Tzionut

Value: Tzionut

The mountain where the Temple stood in Jerusalem was called Tzion. Tzion became another name for Israel. By 210 c.e. very few Jews lived in the land of Israel. Jews went into exile and were spread around the world. Immediately there was a desire to return. The Passover seder ends with the words, “Next year in Jerusalem.” In the siddur (prayer book) we find all kinds of calls for the return to Jerusalem, Tzion and Israel. These are all religious wishes. Even though there has been a new state of Israel since 1948, these wishes are still among the wishes we make in our prayers.

Sound the shofar. Lift up the banner to bring our exiles together and assemble us from the four corners of the earth. Blessed are You, Eternal, who gathers the dispersed of our people Israel. Siddur, Amidah

In the late 1800s a political movement for the establishment of a new Jewish homeland in Palestine was started. Now that there is a State of Israel, Tzionut, Zionism, is about supporting and sustaining Israel. It is about making sure that there will always be an Israel.

Tzionut: Text Study

Here are a number of Zionist quotations. Read each of them with a partner and explain what they mean.

Wherever I go, I go to Israel. Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlov

The purpose of establishing Jewish settlements [in the land of Israel] is not to provide a living for a number of people, but to revive the spirit of our Holy Land; not to upbuild Palestine, but to bring into being the holiness of the Land of Israel. Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin

Only in the Holy Land can the spirit of our people develop and become a light for the world.

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (Rav Kook)

In Palestine we can and should find for ourselves a spiritual center of our nationality. Ahad Ha’am

Prague, 1933. The 18th Zionist Congress. © Hashomer Hatz air

The State of Israel will prove itself not by material wealth, not by military might or technical achievement, but by its moral character and human values. David Ben-Gurion

The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual/ religious and national identity was formed. Here they achieved independence and created a culture of national and universal significance…Jews strove throughout the centuries to go back to the land of their fathers and regain their statehood. Israeli Declaration of Independence

1. What are some of the reasons that the

State of Israel is important? 2. Why is Tzionut an important Jewish value?