Grandma's army

The end of the 19th century marked the start of a new movement––“Zionism”. Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zionist movement, called for Jews across the globe to come together and form a national home for the Jewish people. Back then, the Land of Israel was part of the Ottoman Empire, and populated mainly by itinerant Arabs from throughout the Middle East. The Jewish communities were mainly to be found in holy cities such as Jerusalem and Safed, that had existed for centuries.  Inspired by Zionism and facing violent progroms in eastern Europe, more and more Jews felt the need to escape to a place they could call their own. They came to Israel and established the first "Moshavot"––Jewish agricultural communities and towns. As Jewish communities bloomed throughout the Land of Israel, the concept of "Hebrew Labour" became the cornerstone of Israel's national revival process. By shaping a new society and building a country with their own hands, the Zionist ...

The Jewish connection with Israel did not begin with Zionism, a word coined in the 1890’s. It goes back four thousand years. Judaism – twice as old as Chrisianity, three times as old as Islam – was the call to Abraham’s descendants to create a society of freedom, justice and compassion. A society involves a land, a home, somewhere where the “children of Israel” form the majority and can create a culture, an economy, and a political system in accordance with their values. That land was, and is, Israel. Jews never left Israel voluntarily. They never relinquished their rights. They returned whenever they could: in the days of Moses, then again after the Babylonian exile, then again in generation after generation. There was a large community there in the sixteenth century. There are places, especially in the Galilee, where they never left at all. The Balfour Declaration in 1917, ratified in 1922 by the League of Nations, endorsed the Jews right to their land -  hopefully ending the...

Like the corona virus, the new anti-Semitism has mutated so that practitioners of it can deny that they are anti-Semites. “After all”, they’ll say, “I’m not a racist. I have no problem with Jews or Judaism. I only have a problem with the State of Israel”. But in a world of 56 Muslim nations and 103 Christian ones, there is only one Jewish state, which constitutes one-quarter of one per cent of the land mass of the Middle East! Israel is the only one of the 193 member nations of the United Nations that has its right to exist regularly challenged, with one state, Iran, and other groups, committed to its destruction. How come the Jews have been  “chosen” for thousands of years as the world’s scapegoats whenever a crisis emerges? At the time of Jesus, Jews were hated because of their religion. At the time of Hitler they were hated because of their race. Today, since the leading source of authority worldwide is “human rights” Israel is regularly accused of crimes against humanity:...

The Five Books of Moses (Pentateuch/Torah) – the basis for the Jewish religion, is meant to be practiced in the context of national existence   in the land of Israel. The Torah anticipates residence upon the Land, as well as exile from it. As opposed to all other religious phenomena in the world, the whole of Israel is both a Holyland and a Homeland . Zionism is Israel’s national ideology. Judaism is a nationality as well as a religion. The text of the Torah reveals that, not only the agricultural and cultic elements are preceded by the introduction: “When you come into the land”. Even commandments such as fairness in business etc., are set in the frame of national existence - with specific reference to the Land. There is also the clear threat of expulsion from the land if these “personal” commands are not carried out. Modern Zionism , building on the longstanding Jewish yearning for a “return to Zion”, began in the 19 th century – right about the time that nationa...

ZIONISM - SPIRITUAL Jews often trace their nationhood back to the biblical kingdoms of David and Solomon, 950 BCE. The word  Zion  is used in a theological or spiritual sense in Scripture. In the Old Testament  Zion   refers figuratively to Israel as the people of God ( Isaiah 60:14 ) . –ism is a suffix added to the end of a word to indicate that the word represents a specific practice, system, or philosophy - accepted as an authority by a group or school of thought.  Often these practices, systems, or philosophies are political ideologies or artistic movements.  After the destruction of the Temple and their defeat by the Romans, the Jews passed beyond the realm of politics, becoming a nation of the spirit. They managed to construct a political strategy so creative that they could linger on as a nation after losing the three building blocks of nationhood: land , central authority , and the means of self-defense . In every place they settled, they ...

Books are made of paper which, of course, comes from trees . Today, a very special festival, celebrated by all sectors of the Israeli public, is the New Year of trees (Tu Bishvat). David Gefen writes in this weekend’s Jerusalem Post: “Tu Bishvat has a beauty of its own – a time when we continue to ensure that our land will grow and develop through afforestation.” To commemorate the 70 th  year of the State of Israel the Jewish National Fund published a call to all Israeli citizens: “Whether we are from the right or the left, religious or secular, new immigrants or veteran citizens, let’s all give back to Mother Earth. This year we celebrate Tu B’Shvat as a symbol of unity.” As I write these words - from  kindergartens to Senior Residence Homes, trees and other green plants are being planted all over Israel. There are also Tu B’Shvat events being celebrated in every part of the country.  It is written in the Bible “When you come into the land you shall plant….” ...

Too often I found myself saying something like,  “ If only I hadn’t done this or that” and them went on to contemplate how very different things would have been, if I had taken note of the word if , stopped to think about what I was doing and changed direction. The most popular poet of his day, Rudyard Kipling, even wrote a poem called if . I can still remember some of the lines by heart and they sum up, for me, the eternal Jewish story: “ If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too: If you can wait and not be tired of waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating And yet don’t look too good nor talk too wise….. The unreasoning hatred in this world to the Jewish people is one of the great mysteries of the human story. It is the oldest social disease and, unfortunately, it is still ...