Transcript The History of Zionism - Jewish Virtual Library

The History of Zionism
Ethnicity, Nationalism and the
origins of Zionism
Herzl After the first Congress
Were I to sum up the Basel
Congress in a word which I shall
guard against
pronouncing publicly, it would be
this: “At Basel, I founded the Jewish
State .
If I said this out loud today, I would
be answered by universal laughter.
Perhaps in 5 years, certainly in 50
everyone will know it”
“Herzl”s Diary”, 3 September 1897
Zionism Definition
Zionism= From the biblical word "Zion", often used as a
synonym for Jerusalem and the Land of Israel (Eretz
Yisrael).

Encyclopedia Britannica : A Jewish nationalist
movement that has had as its goal the creation and
support of a Jewish national state in Palestine, the
ancient homeland of the Jews

The Basel Program( program determined by the first
Zionist Congress in Basel in August 1897) : Zionism
strive to create for the Jewish people a home in
Palestine secured by public law.
Two Fundamental Problems
 Are
the Jews a Nation or a
Religious/Cultural Group ?

The Right of the Jews to the Land – Do
they have a right to establish a
homeland in Palestine?
Are The Jews a Nation Or a Religious/Cultural Group?
“Yom Kippur,” 1878
Maurycy Gottlieb
Nation and Nationalism
► Nation:
a named human population (“The French
People”, “British”) possessing a myth of common
descent, common historical memories, elements of
shared culture, an association with particular
territory and sense of solidarity.
► Nationalism
– An Ideology which requires
political independence, self determination within
the nation unit’s own territory. It holds that
political and national unit should be identical.
( Anthony D. Smith, The Ethnic Origins of
Nations; G. Simony, The Zionist Ideology)
Nationalism and Nations

Primordial and perennial phenomena

Modern and even an invented phenomena
Nation and Nationalism
 “ I am driven to the conclusion that no
‘scientific definition’ of nation can be
devised; yet the phenomenon has exited
and exits. All that I can find to say is that a
nation exists when a significant number of
people in a community consider
themselves to form a nation, or to behave
as if they form one”
Hugh Seton-Watson
Ethno-symbolic hypothesis
Anthony Smith

Ethnicity

Ethnicism

Nationalism
Ethno-Symbolic hypothesis

Ethnicity – The mere presence of ethnic
attributes such as consciousness of common
origin (whether mythic or actual) religion
and territory (or association with territory)
Ethno-Symbolic hypothesis

Ethnicism – A state of mind, the conversion
of such attributes of ethnicity into highly
ranked attributes/values
Ethno-Symbolic hypothesis

Nationalism – Aspires to political self
determination for the ethnic group in its own
land
THE DECLARATION OF THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE
OF ISRAEL
May 14, 1948
The right to the land
From: THE DECLARATION OF THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF
ISRAEL
"The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here
their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first
attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal
significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.”
“After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it
throughout their dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for
their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.“
“Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in
every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their
ancient homeland.”
Main Zionist’s Argumentations
Regarding the Right to the Land
1.
The Land of Israel is the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their
spiritual, religious and National identity was shaped.
2.
They were forcibly exiled from their country
3.
Nevertheless while in exile they pray and did not lose faith and hope
to return and to restore the sovereignty
4. Despite all manner of restrictions, and persecution and insecurity, Jews
continued to maintain some presence in Palestine and Jews as groups
and Individuals never ceased to return.
5. Since the destruction of the Jewish Commonwealth by Rome
it became a backward province of successive empires, but never
been an “indigenous statehood” and until the 20 century the Jews were
the only people who regarded Palestine as their homeland
The Divine Promise
And the lord appeared unto Abram and said unto
him. I am God Almighty…I will established my
covenant between me and thee and thy seed
after thee throughout the generations for the
everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and
thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee and
to thy seed after thee…the land of Canaan for
the everlasting holding: and I will be their God
(Gen 17:1 7,8)
Israel’s Ancient History – From
Kingdom to Destruction and Exile
The First Temple built

1000 BC Isreal’s tribes became a monarchy (According to the
bible: Kings Saul, David and Salomon). First Temple built

925 BC — Partition of ancient Israel into the Kingdoms of Judah
and Israel

722 BC - Assyrians invaded northern kingdom – The end of the
Kingdom of Israel. Part of the population was deported to the
eastern frontier of Assyrian. many people fled south to Judah who
became much more populated

587 BCE Judah fell to the Babylonians, Temple
destroyed, Main Babylonian exile begins. Large part
of the population of Judah (the upper and the middle
class was deported) to Babylon. Part of the Jewish
population fled to Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia – the
beginning of the Jewish Diaspora

537 BCE After the overthrow of Babylonia by the Persian
Empire, in the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great gave the
Jews a permission to return to their native land. A
post exiled Jewish community was established in Judah
comprised of 125,000 to 130,000 souls

