A Brief History of Zionism
(From JTA)
So, I am here to share a little bit about the history of Zionism, which at its core is the belief in the Jewish people's right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland. While Zionism has this central core meaning, there are several expressions (or "flavors") of it in practice: political, revisionist, labor, cultural, religious, practical, reform, & radical. There's actually even green Zionism! But all forms tie back, in some form or another to Israel - actually Yisrael, whether Am (the people), Eretz (the land), Medinat (the modern state), Memshelet (the government), and Klal (the whole community of Jews in solidarity with one another).
Notably, the term Zion actually first appears in reference to Mt. Zion ~10th Century BCE, as the City of David, which is now part of Silwan in East Jerusalem. The name expanded over time to encompass all of Israel by the time of the Roman Occupation.
The first expression of Zionism in Jewish history comes from the story of Exodus where the Jewish people are freed from Egypt to return to their homeland, circa 13th-16th century BCE. Shivat Zion refers to the exile and return of the Jewish people, in tandem with the rise and fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Notably, this cemented the notion of a Jewish diaspora originally conceived during the earlier Assyrian conquest. "The Zionist ideal of a return to Israel has profound religious roots ... The Hebrew language, the Torah, laws in the Talmud, the Jewish calendar and Jewish holidays and festivals such as Shavuot all originated in Israel."
(Notably, after the Assyrian destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel ~722 BCE, the 10 Lost Tribes of Judaism's history have since had descendants found across the globe, from the Beta Israelites of Dan to the Bnei Menashe of Menasseh.)
The breakup of the United Kingdom of Israel & Judah ~930 BCE is due to Solomon's successor dealing foolishly with the northern tribes. This likely contributed to each kingdom eventually being conquered by the Neo-Assyrians and Neo-Babylonians. After the ancient post-exilic period ended ~538 BCE, the kingdom of Judah and Jewish people were ruled by empires from the Persians to the Greeks to the Seleucids until the Hasmonean dynasty was founded during the Maccabean revolt ~165 BCE. (An interesting piece of archaeological evidence is the Cyrus Cylinder supporting ancient Jewish history of our people's return to Israel in 539 BCE following the destruction of the Neo-Babylonian Empire by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire.)
Ultimately, the end of the Hasmonean dynasty, and Jewish independence in our homeland for thousands of years, was because of a civil war between two brothers and the citizenry who wanted to be ruled by their clergy rather than kings. Then, the Romans came.
Scooting backward for a moment, Hanukkah exists because of the Maccabean revolt ~167 BCE which overthrew the Seleucid Empire. The Maccabees use of conventional and guerrilla warfare would inform future combat with Rome during the Wars of the Jews. The Roman occupation of Israel really dates back to 63 BCE when the Jews were ensnared in the 3rd Mithridatic War and Pompey (that one) sacked Jerusalem, installing a puppet ethnarch - but not a king! - from the failing Hasmonean dynasty. During that time, the Sicarii became one of, if not the, earliest known organized assassins. They were comprised of Jewish "zealots" fighting against the Roman occupation of Israel starting around 6 CE.
Under Roman occupation, Jews waged 3 wars in revolt, with periods of general unrest in between, that lasted from ~66 to ~136 CE. Following these losses, they were repressed, enslaved, or exiled, and their homeland was renamed Syria Palaestina. Renaming Israel to Syria Palaestina in 136 CE and putting Aeolia Capitolina on Jerusalem's ruins was intentional to sever the Jewish connection to our homeland. The name Palaestina comes from "Philistine," an enemy of the ancient Israelites. ~135 CE with the end of "The Jewish Wars" with Rome, such as the Bar-Kochba revolt, was the true beginning of the diaspora. Jerusalem was forbidden on pain of death, except for Tisha B'Av, and the remaining Jews in Israel were increasingly exiled, enslaved, or massacred.
