Study Sheet – Israel and Zionism

1. The Spiritual Bond with the Land of Israel

The religious basis for the Jewish people's bond with the Land of Israel is the divine promise made to Abraham and repeated to the Patriarchs (Bereshit 12-17). The Land of Israel is the Promised Land. It possesses intrinsic holiness (kedushat ha'aretz) independent of any political condition.

Certain mitzvot can only be fulfilled in the Land of Israel: agricultural laws (shemitah, terumah, ma'aser, orlah, pe'ah, leket, shikhchah), Temple-related laws, and purity laws. Living in Israel is considered a mitzvah by many authorities (the Rambam classifies it as a positive commandment; the Ramban makes it a Torah obligation).

Galut (diaspora/exile): the dispersion of Jews outside Israel. Returning to the Land of Israel is a central theme of Jewish prayer — every Amidah requests the gathering of exiles, every Birkat Hamazon prays for Jerusalem's rebuilding.

It is forbidden to reside permanently in Egypt (Devarim 17:16).

2. Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the holiest city in Judaism:

• Site of the Temple (Har HaBayit / Temple Mount), where the Shekhinah dwelled
• Capital of King David, who brought the Ark of the Covenant there
• Direction of prayer (mizrach) for all Jewish communities worldwide
• Site of the future messianic redemption

"If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill" (Psalms 137:5). A glass is broken at weddings in memory of Jerusalem's destruction. Every Birkat Hamazon asks for Jerusalem's rebuilding. The Passover Seder concludes with "Next year in Jerusalem!"

The Kotel (Western Wall, or Wailing Wall) is the most sacred remnant of the Temple — the western retaining wall of the Temple Mount platform built by Herod. It is the most revered place of prayer in Judaism.

3. Precursors of Zionism

Throughout history, Jews maintained the bond with the Land of Israel: pilgrimages, small communities in Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias, and Hebron (the "four holy cities").

In the 19th century, several thinkers formulated the idea of return:

• Rabbis Kalischer and Alkalai: early religious Zionism (return is a religious duty)
• Moses Hess: "Rome and Jerusalem" (1862), national and socialist vision
• Leon Pinsker: "Auto-Emancipation" (1882), after the Russian pogroms
• Achad Ha'Am (Asher Ginzberg): cultural Zionism — Israel as a spiritual and cultural center, not just a political refuge

4. Theodor Herzl and Political Zionism

The Dreyfus Affair (1894) revealed persistent antisemitism despite Emancipation. Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), an Austro-Hungarian journalist covering the trial, was shaken by the cries of "Death to the Jews!" in the streets of Paris.

He published "The Jewish State" (Der Judenstaat) in 1896, asserting that only a sovereign Jewish state could solve the "Jewish question."

First Zionist Congress: Basel, August 1897. Herzl wrote: "In Basel, I founded the Jewish state. In five years perhaps, in fifty certainly, everyone will recognize it."

The Congress created the World Zionist Organization and adopted the "Basel Program": creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

5. Zionism and Religious Judaism

6. The Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate

Balfour Declaration (November 2, 1917): letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild, supporting the establishment of a "Jewish national home" in Palestine. First official state document recognizing the Zionist aspiration.

British Mandate (1920-1948): growing Jewish immigration, Arab tensions (riots 1920, 1929, 1936-39), British restrictions (White Paper 1939 — amid rising Nazism), armed struggle (Haganah, Irgun, Lehi).

7. Aliyah – The Great Waves of Immigration

Aliyah ("ascent") means immigration to Israel — a concept both religious (ascending to the Holy Land) and national.

• 1st aliyah (1882-1903): from Russia, after pogroms. First agricultural colonies (moshavot)
• 2nd aliyah (1904-1914): idealistic, first kibbutzim, Tel Aviv (1909)
• 3rd aliyah (1919-1923): after World War I and Balfour
• 4th aliyah (1924-1929): from Poland, urban wave
• 5th aliyah (1929-1939): fleeing Nazism, professionals and intellectuals

After 1948:

• Arab and Muslim countries (Iraq, Yemen — Operation Magic Carpet, Morocco, Tunisia)
• Ethiopian aliyah: Operation Moses (1984-85, ~8,000) and Operation Solomon (1991, ~14,000 in 36 hours)
• Former USSR: approximately one million in the 1990s

Law of Return (1950, amended 1970): every Jew — and their children, grandchildren, and spouses — has the right to immigrate to Israel and obtain citizenship. The definition of "Jewish" (Jewish mother or conversion) has been a source of controversy (recognition of non-Orthodox conversions).

8. The Creation of the State of Israel

November 29, 1947: the UN voted the Partition Plan (Resolution 181). Jews accepted; Arabs refused.

May 14, 1948 (5 Iyar 5708): David Ben-Gurion proclaimed independence beneath Herzl's portrait at the Tel Aviv Museum. The Declaration of Independence guarantees equal rights for all citizens.

The next day, five Arab armies (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon) attacked. Despite 6,000 dead (1% of the Jewish population), Israel prevailed. Armistice signed in 1949. Jordan annexed the West Bank and East Jerusalem; Egypt administered Gaza.

9. Israel's Wars

10. Israeli Commemorations

Yom HaZikaron (4 Iyar): memorial day for fallen soldiers and terror victims. Two-minute siren evening and morning. The entire country stops.

Yom HaAtzmaut (5 Iyar): Independence Day. Begins immediately after Yom HaZikaron — the transition from mourning to joy is intentional. Some poskim recite Hallel; others do not.

Yom Yerushalayim (28 Iyar): reunification of Jerusalem (1967).

11. The Spiritual Meaning of the State of Israel

For Religious Zionism, the State of Israel is not merely a political reality but a step in the process of redemption (geulah). Rav Kook saw in the Jews' return — even through secular means — a fulfillment of prophecy. Rav Soloveitchik spoke of the religious significance of Jewish sovereignty after the Shoah.

The debate over the religious meaning of the State remains one of the most vigorous in contemporary Judaism, touching on messianism, the relationship between politics and religion, and the place of halakhah in a modern state.

Key Takeaways – Summary