Jewish Press: Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai is not the only public figure to have stopped seeing the ingathering of the exiles as a national goal. This is a negation of the essence and purpose of Zionism as understood and emphasized by the vast majority of the leaders of the founding generation. The most prominent of those leaders was David Ben-Gurion, who considered the redemption of Israel to be the state’s reason for being. He explicitly cited the words of Chazal in Tractate Brachot and consciously and consistently used religious Jewish expressions to explain his position on this issue.
Ben-Gurion said, “Neither security nor the development of the country are the essence of the state. They are but essential conditions. The State of Israel is not like any other state … The Jewish People has carried the yearning for redemption in its heart [for millennia]. The State is just the beginning of this redemption whereas the ingathering of the exiles is the yearning, destiny, and mission of the State of Israel. Without this destiny, it is devoid of its historical meaning and turns its back on the Jewish People today, in the generations that preceded us, and in the generations to come.”
Returning to the Land of Israel is a national-religious obligation and also obliges the Jews who already live here. A state, like intimacy and love, is not a phenomenon that, once established, is on a static trajectory. It needs to be nurtured and regenerated daily. A state is in a constant process of establishment—especially the Jewish State, where the ingathering of the exiles is its “yearning, destiny, and mission.” Being strong and prosperous is not an end in itself; the Jewish state must be strong and prosperous in order to accomplish its fundamental mission and destiny.
It is not for nothing that the term “עלייה (aliya)”—roughly meaning “ascent”—cannot be accurately translated, as it does not exist in any other language. Read More …
Opinion: Pop Quiz:
Who was the first Zionist?
Moses
Theodore Herzl
Abraham
Joshua
Arrange the list above in order.
If you started with Abraham followed by Moses, Joshua, and Herzl you are correct. Zionism is 4000 years old.
The Jews would be exiled from Zion twice; Jeremiah 25:11, Deuteronomy. 28:64 due to disobedience, and make aliyah twice Isaiah 11:11; 66:7-8 fulfilling God’s everlasting promise to Abraham Isaac and Jacob Genesis 17:7-8.
In Ezekiel 37:1-11 we find the prophecy of Israel’s 2nd restoration in the amazing ‘valley of the dry bones’:
“The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”
In Ezekiel 37:4-9 the prophet is commanded to prophecy to the bones. As he does, the dry bones come together and skin covers them, but there was no breath.
“So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.” Ezekiel 37:10-11
Israel was restored as a nation for the final time on May 14, 1948 in preparation for the final aliyah (Ezekiel 39:28), the 2nd coming of Messiah Jesus (Rev. 19:11-16), and the salvation of the chosen people Zechariah 10:12; Romans 11:25-27, where the deliverer of Israel comes from …….. wait for it ……….
ZION.
