Some background information
The Jewish people yearned for Zion in its long years of Diaspora. This yearning to return is an inseparable part of the belief and the culture of the Jewish people throughout its history in the Diaspora. If the Jewish people has always been Zionist, how is it possible to decide when Zionism started?
The Forerunners of Zionism
What is Zionism? When did it start?
Zionism is a Jewish national movement which began in the second half of the nineteenth century. Its goal was to establish a Jewish democratic state in the Land of Israel. There were a number of different streams and philosophies within the movement. Zionism as a national movement began with the taking of actual steps to return to Zion. Before then, there had been yearnings, prayers, tears and the Aliyah of individuals who dreamed of a return to Zion. The Zionist movement was different in that, for the first time, there was a taking of responsibility for the return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel. This Zionist awakening was part of nationalist movements which were sweeping through Europe.
The Forerunners of Zionism and “The Return to Zion” Movement
The Hibat Zion (Lovers of Zion) movement was preceded by The Forerunners of Zionism who influenced the formation of the Zionist movement.
In the nineteenth century, three people, whom today we call the forerunners of Zionism, were active. They were Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai, Rabbi Zvi Hersh Kalisher and Moshe Hess. All these people shared the belief that the redemption of the Land of Israel would be achieved not through miracles, but through natural means. Therefore, they took practical steps to return the Jews to their land.
The first organized attempt to settle the Land of Israel was led by the Return to Zion movement, which was founded by Rabbi Zvi Hirsh Kalisher, who was the moving force behind the movement. Rabbi Elijahu Guttmacher and Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai helped him on both the philosophical and practical level.
Rabbi Zvi Hersh Kalisher
He was born into a family of rabbis. He served as the rabbi of Thorn, in what was then Prussia. Rabbi Kalisher believed that the Emancipation movement and the involvement of Jews in international politics and banking was a sign that the Jews could establish a state of their own. He believed that the redemption of Israel would not happen at once as the result of divine intervention, but would come about in several stages, which would be dependent on the first stages. They would involve the support of other nations as well as the Jews’ active involvement in redeeming the Land of Israel.
Rabbi Kalisher believed that the agricultural and economic development of the Land of Israel would enable large numbers of people to make Aliyah. In addition, he attached great importance to the observance of sacrifice on the Temple Mount as part of the redemption.He did not believe there was any religious basis to prevent such sacrifices. Nevertheless, when he understood that there was much opposition to his view of sacrifices, he abandoned the idea and focused on the importance of the command to settle the Land of Israel. He expressed his ideas of settling the Land of Israel in his book, Derishat Zion, 1862.
Thorn Conference
In 1860, Rabbi Kalisher convened the Conference for Jewish Settlement in the Land of Israel in Thorn. Important rabbis, including Rabbi Elijahu Guttmacher took part in the conference. Following the conference, “The Society for the Settlement of the Land of Israel” was founded. This was the first organization which actually worked to realize the goal of Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel.
ZION, MY INNOCENT ONE
IF I FORGET YOU
Zion my innocent one, Zion my beloved,
My soul longs for you from afar.
May my right hand forget its skill
If I forget you, my beautiful one.
Until the day my grave closes over me.
I shall not forget you, Zion my beloved, You, as long as I live, my hope and expectation And at such a time that I shall forget everything, till the remains of my soul and Zion, you Zion, shall be my grave. Zion my innocent one…
Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai
He was born in Bosnia. At the age of eleven he moved to the Land of Israel. When still very young, he was ordained as a rabbi in Jerusalem. In 1825, when he was 27 years old, he was sent to be the rabbi of a city near Belgrade in Serbia. He returned to the Land of Israel and died in Jerusalem in 1878.
Influenced by the blood libel in Damascus in 1840, he wrote The Offering of Judah, in which he calls for Jews to “ascend” to the Land of Israel. Through his writings, he encouraged people to come to the Land of Israel. In addition, he was in contact with the Ottoman regime, The Alliance israélite universelle and banks in order to advance the idea of establishing a Homeland for the Jews in the Land of Israel. In Jerusalem, he established the Society for the Settlement of Jews in the Land of Israel.
Moshe Hess
Moshe Hess was a writer and philosopher, among the forerunners of Labor Zionism. He was one of the first leaders of the Socialist movement in Europe. In his book, Rome and Jerusalem: The Last National Question (1862), he expressed his nationalistic views. Hess based his belief in Jewish nationalism on the “nationalistic spirit” that characterized the ancient Jewish state. In order to safeguard this spirit and prevent it from disappearing, he believed that the Jews must return to the Land of Israel, acquire land, build agricultural settlements and industrial and commercial enterprises. Hess did not limit himself to sketching theoretical plans, but worked hard to realize his ideas. However, he was unable to do so as his ideas failed to attract attention. His book was almost completely forgotten until it was published again years later, at which time The First Zionist Congress recognized it as one of the cornerstones of political Zionism.