516 BCE Second temple built
Second Temple

331 BCE - Defeat of The Persian Empire by Alexander
the Great. Judah part of the new empire

323 BCE – Death of Alexander. The division of the
empire between Alexander’s generals

174-163 BCE – Judah part of the Seleucid Empire
(established by Seleucus, one of the Generals)
attempts to impose the Greek culture (Hellenization)
on the Jews instead of Judaism
The Borders of the Hasmonean Kingdom

168-142 BCE The
Maccabee Rebellion
(Hanukkah Festival)

140-37 BCE - Hasmonean
Kingdom

63 BCE - The Roman Empire enforced its rule on
Judah made it a Roman province

66-73 CE- Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire.
The destruction of the Second Temple. It is estimated
that over 100,000 Jews were killed, and nearly 100,000
were taken to Rome as slaves. Many Jews fled to
countries around the Mediterranean

132-135 - the Bar-Kochba revolt began led by Simon
bar Kokhba . 135 the revolt was crushed. The end of
Jewish Sovereignty.

The Roman Suppress any remnants of Jewish
Sovereignty changing the name of the whole
country to Palestine. From now on it will be
referred by all its future rulers as part of Syria,
called Syria-Palestine. (After Philistines
mentioned In the Bible, the area inhabited by
them was known as Pleshet, in cities along the
coast (Gaza Ashkelon Ashdod)

(330–640 CE) - Byzantine (Eastern Roman
Empire) rule
(638–1099 CE) - Arab (Islamic) Caliphate rule

Hope of Redemption In the Land of
Israel
By the Rivers of Babylon, there we sat
down, yea, we wept when we remembered
Zion…,
If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right
hand forget its skill; Let my tongue stick to
the roof of my mouth if I don't remember
you, if I don't prefer Jerusalem above my
chief joy".
The Messiah
"The anointed King is destined to stand up and
restore the Davidic Kingdom to its antiquity, to the
first sovereignty. He will build the Temple in
Jerusalem and gather the strayed ones of Israel
together“

‫ "אני מאמין באמונה שלמה בביאת המשיח ואף על פי‬
."‫ עם כל זה אחכה לו בכל יום שיבוא‬,‫שיתמהמה‬
"I believe with full faith in the coming of the Messiah.
And even though he tarries, with all that, I await his
arrival with every day"
Jewish Wedding
Symbols of the Zionist Movement
and the State of Israel
Theodore Herzl –
The visionary of the
Jewish state
The Menorah
Ancient SevenArmed
Candelabrum
The Flag of
Israel
The Menorah Ancient
Seven-Armed Candelabrum
The Menorah on a
Hasmonean coin from the 1st
century BC
.
The Menorah on the Arch of
Titus, Rome About 70 AD
Language

The revival of the Hebrew Language
The prefix ‘re’, :
‘rebuilding’,
‘renewing’,
The Tallit and the Flag
A man wearing a prayer
shawl
Festival of Weeks
Emancipation
“ But, they say to me, the Jews have their own judges and laws. I respond that is
your fault and you should not allow it. We must refuse everything to the Jews
as a nation and accord everything to Jews as individuals. We must
withdraw recognition from their judges; they should only have our judges. We
must refuse legal protection to the maintenance of the so-called laws of their
Judaic organization; they should not be allowed to form in the state either a
political body or an order. They must be citizens individually. But, some will
say to me, they do not want to be citizens. Well then! If they do not want to be
citizens, they should say so, and then, we should banish them. It is repugnant to
have in the state an association of non-citizens, and a nation within the
nation. . . . In short, Sirs, the presumed status of every man resident in a
country is to be a citizen.
Clermont–Tonnerre, "Speech on Religious Minorities and Questionable
Professions" (The French National Assembly 23 December 1789)
Responses to European Emancipation
ASSIMILATION
REFORM
TRADITION
German-Jews Christian-Converts
Ultra- Modern Orthodox
Orthodox
Haskallah
Reform Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Eastern Haskalah
Western Haskalah
The Ultra-Orthodox attitude
The Exile is the punishment of god. It will end by a
miracle redemption and the coming of the messiah.
He will come if people will continue to pray and to
observe Jewish laws and tradition
Haskalah ( Sekhel)
, learnedness scholarliness, enlightenment


Mskilim- enlightened, learned, scholarly
Haskalah movement advocated adopting
enlightenment values, pressing for better integration
into European society, and increasing education in
secular studies
and Jewish studies in a modern way
Precursors of Zionism

A person who expressed ideas that precede
in time the emergence of social movement
aroused by much the same ideas
Common denominator of the Zionist
Ideology – 4 propositions




Definition of the Jews as social entity
(ethnic group)
Diagnosis of the perceived problematic
situation of the Jews
Advocacy of a solution
proposals of means for attaining this solution