ההסתדרות הציונית העולמית המערך לשירותים רוחניים בתפוצות World Zionist Organization Center for Religious Affairs in the Diaspora EVENTS AND PERSONALITIES IN THE HISTORY OF THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT 120 YEARS TO THE FIRST ZIONIST CONGRESS 1 Dear Friends! It is our great pleasure to present to you this booklet containing important events and dates in the history of the Zionist Movement, which was first established at the First Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897. The establishment of a sovereign Jewish state in the Land of Israel was forever the dream of Diaspora Jewry, ever since the exile of the Jews by the Roman conquerors and the destruction of the Second Temple. Over the years, individuals, families and small groups were able to realize this dream and return to the Land of Israel. The Zionist founding fathers succeeded in implanting the hope and vision for a return to Zion in the hearts of the Jewish people, and the Zionist Movement, which this year commemorates 120 years since its establishment, began to realize the dream on a national scope by taking diplomatic action, promoting Aliyah and settlement of the Land and ultimately setting the stage for the establishment of the State of Israel. The booklet before you contains 50 events and individuals that formed the backbone of the Zionist Movement and its history. Sprinkled within you will also find a number of passages relating to the Land of Israel and the Jewish people. The booklet is intended to serve as an important educational tool for religious leaders, teachers and educators for relating Jewish-Zionist history and System: describing the key events and individuals that were integral to its realization. Coordinator: Itzchak Shtiglitz As we have merited witnessing the establishment of a sovereign Jewish Writer: Dr. Yoel Raphel state, we must continue to work together to strengthen Jewish identity, preserve our Jewish heritage and maintain focus on the State of Israel as the Editors: Ilan Friedman, Yishai Bonnie homeland of all Jews around the world. Pictures: The National Photo Collection (Israel), Wikipedia May Hashem bless us this year by “shining a new light on Zion and may we Graphic Material: Becky Bubli all speedily merit its light.” Graphic Design: Hamutal Lawrence Yours sincerely, Production: 2 Producers ltd. Yehiel Wasserman Experimental Edition, not for sale Director of the Center 3 Jerusalem Program Zionism, the movement for national independence of the Jewish people, realized the establishment of the State of Israel and The World Zionist Organization was established at the First Zionist considers a Jewish, Zionist, democratic and secure State of Israel an Congress in Basel in 1897. The Zionist leaders at the Congress drafted expression of the collaborative responsibility of the Jewish people the movement’s charter, which included a mandate to establish a national for its future and continued existence. home for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. The charter of the World Zionist Organization has been amended several times over the The Foundations of Zionism years in order to conform to changes and developments in the life of the 1. The unity of the Jewish people, its bond to its historical Jewish people. At the 23 Zionist Congress in Jerusalem in 1951, after the homeland – the Land of Israel, and the centrality of the State of establishment of the State of Israel, the members resolved to redefine the Israel and its capital, Jerusalem, to the national existence. charter of the World Zionist Congress as part of the Jerusalem Program, 2. Aliyah from around the world to Israel and the integration of which included the following guidelines: immigrants into Israeli society. 3. The fortification of Israel as a Jewish-Zionist and democratic state and its construction on the foundation of ethical and spiritual values based on acceptance of the multicultural nature of the Jewish people, as well as on the vision of the Prophets as an ideal society striving for peace and contributing to the wellbeing of humanity. 4. Ensuring the future and exceptionality of the Jewish people by promoting Jewish, Hebrew and Zionist education, furtherance of Jewish cultural and spiritual values and establishment of Hebrew as the national language of the Jewish people. 5. The promotion of Jewish solidarity, protection of the rights of Jews as individuals and as a nation, representation of the national Zionist interests of the Jewish people, prosecution of all expressions of anti-Semitism. 6. Settlement of the Land of Israel as an expression of the practical realization of Zionism. 