Aliyah; No Pain, No Gain, but, Oh, the Gain!

The most significant development in Jewish history over the past one hundred and fifty years is the establishment of State of Israel. After two thousand years of forced exile, the Jewish people can determine their own destiny on the Jewish people’s historic homeland, Eretz Yisrael.

Zionism is a diverse movement, made up of various different streams that extend from communist Zionists to cultural Zionists. Due to the early Zionists having never defined Zionism, the movement has accepted many different variations of Zionism and hasn’t banned any particular stream from joining as fellow Zionists.

I made a fool of myself at my wedding. It’s tough to admit, but I was an arrogant 21 year old, coming off of three years of post-high school study in Israel and had returned to America for my wedding.

As hard as I try there is one lesson I try teaching Jewish teenagers today that never seems to sink in – today’s Jewish people live in incredible times. I try to explain what Jewish existence looked like over the past 2,000 years of exile and that today’s Israel is a privilege and luxury in comparison to our past. I ask them to think about what life was like for a Jew who couldn’t even consider visiting or moving to Israel. I juxtapose their life, in which a plane ticket is all they need to enter Israel, with their ancestor’s lives a mere one hundred years ago who couldn’t come to Israel.

The Talmudic case is a strange one; it takes place in a divorce court with a couple who have reached the breaking point in their marriage. One of the partners has made a decision to move to Israel and the other one doesn’t want to move.

Religious Zionists are often confused by fellow Torah observant Jews who oppose Zionism and the State of Israel. The Religious Zionist community sees the State of Israel as one of the greatest gifts to the Jewish people; how, they wonder, could anyone oppose it? 

To most Torah observant Jews, the question, “Is Zionism consistent with the Torah?” has an obvious answer. Of course, certain Torah observant Jews would answer the question with a resounding yes, and others with an equally definite, no! The question of Zionism’s consistency with Torah values is a source of great debate among Torah observant Jews.

When compared to the rest of Jewish history, it is evident that the times we live in are magical. The Jewish people are safe, they govern their homeland, the land of Israel, and they are exceedingly successful.

Zionists will forever debate when their undertaking began. There are Zionists who fervently argue their first member was Abraham. When God told Abraham, “Go forth from your land to the land I will tell you…” and Abraham arrived in a land to be named “Eretz Yisrael,” he became the first Zionist. More contemporary thinking Zionists will claim Theodore Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, was the first Zionist and started the drive of the Jewish people to return to their homeland.

In a night of majestic surprises, The President’s announcement in the State Dining Room of the White House took the cake. As a few hundred Jews stood around celebrating Hanukkah with the special feeling of privilege a White House invitation brings to an American. The President entered, welcomed his guests, and announced he was signing an executive order making antisemitism punishable under the Civil Rights Act. His executive order was meant to protect college students facing antisemitism.

At the sixth Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, a year before his death, Theodor Herzl offered a suggestion that will live in infamy in the world of Zionism – The Uganda Scheme. Herzl came to the Congress with an offer from then British Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain. Chamberlain was willing to fulfill Herzl and the Zionists’ request of securing land for a Jewish state.

Theodore Herzl began the modern Zionist movement with a practical goal of creating a Jewish State through political means. Early Zionists aimed to return the Jewish people to their homeland, the land of Israel. Herzl traveled from country to country, speaking to world leaders, influential Jews, and the Jewish community.

Theodore Herzl began the modern Zionist movement with a practical goal of creating a Jewish State through political means. Early Zionists aimed to return the Jewish people to their homeland, the land of Israel. Herzl traveled from country to country, speaking to world leaders, influential Jews, and the Jewish community.

There are a few topics that will always be debated among Zionists; Should all Diaspora Jews move to Israel? Do Zionists demand that Israel be a land exclusively for the Jewish people? Is Zionism an aspect of Judaism or its own separate movement? One of the most debated topics among Zionists is whether anti-Zionism is inherently antisemitic or a legitimate critique of a popular movement.

One of the most hotly debated topics in the Israel space is whether anti-Zionism is a form or cover for antisemitism. Jonathan Greenblatt, the Director of the Anti-Defamation League recently gave a groundbreaking speech where he stated, “To those who still cling to the idea that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism, let me clarify this for you as clearly as I can—anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism.

God wrote, “You shall possess the Land and you shall settle in it, for to you have I given the land to possess it.” (Numbers 33:53) In his comments to this verse, Nachmanidies wrote, “In my opinion, this verse expresses a positive command. We are commanded to settle and dwell in the land for it was given to them, and we cannot reject (me’us) the nachalat Hashem (the portion of God).

In a recent conversation about Zionist values, the following argument was made to me, “The Jewish people were never meant to rule over another people and doing so contradicts all Zionist values.” This is a critique I receive frequently from Zionists upset with the current situation in Israel. Skipping the political side of the discussion, I’d like to focus on the use of power and whether Zionist values require limiting its power, especially over other peoples.

In 1956, a mere eight years after the Jewish people declared their Independence and the State of Israel was born, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva University and a leading American Rabbi released an essay called, “Kol Dodi Dofek.” The essay was groundbreaking for American Jewry because its central message was that Israel’s Independence wasn’t natural, but an act of Divine Providence and it required American Jewry to respond.

The accusation that you can’t be a Zionist outside of Israel is often levied at Diaspora Jewry, but does the accusation have merit or does it misunderstand Zionism at its core? Understandably, many Diaspora Zionists find the notion that their Zionism is lacking because they don’t live in Israel to be offensive. Diaspora Zionists believe in Zionism’s principles and love Israel and her people just as much as anyone living in Israel, so why should their Zionism be discounted?

Zionism seeks to secure for the Jewish people a publicly recognized, legally assured homeland in Palestine. For the attainment of this purpose, the Congress considers the following means serviceable: (1) The promotion of the settlement of Jewish agriculturists, artisans, and tradesmen in Palestine. (2) The federation of all Jews into local or general groups, according to the laws of the various countries. (3) The strengthening of the Jewish feeling and consciousness. (4) Preparatory steps for the attainment of those governmental grants which are necessary to the achievement of the Zionist purpose.”

One of the most shameful episodes in United Nations history was when Yasser Arafat threatened the United Nations: (after removing the gun from his holster) "Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter's gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.” That threat bullied the United Nations into granting the Palestinians observer status at the United Nations. One year later the United Nations passed resolution 3379, stating “Zionism is racism.” 75 countries agreed with this sentiment about Zionism. Ultimately the resolution was revoked, but the stigma against Zionism remained.

One of the most shameful episodes in United Nations history was when Yasser Arafat threatened the United Nations: (after removing the gun from his holster) "Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter's gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.” That threat bullied the United Nations into granting the Palestinians observer status at the United Nations. One year later the United Nations passed resolution 3379, stating “Zionism is racism.” 75 countries agreed with this sentiment about Zionism. Ultimately the resolution was revoked, but the stigma against Zionism remained.

If I was a delegate at the first Zionist Congress in 1897 I think I would’ve left the conference enthused, inspired, but also frustrated. I appreciate “defining my terms,” creating an action plan based on the terms, and then putting the plan into action. At the first Zionist Congress the delegates adopted the “Basel Program,” but never defined Zionism.