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Tough Topics - Israel
The Torah records that God promises the Land of Israel to Abraham and his descendants as part of the covenant and, although the gift of settlement is later seen as conditional on Jewish behaviour, Jewish peoplehood remains inextricably bound up with land. Throughout, God is the only ‘owner’ of the land.
By the rabbinic period, there has already been one exile (following the deportation by the Babylonians in 586 BCE). A second exile (following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE) is either imminent or has already taken place. The Land of Israel was central to rabbinic thought and discussions about the relative value of life in the Land of Israel and life in the Diaspora were of great import. The rabbis debated, for example, whether the Land of Israel is inherently holy or whether it becomes holy when God is worshipped and the commandments are obeyed there.
Such debates were, however, largely of a theoretical nature because the prospects of a return to the Land of Israel were remote. They continued amongst medieval thinkers but the Jewish people’s love for the Land of Israel and their hope for return remained undimmed throughout centuries of exile. Daily, Shabbat and festival prayers express this deep longing.
It was not until the 19th century that return to the Land of Israel—for more than a small number of Jews—began to appear as a concrete possibility. Jewish thinking regarding the Land of Israel evolved, as mass Jewish return and settlement became a reality. Antisemitism, especially in the context of an ostensibly enlightened and emancipated society, prompted many Jews to see life in the Land of Israel and Jewish sovereignty as the keys to survival. This thinking—which came to be called ‘Zionism’—became active as Zionists sought practical means to make the age-old dream come true.
Zionism began in Eastern Europe, was taken up in Western Europe and spread to other parts of the Jewish world. At first, Zionism was resisted by traditional Jews who believed that only God could initiate the return to the Land of Israel; and also from liberal-minded Jews who believed that Jews should integrate into the society in which they lived.
Today the overwhelming majority of the worldwide Jewish community believe that Jews may—or even should—live in Israel.
The words ‘Israel’, ‘Israelite’ and ‘Israeli’ are explained in ‘What’s in a name?' a guide to terms for people, land, language and religion’.
Websites and sources for literature related to Israel are given on the links page.