The Hard Facts (Part 1)

30 Tishrei 5787

Rosh Chodesh I

What is "Zion"?  Have the Zionists of today faithfully represented it???

Something to think about.  The term "Zionism" is a misnomer as its modern usage is disconnected from its historical meaning.

THE FACTS

The word Zion (Hebrew: Tzion) appears 154 times across the Tanakh. ALL of them refer to Jerusalem. Some examples...

• 2 Samuel 5:7 – "Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David)."

• 1 Kings 8:1 – Solomon assembles elders to bring up the ark from "the city of David, which is Zion."

• 2 Chronicles 5:2 – Solomon brings the ark out of the city of David, which is Zion.

• Psalm 2:6 – "I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain."

• Psalm 87:2, 87:5 – "The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob."

• Psalm 102:13, 102:16, 102:21 – God having mercy on Zion and rebuilding her walls.

• Psalm 132:13 – "For the Lord has chosen Zion, he has desired it for His dwelling..."

• Psalm 134:3 – "May the Lord bless you from Zion..."

• Psalm 137:1, 137:3 – "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion."

• Micah 4:2 – "The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."

• Amos 1:2 – "The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem..."

• Joel 2:32 – "And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance..."  (Gemini)

The rule and revelation of God's Presence in this physical realm were centered on the Place He chose:  The Temple Mount in Jerusalem.  This is Zion!  And it embodies everything that connects to it like the flow of Truth and Light which goes out to the entire world only from that Place.

This is what our ancesors yearned for and prayed for: "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion."  But the anticipated and longed for return to Zion remains only in our prayers and our dreams.  And we are perhaps further removed from it since so many have fallen prey to the lie that what we have today in the State of Israel is already its fulfillment.

It's not by accident that the twentieth century "Zionists" did not choose to liberate Jerusalem in 1948.  Neither did they have any plan to do it in 1967.  So what did they mean when they chose the term Zionism.

In the writings of both early and later Zionists, Zion primarily refers to the historic Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael), and the city of Jerusalem serving as the central geographic, cultural, and political focus of the Jewish national movement.

However, the term evolved significantly in its symbolic and practical application between the early foundational thinkers and later political builders:

1. In the Writings of Early Zionists (Late 19th to Early 20th Century)

For early Zionist thinkers, "Zion" was predominantly a spiritual, cultural, and romantic ideal of national rebirth, which later transitioned into a concrete political destination.

• Spiritual and Cultural Renewal: Early "Cultural Zionists" like Ahad Ha'am viewed Zion not just as a piece of land, but as the indispensable cultural and spiritual center of the Jewish people. In his essays, Zion was the only place where Hebrew culture and Jewish identity could be revived autonomously, serving as a spiritual beacon for the Jewish Diaspora.

• The Ultimate Target of Reconnection: Early precursors to the movement, such as Leon Pinsker in his 1882 pamphlet Auto-Emancipation, initially focused on the urgent need for a Jewish homeland anywhere secure. However, the movement quickly solidified around "Zion" because no other territory held the historical or emotional gravity required to unite the Jewish masses.

• Political Sovereignty: For Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism, "Zion" represented the ultimate, internationally recognized legal sanctuary for the Jewish people. While Herzl briefly entertained alternative temporary sanctuaries (like the British Uganda Program) due to the immediate perils facing European Jewry, the First Zionist Congress firmly established that the movement's goal was a publicly secured homeland specifically in Palestine—the biblical Zion.

2. In the Writings of Later Zionists (Mid-20th Century onward)

As the movement progressed toward and achieved statehood, later Zionists shifted the definition of "Zion" from a yearned-for ideal to a practical, sovereign reality.

• The Physical State of Israel: For later political leaders and writers like David Ben-Gurion, Zion ceased to be a metaphorical dream. It became synonymous with the concrete, physical borders of the developing State of Israel. In their writings, Zionism transformed from the quest for Zion into Mamlahtimut (statism)—the duty to build, defend, and govern the actual state.

• A Socialist and Labor Utopia: Labor Zionists, including thinkers like A.D. Gordon, wrote of Zion as a place of physical and moral transformation. To them, Zion was a land to be redeemed through physical labor, agriculture, and the creation of egalitarian communities (like the kibbutz). Zion represented the birth of the "New Jew"—self-reliant, connected to the soil, and liberated from the socioeconomic restrictions of Diaspora life.

• Historical and Territorial Heritage: For Revisionist Zionists like Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Zion was defined by its historic and geographic integrity. His writings emphasized the legal and historical right of the Jewish people to their ancestral lands, viewing Zion as a bastion of Jewish national sovereignty and self-defense.

It's easy to see that the modern term Zionism faithfully represents the ideas and views of the founders and propagators of the Zionist movement, but the complete disconnect from God and Torah renders it treif as a true representation of the 3000-year ideal of Zion held fast in the hearts of every Jew faithful to the covenant with HaKadosh Baruch Hu throughout the ages.

For many, many Jews who have rejected the covenant and rebelled against our King of Kings, Zionism has become their religion - a poor and wholly inadequate substitute as a foundation for their Jewish identity.  Instead of Har Zion, they have substituted Har Herzl and instead of the Beit Hamikdash, they have substituted Yad Vashem.  Instead of admiring the knowledge and ways of the Torah scholars and gaonim, they glorify the IDF and give awards to a multiplicity of goyim without whose love and support they cannot continue to exist.

(Part 2)