While the Jewish diaspora was fully underway, Israel still saw periods of struggle. Notably a revolt from the Jewish Galilee circa 351-351 CE against Eastern Roman Emperor Gallus in response to his allowance of Christian attacks on Jews. The temple was almost rebuilt during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Julian ~363 CE as part of his efforts to foster other religions besides Christianity. Sadly, his untimely death halted Jewish aspirations of regaining self-determination.
In 438 CE, Byzantine Empress Eudocia removed the ban against Jews praying at the Temple Mount. Jewish leaders in Galilee sent out a message for the diaspora to return, but Christians rioted and chased Jews back out of the city. Samaritan insurrections broke out across Israel in the 5th and 6th centuries. During the revolt of 556 CE, Jews joined with their Samaritan kindred due to the brutal suppression they were also (still) facing at the time.
~602-628 CE, Byzantine and Persia warred. Jews took their chance to regain independence, only to find the Persians were just as bad. When Heraclius reconquered Jerusalem, he broke his oath to keep the peace, and few Jews escaped the massacre. ~638 CE, the Byzantines lost the Levant to the Arab Islamic Empire. At that time, the Jews of Palestine (Israel) may have numbered as high as between 300k and 400k. Unfortunately, the Jews remained 2nd-class citizens under the Muslims.
After ~638 CE, various Arab Muslim rulers controlled Israel, where Jews existed as dhimmi and the building of synagogues was still banned. (This continued until ~1099 CE when the first Crusades arrived with more repression.) At this time, the site of the Jewish Temple Mount was taken by the conquering Arab Muslims and starting ~685 CE, the Dome of the Rock shrine and Al-Aqsa Mosque were built over the remains. The Christians used it previously as a garbage dump.
In 720 CE, before Umar II died, he banned Jews from worshipping on the Temple Mount, a reversal of the treaty from Umar I, when Jerusalem was first captured by the caliphate and Jews had been allowed to enter or worship in our holiest city. Beginning ~717 CE, Jews experienced an ever-increasing level of oppressive dhimmitude at the hands of the Caliphate in Israel, from forced clothing for identification to ultimately forced conversion or banishment ~1009 CE. Subsequent to the Crusaders' slaughter of Jews across Israel in ~1099 CE, most of the survivors were murdered or sold into slavery. Jews were forbidden from living in Jerusalem and nearly every Jewish community in the region was decimated.
~1187 CE Saladin reconquered Jerusalem. It was surprisingly the start of pre-modern Aliyah with his proclamation inviting Jews to return and resettle in their homeland. The proclamation was reminiscent of Cyrus the Great's 1,600 years earlier. Notably, before Saladin, Jewish communities had already begun recovering throughout Israel after the 2nd Crusade outside of Jerusalem, ~1160 CE, particularly Ashkelon, Tiberias, Ramleh, Acre, and Caesarea. As always, the Jews survived.
Beginning ~1211 CE, rabbis and other leaders made aliyah, including Nachmanides in 1267, to reestablish a strong Jewish community presence in Israel. This was complicated briefly by Al-Mu'azzam Isa ~1219 and continued Crusader violence. Beginning ~1428 CE, there were attempts to hold Jews hostage for ransom when they attempted to emigrate from Europe to Israel. Still, a couple hundred families were able to make their way back through ~1495. Then in ~1517 CE, the conquest of Israel by the Ottomans signaled a turning point, with approx. 1,000 Jewish families living there in Jerusalem, Nablus, Hebron, Gaza, Safed, and Galilean villages, comprised of returnees and those who never left.
Under Ottoman rule ~16th century, Jews in Israel experienced a chance to flourish, such as Safed where study of Kabbalah expanded, the Shulkhan Arukh was compiled, a textile industry boomed, and the Jewish population increased to ~10,000. In ~1534 CE, Jacob Berab & local rabbis attempted to form a new Sanhedrin in Safed (basically an elected Jewish court of law and leadership), but Ottoman rulers worried this would result in the first step of a restored Jewish state. So they forced Berab to flee and the plan was never carried out. Then ~1576 CE, the Jews of Safed faced expulsion: 1,000 "prosperous" families were to be deported to Cyprus and 500 more next year. The order was rescinded when Ottoman authorities realized the financial gains of continued Jewish rental income.
