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>> SUSANNAH HESCHEL: People
often ask what is Zionism?
Are Zionism and
Judaism the same thing?
And why should Zionism be
important to American Jews
or Jews living in Europe, Jews
in Australia, South Africa?
Can you be a Zionist if
you're not living in
the State of Israel?
So let's begin with the
question what is Zionism?
What is Zionism?
I would say Zionism is the
patriotism of the Jewish people
to being Jewish.
It's a conviction that we as
Jews have a rich treasure
to give to the world.
Zionism is the devotion of
Jews to the Jewish future.
It's also a devotion
to the Bible.
Zionism is a devotion to
the extraordinary culture
of Jewish history.
And above all, Zionism is an
expression of our devotion
to God.
It is, in fact, God whose dream
is to be fulfilled by us.
Zionism isn't just about
politics, about security,
about refuge, about land.
Zionism, more than anything
else, is about concern;
concern for
individual Jews,
and concern for the
entire Jewish community.
Is Zionism the same
thing as Judaism?
I would say no, it's
not the same thing.
But the two are
deeply intertwined.
Now, I'm an historian.
I teach Jewish history
classes at Dartmouth.
So what do I tell
my students?
We read classic
Zionist works.
Books and articles that I
think everybody should read
going back to the 19th century
and the early 20th century.
Real classics.
So what do we read?
We read that Zionism and
Judaism are very intertwined
because Zionism began as the
awakening of Jews in Europe
to the great mystery of
our history as Jews.
An awakening to the question of
the fate of the Jewish people.
Where are we going?
What are we supposed to be
doing here on this earth?
What's the meaning of the
existence of this amazing
Jewish people?
You know, think about it,
with all the history courses
we have at Dartmouth and
other universities --
history of China, history of
India, history of Germany --
each place, it's a place,
it's a location.
What do we have
with Jewish history?
First of all, we go back
thousands of years.
We go back to
Biblical times.
For thousands of years we are
tracing a history of people
who have lived all
over the world.
Everywhere.
There were Jews in
China, in India.
In Europe of course.
In the United States we
have Jews everywhere.
And yet despite the fact that
we're so dispersed and over
such a long time, speaking so
many different languages,
and often with slightly different customs,
nonetheless we feel as one
people, and one history.
That's very unusual.
I don't know of any other
history that does that.
It's remarkable.
So what is Zionism?
Zionism is an awakening to
the mystery of this history,
to the question of what it
is to be an authentic Jew
as Martin Buber asked.
What is it to be an
authentic Jew really?
Not to be simply a Jew
like our grandparents
and great grandparents.
My father used to call
that spiritual plagiarism.
You have to be
authentic to yourself.
Your Judaism has to express
who you are as a person.
You have to know
who you are.
So when I teach my Jewish
history courses at Dartmouth
and we come to Zionism, I make
it clear that Zionism began
not as a political program,
but as a profound movement of
Jewish self-reflection.
What is it to be a Jew?
In Europe, Jews had come to
realize that they couldn't
define Jewishness
in a narrow way.
People would sometimes debate
is Judaism a religion,
is it a nationality?
But you know, we don't fit
either category by itself.
We know that.
Jews require new categories.
Jewish history requires
new ways of thinking.
That's why it's so
interesting to take courses
in Jewish studies
at universities.
Rather, I would say that
religion, nationality,
all of these different
elements are just one of many
that constitute
who we are.
So Zionism began, like
most Jewish movements,
with words, with ideas.
What it is to
be authentic?
What's our connection
to the past?
Where are we going?
What kind of Jewish future
do we want to create?
What kind of legacy do we
want to leave for the future?
Do we know that we have
a purpose in our lives?
What is that purpose?
There were lots of different
kinds of Zionists,
as everyone knows.
There were socialists,
there were religious,
there were anti-religious.
There were Zionists who wanted
to return to an ancient
Canaanite way of being.
There were labor Zionists.
And not all of those Zionist
perspectives have survived.
But each one made an
important contribution
because Zionism is
an ongoing debate
that's enriched Jewish
life very much.
An ongoing debate.
And what is actually more
exciting than debate of ideas?
Debate over Jewish history?
And it's in fact debate that
has enriched Jewish life
since the times
of the Bible.
In many ways, Zionism, of
course, brings us back to
the Bible, to the
promises of redemption,
to an extraordinary idea
that Jews gave the world.
The prophets said that one
day there would be peace.
No one else had
such an idea,
that one day in the future
there would be peace.
That's a hope.
And it's a gift, a Jewish gift
to the world to have that hope.
Now, at first I don't think many
Zionists thought they'd ever
accomplish the establishment
of a Jewish state.
Sometimes they talked about a
homeland, a cultural center
that would revive Jewish
life throughout the world.
But we all know that World
War II changed everything.
Had there been a Jewish state,
had there been a place of refuge
for European Jews, the murders
wouldn't have happened.
And at different times it
seems to me different Zionisms
may have greater relevance.
At times I think it's wonderful
to think about kibbutz life,
about a socialist Zionism
where everything is shared
and everyone is equal.
At other times, I would say
1939, I would have been with
Jobatinsky and said we have to
arm ourselves, defend ourselves.
So to be a Zionist is to be
a Jew who is fascinated by
the extraordinary existence
and persistence of a people
who identify with such a long
history, such a diverse history,
and yet be united.
To be a Zionist is to
wonder at the amazement,
the gifts the Jews have
brought to the world.
To be a Zionist is to be
moved by the spiritual beauty
of Shabbat.
To be proud of the moral
principles of the prophets.
Principles of course that have
inspired not only us as Jews,
but so many movements for
freedom all over the world that
have come from the Exodus,
from Amos, from Isaiah.
Most of all, to be a Zionist is
to ask what is our task as Jews?
What do we stand for?
Where are we going with
our Jewish treasures,
with our talents?
So to be a Zionist is to be
engaged with some of the most
profound and complicated
problems that human beings
can face.
To be a Zionist is to
debate and to care deeply,
and to work for a better future
for Jews and for all people,
and to keep alive the promises,
the hopes, the moral values,
to preserve them.
The State of Israel is as
complex and diverse as Zionism.
So to go, for example, from a
few weeks in the very wonderful
pious atmosphere of Jerusalem
which is truly unique
in the world, extraordinary.
To go from Jerusalem down to
Tel Aviv, to the beaches,
and the cafes of Tel Aviv,
feels sometimes like entering
a different country.
Israel is so diverse.
There's such an incredible
range of expression,
of Jewish experience, and of
course, of Christians, Muslims,
Palestinians,
Africans, of Asians.
Israel is an orchestra
of humanity.
