Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard
Zionism as we know it today came out of the East European socialist and growing antisemitic movements of the latter decades of the 19th Century. The core thought was that the diasporal Jews had misinterpreted the idea that they were to await God's approval to return to the lands of the tribes of Israel, and that they had to unite to force a return to those lands to show God that they were indeed worthy, once again, of his trust. Theodr Herzl, the movement's leader, first posited the position at the First Jewish Congress in Basle in 1897.
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I don't know if I would be comfortable describing Zionism as one ideology, but if I were, I'd frame it similarly. I think the Zionist movement today is formed by five drivers, though I'd agree with Richard that a large part of its ideological foundation was formed as he eloquently described. There are more, but I think these are the big ones.
While the interpretation of the appropriate actions of Jews to bring about the Messiah was an important ideological debate during the time from the first Jewish emigrants to those arriving pre-WW2, I'd argue it has little impact on nearly any Zionist movement today. Therefore, I leave it off the list.
stu
1. Eastern European Jews driven by socialist political goals, concurrent with a drive to create a "New Jew," workers of the land.
2. Jews escaping the Holocaust, and DP camps afterward
3. Jews from Arab Lands escaping oppression from '48 onward
4. Former USSR immigrants
5. Jews from developed countries making Aliyah within the past 25 years
a. Political-religious zealots seeking to increase borders and population
b. Preference-driven from countries like France and USA
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