In 1897 the First Zionist Congress convened, led by Theodore Herzl. The goal was to provide a homeland for the Jews of the world, secured in International Law. Zionism is essentially a secular nationalist movement, not a religious movement. Many non-Jews are Zionsts, many Jews are not Zionists. Once the historical facts of this movement are revealed, you can begin to see what a HUGE role it has played in 20th Century world events and now. Theodor Herzl was the founder of Political Zionism. After publishing his utopian pamphlet, The Jewish State, in 1896, in 1897 he convened the First Zionist Congress. The idea of Jewish return to the land of Israel had been in the hearts of Jews for 2,000 years, with little practical consequences. In the 19th century it had begun to take shape in pamphlets and in small groups like Chovevei Tzion and the BILU, as well as in various charitable projects of Baron Rothschild and others. Herzl understood that the work could not proceed without a political goal and an international political framework to support it. The First Zionist Congress provided both: a world Zionist organization that would undertake both the internal work of popularizing Zionism among the Jewish people and the diplomatic maneuvering required to realize the goal of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, secured in international law. Herzls speech to the congress reflected the basics of Zionism as well as the basic mundane concerns of the congress. On the one hand, it brought out the theme of the proud past of the Jewish people in their own land. On the other, it dealt with the threat of anti-Semitism, the need to combat assimilation and return the Jewish people to Judaism, and the need to reconcile Zionism, essentially a secular nationalist movement, with the Jewish religious rabbinical establishment. The latter were not interested in a movement that they saw as undermining religion and their authority. Rabbinical Judaism had been shaped and adapted itself to Diaspora living. Return to the land of Israel, formally a central part of Jewish culture and religious content, was turned into an impractical abstraction by allocating it to the return of the Messiah. Those religious authorities, a minority, who did support Zionism, sought to control the new movement and ensure that the new state would be a theocracy, obedient to religious laws suited to ancient Israel that had further evolved and adapted themselves to Diaspora life. Zionists foresaw that it would be impossible to build a modern democratic state on those principles. The issue has never been fully resolved, though Herzl hailed the meeting of the two camps at the Zionist congress. zionism-israel/hdoc/Theodor_Herzl_Zionist_Congress_Speech_1897.htm
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 16:44:43 +0000
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