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Zionist
Century - Programming and Activities- The Early Years
The Uniqueness of Jewish Existence in the Diaspora and the Connection
to Eretz Yisrael
by Nili Kadary
Educational Goals
Students will:
- Explore the place and value of the connection to Eretz Yisrael as
expressed in the fabric of Jewish life in the Diaspora.
- Define and explore the "Paradox of Exile" - identification and longing
for Zion, versus continuing to live in the Diaspora.
- Understand the importance of the community framework.
Conceptualization:
It is difficult to find a parallel in human history to the paradigmatic
existence of the Jewish people in the Diaspora, with its system of religious,
social and moral values, together with its traditions and customs. We
know of no other example where a people -- which had lost its sovereignty,
was subjected to exile from its land, and dispersed in different countries
-- retained in most part its faith, national consciousness and its hope
to return and renew its historic past in its own land -- all this despite
its existence in exile, despite all the pain and suffering involved.
What, therefore, is the secret of Jewish existence in the Diaspora?
The Jewish faith, which preserved the unity of the Jewish collective
in the Diaspora, expresses the national uniqueness of the Jewish people.
The essential national characteristic which marked the Jewish people was
the longing for Zion (*) and the hope for Redemption
in Eretz Yisrael [the land of Israel].
The identification of the People of Israel with their historical homeland
was a focal point throughout Jewish existence in the Diaspora. Jewish
lifestyle in the Diaspora would have been inconceivable without a constant
identification with Eretz Yisrael, which found its expression in everyday
life of the individual and community. Thus, in prayer and custom, in observances
and behavior, the land of Israel held a central position. The overwhelming
sense of longing for the return to Zion, the only possibility for complete
Redemption, continued unabated from generation to generation.
Why, if Eretz Yisrael was always the focus of life and consciousness
throughout the Jewish Diaspora, did the Jewish people not leave the Diaspora?
Why did it go on suffering the indignities of the Diaspora rather than
returning to its own country?
What is the explanation for the Jewish people's "Diaspora Paradox"?
There are two levels at which the "Diaspora Paradox" can be addressed
- the religious/spiritual level and the historical/social one:
- At the religious/spiritual level, the traditional perception of Exile
and Redemption was that Exile [diaspora] was a punishment for the people's
sins and therefore a punishment from Heaven. While Exile was nevertheless
to be temporary, Redemption could come only with the advent of the Messiah,
and with the Almighty's will. One had to come to terms with an enduring
exile until redemption from Heaven.
- At the historical/social level, was the organic nature of the community.
The community (**) was a fundamental structure
which enabled the continued existence of Jewish life in all the countries
of the Diaspora, East and West. The aim of community organization was
to facilitate the continuation of a Jewish lifestyle. The community
enjoyed considerable internal autonomy: every community created its
own education frameworks [the "cheder" and the "yeshiva"], its own Bet
Din [religious court], its synagogue, cemetery, charitable and benevolent
institutions, together with whatever else was essential to Jewish life.
In this manner, within the communities of Israel, a remarkable richness
of life was created which acted as a sort of "counterweight" for the
sufferings imposed by Diaspora life. The return to Israel was a "distant"
ideal, with the ideal closer to home being to continue and to observe
the precepts of the Torah.
This, therefore, is the "Diaspora Paradox" - a deep-rooted hope for Redemption
and return to Eretz Yisrael, on the one hand, accompanied by passive residence
in the Diaspora and no taking of action to change this state of affairs,
on the other.
The appearance of the Jewish national movement -- the Zionist movement
-- in the late nineteenth century, which called for Aliya and the establishment
of state for the Jewish people in Eretz Yisrael, transformed the yearning,
the longing and the hopes into reality - and Eretz Yisrael into the physical
center of the Jewish people, over and beyond its utopian and spiritual
value.
In the upcoming modules, we shall examine the reasons, together with
the external [historical forces and processes] and internal factors [discussion
and response within the Jewish people], behind the rise of the Jewish
national movement and the historic revolution experienced by the people
of Israel.
Footnotes:
(*) Zion - The biblical and literary expression from the
Jewish sources for Eretz Yisrael and particularly Jerusalem. (**)Community
- Kehilla from the Hebrew root: k-h-l, which means a community or large
group of people.
Module One - Activity Suggestion
See also Teachers' Manual, "Reshit Haziyonut": Ch.27, pp.170-183 [Heb.].
A. Lesson Outline:
- The teacher/educator asks the class/group for their definition
of the concept of "nation". You can also use a major dictionary to compare
or refine the definition they reach.
[Hint: a large group of common descendence, having a common history,
generally with a common language, having a majority living in a particular
country...]
- The educator asks the group to compare the Jewish people with
other nations and suggest what is special [unique] about it.
[Hint: the Jewish people maintained its existence despite loss of
land and sovereignty, despite being scattered across many different
countries and continents.]
- Participants need some visual demonstration to clarify and reinforce
the message: use any suitable historical map, such as those in the Martin
Gilbert "Atlas of Jewish History" to show the initial exile and the
geographical dispersion in the mid-nineteenth century [mainly E. Europe
and Russia]. Transparencies of maps will enhance clarity and should
generate questions.
- The educator reviews the distinctive existence of the Jewish people
in exile [see goals #1, #2].
- Identification with Eretz Yisrael: see Hebrew Teachers' Manual
"Reshit Hazionut" p.179 or use examples from prayers, grace after meals,
marriage ceremony, etc.
Discuss what these symbolic actions and verses represent.
- Use the following activity to review the concept and reality of
community [see goal #3].
Procedure
- Divide the class/group into subgroups.
- Each group receives 4 index cards with p'sukim [verses] from the Torah
[see list below].
- The group should determine:
- which mitzvah [precept] is to be found in all the verses;
- what ethic this mitzvah represents, in their opinion.
- Conclusion:
Discuss how the basic values for Jewish lifestyle are found in the Torah.
Explore how Jewish lifestyle is viable only within a community framework.
Examine how the community framework has ensured the continuity of Jewish
lifestyle - with reference to the importance of the individual.
Cards to prepare:
Prepare on index cards or sheets of brown/colored paper, without the special
notes to the educator!
- Deuteronomy 16, 18:
"You shall set judges and officers at your gates and you
shall judge the people righteously."
[To the educator: the commandment of righteous judgment - frameworks
to ensure law and justice - law courts.]
- Deuteronomy 6, 7:
"And you shall repeat them to your children and you shall
talk of them."
[To the educator: the mitzvah of study - educational and study frameworks
- Jewish schools - the "cheder" and the "yeshiva".]
- Deuteronomy 15, 11:
"You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your
poor, and to your needy in your land."
[To the educator: the mitzvoth to help the poor and needy - charitable
institutions and self-help funds.]
- Deuteronomy 31, 12:
"Assemble the people - men, women and children - ... that
they may hear and they may learn and they may fear the L-d their G-d
and observe the words of this Torah..."
[To the educator: the mitzvah of assembly as a people to read the
Torah in public - the synagogue (which was the focal point of Jewish
life, a gathering place, a place of study, rather than just a place
of prayer.)]
Editors: Yossi Pnini, Gila Ansell Brauner
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