Yehouda Shenhav: Issues Pertaining To The Zionistic Movement

The essay written by Yehouda Shenhav on issues pertaining to the Zionistic movement has addressed the idea that the Zionistic movement has been defined by its combination of Nationalization and Religion. This is important in the case of how the members of the Zionist movement have hybridized these two aspects together in the name of spreading the movements ideas, while at the same time justifying the movement with religious text yet proclaiming the movement as being secular. This unique dichotomy between nationalism and religion, and religion and secularization shows how the Zionistic movement, and individuals, are contrasted against the rest of the Jewish population. At the same time the issue of religion versus secularization also brings …show more content…
The importance of looking at these issues comes from how the Zionists view themselves as a group, either as a secular movement, or as a religious movement. The dual nature of the missionaries can be seen in the actions of Shmuel Yavne'eli and his goals while preaching in Yemen. His primary goal while in Yemen was to search for diligent workers who could work the land as well as support their journey to Israel. This is supported by the fact that secular Zionists settled in the arable lands surrounding Jerusalem as opposed to the holy city itself where the majority of religious Zionists preferred to settle. This can pose that even secular Zionist goals were different from other Jewish emissaries from the holy land. No other emissaries had implored for Jews from Yemen to immigrate to the holy land these were the goals of Yavne'eli. At the same time that Vaven'eli had secular goals he was also backed by religious authority Rabbi Kook. Certain religious goals included asking questions of the rabbis in Yemen "concerning marriage, divorce, family life, prayer, synagogues, and receive from them written replies." along with this he received funds to build a synagogue. This dualistic purpose of his goals in Yemen show also the two sides of the Zionistic cause, the secular side that pertains to building a …show more content…
When I look at the way that religion has influenced me in my moral decision making I cannot disregard the role of Christianity in the understanding of morals in Canada, in this same way the emissaries who traveled to Jewish areas and spread the Zionist cause relied on a similar type of group identity. The understanding that the people they talked to all generally believed in the Torah and the values within the text, as well as the culture of being Jewish helped them to both understand the people they were approaching, as well as the values that fellow Jewish people held. This combination of religion and culture made it easier for them to draw connections between their goals and the values of the Jewish community, this tied with the old Jewish understanding of Israel being the homeland of the Jewish Diaspora allowed for the success of the goals of the Zionists. In the case of places like Canada, or the United States, the role of religion in secular establishments still shows in the moral decision making of the people running these places, government officials still need to have a basis for where their moral decision making comes from and