rise of modern Zionism was the infamous Dreyfus trial. Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish Captain in the French army, faced accusations of spying for Germany, in 1894. His wrongful conviction for treason in 1894 became one of the most famous cases of miscarriage of justice and anti-Semitism in modern history.
Dreyfus’ investigators knew that the charges against Dreyfus were false. Nevertheless, Dreyfus investigators quashed all evidence, pointing to his innocence and convict him to a life sentence for treason.
Not only that, but before they convicted him to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island, they publicly humiliated Alfred Dreyfus at a ceremony in Paris.
Dreyfus’ trial, or the Dreyfus Affair as it was known, sparked the long tradition of Jew-hatred in France, embraced by both the right and the left wings.
Emile Zola was the key hero who defended Dreyfus and who denounced the false accusations against Dreyfus. Eventually, Zola had to flee to England as they accused him of libel and sentenced him to prison.
Theodor Herzl and Zionism
It was the Dreyfus Affair that convinced Theodor Herzl of Zionism. At the public humiliation of Dreyfus in Paris, Herzl, who was present at the ceremony, heard the cries of the French mobs calling for Dreyfus’s death and for the death of the Jews.
Herzl concluded that as long as the Jewish people live in non-Jewish societies, non-Jewish societies will collectively blame them for the wrongful actions of any single Jewish person.
Interestingly enough, France was the first European country to grant the Jewish people equal rights, and it seamed like the Jewish people were not safe in France—a liberal democratic country. Herzl understood the only solution for the Jewish people to live safely is to have their own country!
And that was the vison that consumed Herzl—the vision of a renewed Jewish state. He wrote a sixty-three page tract—’The Jewish State’/Der Judenstaat—where he described his vision for a Jewish state.
Long story short, in 1897, Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland. In time, the congresses grew in size and more Jewish people believed in his vision and in the real possibility of having a Jewish state. And it was there, at the Basel congresses, where Herzl established the Jewish state.
Herzl’s movement grew into a state, but he did not live long enough to see his vision coming to life. Nevertheless, it was Herzl who turned Zionism into an international movement and who influenced the Jewish communities throughout the world to believe in a Jewish state.[3]
Zionism and obstacles
However, as one can imagine, Zionism had to overcome many obstacles from within and those coming from outside of it.
Some of the most prominent Jewish leaders of Europe did not want to have anything to do with Herzel’s vision for a Jewish state. Many Jewish leaders feared that they would be accused of betraying their home countries, similar to the false accusations made against Dreyfus.
Many Orthodox Jewish leaders denounced Zionism as a Jewish heresy! Others, like Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook/Rav Kook (1865-1935), became supporters of Zionism!
However, Zionism faced also the opposition from countries like Turkey, Germany and the UK (despite the Balfour Declaration). Actually, Herzl became so discouraged in his vision that he wanted to accept Britain’s offer of a Jewish state in Uganda (today an area in Kenya)!
Zionism really came to life in 1947, when the UN voted the partition of Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish state (the only good thing the UN did for Israel). And in 1948, by God’s will, the Jewish state was established on the ashes of the Holocaust and on the foundation of Herzl’s vision.
The hatred of Zionism
I believe those who oppose Zionism, oppose God’s will. And there are so many today who criticize the right of Israel to exist in the land given to her by God Himself. Those who oppose Israel have continuously targeted Zionism since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.
Anti-Zionists rarely oppose Jews or Judaism, but they object to contemporary Jews creating a modern Jewish state in their ancient ancestral homeland.
Zionism and Zionists face attacks from hatemongers, terrorists, and individuals with varying political agendas. The Zionist movement has faced immense challenges and opposition, including conflict, political disputes, and acts of terrorism.
However, Zionists remain steadfast in their principles and convictions, supporting, developing, and preserving the State of Israel, acknowledging the inseparable bond between the Jewish People and their homeland.
Do you agree?
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[1] I rely mostly, in my blog post, on the works of Norman Solomon, Wayne D. Dosick, Joseph Telushkin, Nicholas De Lange, and others.
[2] Telushkin, Joseph, Jewish Literacy, Kindle, loc. 4900.
[3] It is worth saying that other Jewish leaders like Elijah of Vilna or Yehuda Alkalai called the Jewish communities to return to Zion long before Herzl.
I am a blogger, writer, pastor, Director of Zion Romania Bible School, husband to Olguta, a father and, most importantly, a child of God. I also completed my studies at the King’s University where I earned a B.A. in Theology with a concentration in Messianic Jewish Studies. I love Israel and I love the ‘Jewishness’ of the Bible.
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