A Tale of Two Zionisms

Since the advent of "modern Zionism" the political-social "ism" has been the subject of a very deep internal tension.  With the creation of the State of Israel, the military victories and acquisition of territory, the tension deepened.  The current "threat of peace," has created a crisis of dissonance that cannot be ignored.  At its root it is an identity crisis:  What is Zionism?  What is its purpose, its reason d'êtres?

This is why so many, speaking in the name of "Zionism," voice such disparate and contrary positions.  Even many individuals are found to sometimes speak in "two voices," as many individuals, particularly those involved in politics have affinities for aspects of both models.

On the one hand, according to the Herzelian model of Zionism, it has already fulfilled its purpose and has therefore become irrelevant.  This is the phenomena of the so-called "Post-Zionism."  Herzelian Zionism came into existence to answer the eternal and troubling "Jewish Question."  This wasn't only a question for Jews, as the world had for centuries struggled with the same question: What to do with the Jews?  While many of the "solutions" proffered to this question were quite horrendous, Herzl, in his monumental effort, did not radically stray from the basic parameters and constraints of the "problem."  The Jews, as a social religious national group, stood apart from the rest of civilization, unable or refusing to integrate with the rest of the world.  As a result, according to the model, Jews were subject to persecution.  The establishment of a modern "normal" state for the Jews was intended to facilitate the Jewish nation's integration into the family of nations, while at the same time provide a haven, and refuge from persecution.

Yet, there is another voice, an older, deeper voice of Zionism that resonates, and has always resonated in the hearts of even the most cynical and pragmatic Jew.  This is the voice of Redemptive Zionism.  Within this paradigm of Zionism, the State of Israel is but a step in the continually unfolding process of redemption, a redemption that is defined through the unification of the people of Israel with the God of Israel in the Land of Israel.  It is a process of Zionism that culminates in the fulfillment of Israel's role as a light, a teacher and example, a leader to the rest of the world, and is symbolized through the building of the Temple on Mount Moriah. 

When there are voices decrying that Jews cannot live under "foreign rule" (because it's not safe), or that they should refuse the Spanish citizenship (because we "can't trust the goyim), these are echoes of the Herzelian Zionism.  A Redemptive Zionist would not ask how Jews could live under foreign rule, but rather, how could the Land of Israel be under foreign rule?  And further, how can the Jewish State be run by foreign rules? 

Redemptive Zionists are not threatened by a government trying to make amends for its past.  They are not "afraid of the goyim," but rather recognize their mission to redeem the other nations from their spiritual and moral slumber.

For Redemptive Zionists, the State of Israel is not "compensation," for the crimes of humanity have perpetrated against the nation of Israel.  It doesn't see Israel as victims.  Rather, it sees the ingathering of the nation of Israel to the Land of Israel as the fulfillment of an eternal promise by Gd.  Redemption Zionists see it as incumbent to remain loyal to that promise and to help enable its complete fulfillment. 

Herzelian Zionism, particularly in the early years, siphoned the strong natural inclination of Redemptive Zionism that is implanted in every Jewish soul.  But the goals of Herzelian Zionism are a false destiny, and are therefore doomed to fail.  The miracle of Israel can not be truncated by the pragmatism.  Any attempt to do so will only set back the entire enterprise. 

It is time for the Redemptive Zionists to stop listening to the echoes of Herzl.  There is no Jewish problem to solve, only a Jewish promise to fulfill.