Key points
What to understand first
- Return to Zion is embedded in biblical texts and Jewish liturgy.
- Medieval figures such as Judah Halevi and Nachmanides associated religious life with the land.
- Students of the Vilna Gaon and Hasidic groups migrated before modern political Zionism.
- Herzl’s contribution was political organisation, diplomacy and an international programme.
Memory, prayer and migration
Jewish practice repeatedly linked collective memory to Jerusalem: daily prayer toward the city, mourning for the Temple, pilgrimage traditions, and the Passover phrase “Next year in Jerusalem.” 2223
Individual and group migrations occurred across medieval and early modern periods. These movements were smaller and organised differently from the mass politics of the nineteenth century.
The Old Yishuv
Long-established communities in Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias are commonly described as the Old Yishuv. Their economies, languages and religious traditions varied, and their numbers changed with war, disease and migration. 3
What Herzl changed
European nationalism and violent antisemitism shaped the emergence of modern political Zionism. Herzl became its most visible organiser, but other thinkers and practical settlement movements preceded and accompanied him.
Evidence
Sources for this article
- S1Holocaust Survivors and the Establishment of the State of Israel
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Modern Zionism, Herzl, the Holocaust and statehood.
- S2The First Zionist Congress and Basel Program
National Library of Israel. The programme adopted by the First Zionist Congress.
- S3The Old Yishuv
National Library of Israel. Long-established Jewish communities before the First Aliyah.
- S19History of Zionism
National Library of Israel. Old Yishuv, First Aliyah and the modern movement.
- S22The Amidah: Jerusalem, return and redemption
Sefaria. Traditional petitions for gathering exiles, rebuilding Jerusalem and restoration.
- S23Passover Haggadah: “Next year in Jerusalem”
Sefaria. Medievally documented liturgical expression of longing for Jerusalem.