Chag Haatzmaut – think/practice document
A 23-page document complete with exercises and text study, helping you rethink Israel celebration in the light of the Jewish festival calendar.
The Origins of Zionism – 41
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Zionism has changed the face of Judaism and the course of Jewish history. Was the development of Zionism a revolution – a break with all Jewish ideology that went before it, the birth of a new Jew as master of his own destiny? Or, was it a realization of the unbroken loyalty the Jewish people held for their ancestral land? Was it a Jewish manifestation of nineteenth century state nationalism or a yearning for socialist utopia? Or maybe it was just another way to survive? Its origins, like Zionism itself, are complex and varied. In this lesson we will study the different ingredients and personalities that gave rise to modern Zionism and ask ourselves: did Zionism/the State of Israel provide the solutions to the problems its originators envisioned.
Different Directions within Zionism – 42
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From the very beginning, Zionism meant very different things to different people. This lesson examines three of the major fault lines: a) between those who saw Zionism as a rebellion against Judaism and those who saw it as the fulfillment of Judaism; b) between those who saw in Zionism the hope for creating a socialist utopia and those who sought “normalization;” and c) between those who anticipated the ingathering of all the exiles and those who saw the state as a sustaining center for a revitalized world Jewry.
Jews in Eretz Yisrael before World War II – 43
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As the ideological and political battles of Zionism were being fought out in Europe, the first mass immigrations to Eretz Yisrael formed. Facing incredible hardships – economic deprivations, disease, friction with the local population and culture shock – these immigrations were to form the basis of much of the Israel we know today. In this lesson we will follow some of the history of the new immigrants in Palestine, address some of the dilemmas they faced, and get to know some of the legendary figures of that era.
