The essence of Zionism, when it was originated, was to change the
abnormal status of the Jewish people. This was a goal which many of the
Zionist philosophers believed to be impossible without a state.
Being
Jewish from the time of the Exile until the Emancipation, was not just a
matter of belief and mitzvot, but also belonging to a community, a
congregation. A Jew alone was simply not a Jew (eg minyan, shochet,
synagogue, mikve and wedding witnesses.)
Post-Haskala,
Secular Jews had to find a new communal meaning to their existence:
Zionism restored the public norm aspect to the Jewish people, after the
dismantling of the religious public aspect.
What
is the difference between Israel and other Jewish concentrations? Other
communities are gatherings of individuals, but their place of their
togetherness has no intrinsic meaning. On the other hand, Israel's
collective existence bears a moral and normative significance. The state
of Israel is the public expression of the Jewish people. And as such,
it replaces the traditional communal religious boundaries that preserved
the Jewish people.
This success has
meant that the most unifying factor today across the Jewish world is the
State of Israel. More than religion. More than any distressed Jewish
community in any state the in world. Over the years
world Jewry's relationship to the Zionist movement became similar to the
relation that Irish or an Italian immigrant has to their homelands. And
even more so, considering the involvement of North American Jewry in
Israel is greater than that of an Irish Americans in their homeland.
This is a glorious success considering that the Zionist movement began
as an insignificant minority within the Jewish people.
Life in the
western diaspora was characterized by high percentages of Jewish
involvement in middle classes: economically, intellectually, culturally,
etc. But when the Zionist revolution began one of its objectives was to
turn Jews into a 'normal' nation that included a full range of
occupations. This has since changed. Furthermore, materialism,
privatization, consumerism, and a 'survival of the fittest' culture are
now thriving in Israel. But if Israel shall be only a mirror to world
Jewry, if it shall be just another western country, if it shall be just a
New-York on the middle east coast, it will stop being such a large
center of identification as it is today.
The
Zionist revolution is a constant revolution. A revolution aiming to
bring the Jewish people into a situation of self-providing both
economically and socially. A situation in which the nation is
responsible for its own destiny. No longer an abnormal congregation
living on the fringes of other nations, dependent on their kindness.
Zionism is a constant revolution in the Jewish people's tendency to seek
a good existence, by dealing with need of building a national society
whose purpose is providing the communities needs, and not a sole concern
for the individual. The Zionist revolution is necessarily a social
revolution concerning all aspects of life. Therefore, Zionism will not
survive if there will be no constant revolution in the Jewish way of
life, always seeking the mold itself while updating to reality.
For
many years, the greatest struggle of Zionism was the physical existence
of the State of Israel. This constant threat was the immediate cause of
identification with Israel. Today, Zionism is required to continue its
revolution, by forming a unique just and moral society, thus influencing
both the whole Jewish and wider world.
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