In ~1610 CE, the Yochanan ben Zakai Synagogue in Jerusalem was completed, becoming the main synagogue for Sephardic Jews and where their chief rabbi was invested. The later adjacent study hall became the Synagogue of Elijah the Prophet. However ~1660 CE, following a power struggle in the Galilee, the towns of Safed and Tiberias were destroyed by the Druze and their Jewish residents were scattered. This was a pattern of wider oppression that shrank the Jewish population in Israel.
In ~1700 CE, about 500 to 1,000 Ashkenazi Jews returned to Jerusalem. They were forced to give Turkish authorities financial guarantees in the name of Jerusalem's Jewish community in exchange for permission to enter the Ottoman Empire. At the time ~200 Ashkenazi Jews and 1,000 Sephardi Jews lived in the city, most of them reliant on charity from the diaspora. The sudden influx of so many Ashkenazi returnees actually produced a crisis! The local community was unable to help so many people and suspected some of the new arrivals of being Sabbateans, whom they viewed with hostility. The newcomers built the Hurva Synagogue and incurred debts doing so. This turned Israel into a remote and desolate part of the Ottoman Empire. Their central government was feeble and corrupt, and the Jewish community was harassed by local rulers, janissaries, guilds, Bedouins, and bandits. The Jewish community was also caught between feuding local chieftains who extorted and oppressed the Jews. Notably, the Jewish communities of the Galilee heavily depended on the changing fortunes of a banking family close to the ruling pashas in Acre.
Then ~1742 CE, a group of Jewish returnees from Morocco and Italy led by Moroccan Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar arrived and most stayed in Jerusalem. In ~1800 CE, due to oppression across the diaspora and in the Ottoman empire, including restrictions on emigration/immigration - not to mention Napoleon's siege of Acre in 1799 CE - there were only about 6,500 Jews left living in Israel. In ~1834 CE, Jews in Jerusalem, Safed, and Hebron were massacred during the Peasant's Revolt. Their property was stolen, homes destroyed, synagogues and Torah desecrated, communities raped & murdered by a horrific pogrom across the region. They never received justice.
In ~1880 CE, the Jewish population in Israel began to recover as numerous diaspora communities returned. Primarily concentrated around Jerusalem. Driven by global antisemitism, but supported by Jewish cooperatives to purchase land and build homes. And ~1882 through 1903 CE, the First Aliyah (a word meaning ascent or rise, but referring to modern Jews coming back to Israel) occurred in response to pogroms & other antisemitic persecution. Most of the olim (immigrants, but actually refugees and returnees) came from Eastern Europe, with a smaller number from Yemen. This event was one of the major precursors to modern Zionism, with nearly 35,000 eventually arriving over the First Aliyah. Unfortunately, they encountered Turkish overtaxation and Arab opposition, and would not have survived without continued support from the diaspora. Notably, "Members of Hibbat Zion and Bilu, two early Zionist movements that were the mainstays of the First Aliyah, defined their goal as the political, national, and spiritual resurrection of the Jewish people in" Israel.
Then from ~1904 to 1914 CE, the Second Aliyah occurred and approximately 40k Jews returned to Israel, leading to the development of the 1st kibbutz, Degania, the self-defense org, Ha-Shomer, and the neighborhood of Ahuzat Bayit, which grew into Tel Aviv. In ~1919 to 1923 CE, the Third Aliyah occurred, which expanded the Jewish community in Israel to 90k. Most returnees were halutzim. Key developments included: the Histadrut, founding of representative institutions for the Yishuv (the body of Jews living in Israel-Palestine prior to 1948), and the Haganah. From ~1924 to 1929 CE, the Fourth Aliyah occurred with 82,000 Jewish returnees to Israel due primarily to antisemitism in Poland and immigration restrictions in the US. They purchased land and developed industries, particularly around Tel Aviv.
