Varieties of Religious Zionism
On its face, Zionism in its early phases was a paradox – on the one hand, a continuation of classical Judaism’s 2,000-year-old dream to return to Eretz Yisrael, and on the other, a radical rejection of the assumptions, methods, and values of Rabbinic Judaism. Starting in the 1890s, a small group of Orthodox thinkers sought ways to integrate a largely secular Zionism into more traditional modes of Jewish thought. Some were motivated by pragmatic considerations, while others marshalled mystical or messianic ideas to find religious significance in a non- or even anti-religious movement. Over four sessions, we will examine the thought of the early founders of Mizrachi, Rav Avraham Hakohen Kook, post-1948 pragmatic religious Zionists, and more recent messianic and even postmodern religious Zionists, all within the context of a maturing Yishuv/state and evolving Israeli culture.
This reader was developed by Dr. Michael Burger.
Want to speak with Dr. Burger? We’d be happy to introduce you.
Varieties of Religious Zionism