4 5 1 Tishrei, 5684 (1923) 10 Tishrei, 5734 The Daf Yomi (daily page of Talmud) Yom Kippur War The study of the daf yomi, the daily page of Talmud, was the The war between Israel and Egypt and Syria broke out on the initiative of Rabbi Yehuda Meir Shapira (Maharam Shapira; 5647- afternoon of Yom Kippur 5734 (October 1973), when the armies of 1887 – 7 Cheshvan, 5694-1933), a leader of the Jewish community Egypt and Syria launched a coordinate surprise attack against Israel in Poland and the founder of the Chachmei Lublin yeshiva in Lublin, in the Sinai and Golan Heights. The attack caught Israel completely Poland. The first cycle of the daf yomi began on the eve of Rosh by surprise. During the initial days of the conflict the enemy armies Hashanah 5684. made significant headway. After days of heavy fighting, during which the Israel Defense Forces suffered numerous casualties, the Egyptian and Syrian armies were stopped and the Israeli forces crossed the Suez Canal and pushed the front to within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of Cairo. In the Golan Heights the Israeli divisions advanced to within 45 kilometers (30 miles) of Damascus. The war ended in an Israeli military victory, but was accompanied by much pain and heartbreak over the many who fell or were wounded in the fighting. “It [the Land of Israel] is an inheritance "A state is not handed to a people on for you from your fathers” a silver platter” (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 119b) (Chaim Weizmann) 6 7 11 Tishrei, 5707 The Settlement Expedition A 1913 rabbinic tour of new settlements, moshavim and kibbutzim The 11 Points that were established in the Land of Israel by members of the First and Second Aliyah. The tour, which lasted for a month, included Eleven settlements that were established upon the initiative of the ten rabbis and was the initiative of Rabbi Avraham Isaac Hakohen Jewish Agency in a large scale settlement operation carried out in Kook, the chief rabbi of “Jaffa and the Settlements” who also was the northern Negev immediately following Yom Kippur 5707, during the leader of the group, and Rabbi Yosef Chaim Zonenfeld. During the night between the 5 and 6 of October, 1946. the tour the rabbis visited twenty six settlements in the north of the The backdrop to the operation was the direly imbalanced country. Similar trips were carried out in 1923 and 1927. demographic situation in the Negev, with the majority of the Jewish Rabbi Kook held the pioneers of the Second Aliyah in high esteem. Yishuv being concentrated in the center and north of the country. The expedition was labeled as a tour of spiritual awakening Only several hundred settlers inhabited the Negev at that time, and intended to infuse the lives of the pioneers, to the extent possible, they were concentrated in the northern Negev in a small number with Jewish religious awareness and practice. The trip was very of kibbutzim and in three outposts. The objective of the operation successful in the settlements of the First Aliyah, but less so in those was to ensure that the Negev region was included within the future of the Second Aliyah. borders of the Jewish state. “The Holy One, Blessed be He, considered all of the lands of the world and did not “The Land is an exceedingly good land” find any land suitable for the Jewish people but for the Land of Israel” (Bamidbar 14:7) (Vayikra Rabbah 13) 8 9 Tirat Zvi) 10 Cheshvan, 5740 A religious kibbutz in the Bet Shean Valley named for Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalisher, one of the founding fathers of the Zionist Movement Bnei Akiva Yeshiva, Kefar Haro’e who campaigned for active settlement of the Land of Israel. The Bnei Akiva yeshiva in Kefar Haro’e was founded by Rabbi Moshe Tirat Zvi is the first kibbutz belonging to the religious kibbutz (Kibbutz Zvi Nerya and Rabbi Avraham Zuckerman. The yeshiva is the first of Hadati) movement. The kibbutz was established as a secluded the Bnei Akiva yeshivot and represents the cornerstone of the entire outpost in hostile Arab surroundings as part of the “wall and tower” religious Zionist education enterprise. (choma umigdal) campaign, and suffered severely from harassment and attacks from neighboring Arab villagers. Approximately 5,000 graduates of the yeshiva serve in prominent roles in all facets of Israeli society. The kibbutz fended off an attack by the Arab Liberation Army in the early stages of the War of Independence. Today the kibbutz is home Rabbi Moshe Zvi Nerya was one of the most prominent students to approximately 750 residents. of Rabbi Kook, from whom he received his rabbinic ordination. Rabbi Nerya, who was one of the founders of the Bnei Akiva youth movement, was an educator and spiritual leader who was known as the “father of the knitted kipa generation.” “We have no other purpose but to settle “Greatness is for those who dream and our Holy Land” turn their dreams into reality” (Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai) (Rabbi Moshe Zvi Nerya) 10 11 16 Cheshvan, 5699 21 Cheshvan, 5705 Kristallnacht Hannah Szenes (1921-1944) A pogrom that swept through Germany and Austria on the nights Hannah Szenes, known as “the paratrooper who did not return,” was of the 9 and 10 of November, 1938 and was described as a born in Hungary and emigrated to Israel in 1939.