In ~1929 CE, the Palestine Riots occurred. It was a massacre against Jews and destruction of their property from Hebron and Safed to Jerusalem. The incident that sparked everything? Jews demanding the right to pray at the Western Wall. Then ~1929 to 1939 CE, the Fifth Aliyah occurred, though it was spurred by Jews fleeing Nazi Germany beginning in 1933. Nearly a quarter of a million Jews returned to Israel during this time, primarily from Germany & Eastern Europe.
From ~1936 to 1939 CE, was the Great Palestinian revolt. It was against both British colonialism and Jewish independence. The result was hundreds dead, thousands wounded, and a tentative "peace" based on equal parts appeasement and postponement. In ~1942 CE, the Yishuv were concerned about the advance of German General Erwin Rommel towards the Suez Canal and there was fear that the Germans would conquer Israel-Palestine. This period was referred to as the "200 days of dread."
In 1947 CE, there were ~630k Jews and ~1.2 million Arabs (including Palestinians) in Israel and Palestine. A partition plan for a two-state solution was proposed by the British government. This caused a civil war that was the prelude to a larger regional conflict. On 14 May 1948, the last day of the British Mandate, the leaders of the Jewish community, led by future Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in ancestral Eretz-Israel, known as the State of Israel.
Ironically, Soviet antisemitism framed as antizionism throughout the second half of the 20th century CE actually spurred the continuing necessity of Zionism. This culminated in the now revoked UNAGR 3379 absurdly claiming Zionism is racism.
Another interesting fact is that the name for the State of Israel in Hebrew, Medinat Yisrael, is very similar to that of the ancient Yehud Medinata, an autonomous region managed by Jews under the Achaemenid Empire after the Babylonian diaspora was ended ~538 BCE.
You can also find many different maps showing the change in borders and names crossing the ancestral and historic Jewish homeland. Consistently always was our yearning for the freedom of self-determination, whether under the Romans or the British. In fact, A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People is another great example! "Spread by spread, it covers all of the main themes of the Jewish experience: the earliest prehistory and the background of the Bible, the movements of tribes, the geographical and political setting, the revolts and wars and religious developments. We see the growth and shaping of the Jewish faith within the turbulence of Middle Eastern history. Here are the Diaspora and the spread of Jews and Judaism not only into Europe but as far as China and India; the scholars and philosophers; the medieval centuries and new diasporas; pogroms and Zionism and new homelands beyond the Atlantic; the disaster of the Holocaust and the founding of the state of Israel; and of course much more. Beyond the strictly historical, the Atlas also deals with many fascinating and important aspects of Jewish culture - languages, literature, art, and music - to give a complete picture of a people through time."
And there you have it! Approximately 2,650 years of Zionist history. "The unity of land, law and literature created by the Hebrews has been one of the most potent historical metaphors ever devised, strong enough to maintain a sense of national identity among Jews for over two thousand years." The first true aliyah in 538 BCE set a precedent for many of the issues that Jews continue to grapple with today - identity, assimilation, intermarriage, self-determination, building community, building country, and existence as resistance.
Yet, for nearly all of Jewish history, there has been our homeland and our diaspora. Simon Rawidowicz wrote a book, Bavel Verushalayim — Babylon & Jerusalem, that encapsulates the duality of this Jewish zeitgeist. Today, it's America & Israel.
Yet, it must be noted that in the contemporary period during Israel's War of Independence and Palestine's Nakba, "...the war’s biggest losers were the Palestinians, who were prevented from establishing a state, forced to live under Israeli, Egyptian, or Jordanian rule and, in the case of more than 700,000 refugees, unable to return to their homes."
I hope this trek through time is helpful context as people continue to learn more about the truly massive Jewish history behind Zionism.
Take note and take care.
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