Tzionut

Debate: Does Tzionut exist today or did it end with Hertzl?

            Why is Hertzl considered the “father of Zionism”?

About Hertzl.  Hertzl turned Zionism into an integral movement.  His famous quote about Zionism – “Im Tirtzu, Ein Zo Agada!”  “If you wish it, it’s not a fantasy!”  Hertzl was bothered by anti-Semitism.  Originally he thought if all Jews converted publicly to Catholicism, it would end anti-Semitism.  But he realized that this “end of Judaism” was neither practical nor moral.

Hertzl was turned to Zionism as an answer to anti-Semitism because of the Dreyfus case.  (Dreyfus case – Dreyfus was accused of being a spy to his homeland – France.  Condemned to life imprisonment.  After death, discovered that he was really innocent.)  Hertzl concluded from the events that as long as Jews lived in non-Jewish societies they would be the scapegoats.  (If “Death to the Jews” shouts was the reaction to the Dreyfus trail in France, the 1^st European country to grand equal rights to Jews, Jews not safe anywhere.)  Therefore, Hertzl became obsessed with the vision of a Jewish state. 

Hertzl laid the foundations for all the major structures of the Zionist movement.  In 1887 the 1^st Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland.

Tzionut HaDatit

How did Hertzl affect Tzionut HaDatit?  Approxatly the same time as Hertzl Rav Kalisher and Rav Alkali were beginning the ideals of Religious Zionism.  They were the real starters of Tzionut HaDatit.

Rav Kook – pre-eminent hero of religious Zionists.  He became a passionate Zionist when most Orthodox leaders were denouncing it.  Believed in not relying on the miracle of Messiach coming, we’ve got to get started and pave the way.  Rav Kook made aliya in 1909.  In 1921 he became the Chief Rabbi of Palestine.

Tzionut HaDatit became big for almost all committed Jews, only after the Nazi rise to power.

Hatikva

Analyze Hatikva.  Is it a Zionist anthem?  Can it be a Religious Zionist anthem?

Yet deep within every heart

The soul of the Jew is yearning

And to the East

The eye seeks out Zion

Our hope is not yet lost

The hope of thousands of years

To be a free people in our land

The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

According to Hatikva, how has Zionism in general changed since the time of Hertzl?

Game:  Play Jeopardy, general knowledge about Israel game.  Make teams.  Get them into it.  Take time to prepare it!