Zionism's Change from a Passive Notion to an Active Ideology During the Nineteenth Century

Zionism's Change from a Passive Notion to an Active Ideology During the Nineteenth Century

Although it has been a precondition of Jewish consciousness to believe

that the emergence of a Modern political Zionist movement can be

attributed to the rampant anti-Semitism suffered by the European Jews,

this does not provide an adequate explanation. The entire history of

the Jews can be defined by the way in which they suffered persecution

under the oppressive hands of others, proving that anti-Semitism was

not a phenomenon unique to the Jews of the nineteenth century. Thus,

and exploration of the transformation of the Jewish world in lieu of

the invention of the modern world as we know it is imperative to the

understanding of the development of Zionism from a passive

consciousness and yearning to the emergence of the first political

Zionist writings marking the beginning of an active ideological

movement advocating mass immigration to Eretz Israel.

The nineteenth century was a dynamic climate in European politics. The

Enlightenment, a Western movement celebrating man's rationality,

centrality, and equality, began in France in the last decades of the

eighteenth century; however it was not until the nineteenth century

that grants of emancipation proliferated across Europe. With the

emancipation of German Jewry by 1871 every European country except

Russia had emancipated its Jews, and the face of "Jewish identity" was

challenged. For centuries the Jews of Europe were locked in their

ghettoes and shtetls, insulated from outside influences by rampant

anti-Semitism. However, with emancipation came the breaking down of

barriers both imprisoning ...

... middle of paper ...

...R)

Vital, D. THe origins of Zionism, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] "Seeking Zion", by Rabbi Z.H Kalischer 1862 in A. Hertzberg (ed.)

The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader, New York:

Anthenum, 1984

Hertzberg

[2] S. Avineri, The making of Modern Zionism: The Intellectual Origins

of the Jewish State (London: Weidenfeld and Nicoldon, 1981) p. 34.

[3] Ibid. pg 33

[4] Ibid. 37

[5] Avineri, p. 11.

[6] Hertzberg p. 125

[7] Avineri, "Modern Zionism", p 38.

[8] Hertzberg pg. 169

[9] Ibid. p.174

[10] Ibid. p. 177

[11] Ibid p. 176

[12] J. Katz., The Forerunners of Zionism', in Reinharz. Y. and

Shapira A. Essential Papers on Zionism, (New York: New York

UniversityPress, 1996.) p. 33