History Of Zionism

Collective Memory (3000)

As we have seen, within Zionism a grand narrative evolved; an interpretation of Jewish history, which presented historical dichotomies between the perceived Golden Age of the Jews in Antiquity and the declining life of the Jews in the Diaspora (Zerubavel 2002: 115). The narrative advocated continuity and identification with Antiquity and contained a strong negation of the Diaspora period. Influenced by Anti-semitic depictions of European Jews, the Jews in the Diaspora was portrayed in the Zionist discourse as old, sickly, uprooted, cowardly, manipulative, helpless and defenseless in face of persecution, and either solely interested in materialistic gains or conversely, excessively immersed in religion and spirituality (Zerubavel 2002: 116). This narrative of decline was to be replaced by a narrative of progression beginning with the Zionist return to the Land of Israel and leading towards national redemption (Zerubavel 2002: 115). The return to Zion was to serve as a revival of the native-Hebrew identity, that had been suppressed during centuries of exile. Through a symbolic return to antiquity, a return to the homeland, revival of Hebrew as a national language, renewal of the ancient Hebrew’s national spirit and culture, the Zionist movement sought to preserve historical continuity and incorporate a broader vision of the future for the Jewish people (Zerubabel 2013: 174). This became increasingly evident in the middle of the mid 20th century with the idealization of the Sabra, the New Jew, which embodied the opposite qualities of the “Old Jew” from the Diaspora; the Sabra was young and robust, daring and resourceful, direct and down-to-earth, honest and loyal, ideologically committed, an ready to defend ...

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...highlight the ideology behind their purpose. Treated as a myth, Diaspora narratives, like Gordon’s, are valuable in illustrating how the author/s and the people they represent understood the Diaspora and it’s influence on the Jewish people.

We can perhaps assume from this that Gordon lived in a time affected by disillusion and disintegration and the narrative is a reaction to that.

Gordon’s essays confirms that the Diaspora experience is a pivotal identity marker for the ‘true Israel’ in the Zionist view. As we have seen, the Diaspora experience is only ideological, not historical, as the experience was unlikely to have been as negative as represented by Gordon.

The concept of rejection of Jewish life in the Diaspora encourages the dedication necessary for the vast national enterprise of returning to the homeland that is implicit in Zionism (Schweid 1996: 133).