Let’s put Zion back into Zionism

Let’s put Zion back into Zionism

The word “Zion” (Tzion in Hebrew) is one of the most important and meaningful terms in the Bible. It’s mentioned more than 150 times, particularly in the Psalms of King David and in the words of the prophets. Sometimes, Zion refers to the Land of Israel, sometimes to the People of Israel and sometimes to Jerusalem. However, the most common and specific meaning of “Zion” is the area of Har Habayit (the “Temple Mount”) and the Beit Hamikdash (the “Temple”).

If you knew nothing about the history of modern Zionism, but you knew its biblical meaning, you would come to the logical conclusion that “Zionism” was a movement whose ultimate goal was to bring the Jews back to Israel, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. It would be clear to you that once Zionism had succeeded in regaining Jewish sovereignty over the Temple Mount, it would then direct its energies into building the Beit Hamikdash and restoring the service of God that took place there.

If in addition to knowing the Bible, you also prayed from a siddur (a Jewish prayer book), then after every meal you would pray for God to show his mercy “to Jerusalem and to Zion, the place where Your Glory rests.” Three times a day—in the morning, afternoon and evening prayers—you would pray to “see with your own eyes the Return of the Shechinah (‘The Divine Presence’) to Zion.”

You would have no doubt that a movement named after Zion must have as its main goal the rebuilding of the Temple and re-establishing its function as a dwelling place for God’s manifest presence on Earth.

Zionism betrays itself: Jerusalem Day, 1967

On May 14, 1948, the first part of the Zionist dream was realized when the descendants of the Children of Israel declared the State of Israel in the Land of Israel.

On June 6, 1967, the second phase of the dream was accomplished. Soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces conquered the Old City of Jerusalem, and Israeli Gen. Moteh Gur broadcast the incredible words: Har Habayit Beyadenu. “The Temple Mount is in our hands.”

A Jewish soldier put an Israeli flag on the Dome of the Rock. Approximately 50 feet below that flag, under the big dome was the Even Shtia, the “Foundation Stone.” The Ark of the Covenant rested on that stone. It was the center of the Kadosh Hakedoshim (“the sacred inner chamber”) of the Beit Hamikdash. The flag of the Jewish nation was at last flying over Zion.

Later that same day, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan ceded control of the Temple Mount to the Muslim religious authorities. These authorities—the Waqf—worked for Jordan, the country that had just waged war against Israel and lost. Why would he do that? The answer is in his words of that fateful day, “Why do we need a Vatican?”

Earlier that day looking from the Mount of Olives overlooking the Temple Mount, Dayan spotted the Israeli flag flying on the Dome and demanded its immediate removal.

I am grateful to him and to the whole generation of nation-builders who restored the Jewish people to the land of our ancestors, even though they were themselves alienated from the traditions of those ancestors.

But we have to recognize now the need for a Zonism 2.0 with a focus on reconnecting to Zion.

Deep down, all of us want Zion

Beit Hamikdash is most commonly translated as “The Temple.” Yet the word beit means “house.” A temple is by nature a public place, but a house is private. It’s a place of intimate relationship. It’s where a husband and wife conceive children and grow a family. The Beit Hamikdash is likewise a “home,” a place of sacred and intimate relationships meant to grow our fractured world into a family of nations.

At the center of the Beit Hamikdash was the “bedroom,” the inner chamber of the sacred house, the Kadosh Hakedoshim. In that sacred chamber were two solid gold figures (the kruvim).  According to our sages, the kruvim were in the form of a young man and a young woman, and they were facing each other. God’s Presence manifested most strongly in the space between them.

The kruvim were resting on the Ark of the Covenant. A covenant is a sacred and inviolable relationship.

When we pray for the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash, we’re just not praying for a building. We’re praying for a re-energized relationship of love between the Creator and His creation. We’re praying for the Shechinah, the Divine Presence to rest on Earth. We’re praying for a spiritual light to radiate from Zion onto our whole planet, to connect us to God and each other, and to guide humanity toward a world free from poverty and war.

The whole world is seeking the love and connection that will come from Zion, but the Jewish people have been chosen to carry the primary responsibility for bringing that about. It’s on our shoulders to bring down God’s Divine Presence. The world needs us to embrace Zion-oriented Zionism.

Palestinians understand Zionism better than we do

Israel has been at war for the last 16 months. The anti-Zionists (aka Palestinians) who started this war called it the “Al-Aksa Flood.” Al-Aqsa is the name of the main Mosque on the Temple Mount, and it’s a term that refers to all of the Temple Mount. One of the remarkably consistent testimonies from the Israeli soldiers who were in Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip was that every one of them had prominently featured pictures and posters of the Temple Mount.

Many of the IDF soldiers were surprised by this. But it’s not new information. Palestinianism has been trying to wipe out Zionism for many decades, and images of the Dome of the Rock are common in Palestinian emblems. The above emblem of the main Palestinian militia in Judea and Samaria is just one example. The people committed to Israel’s destruction understand better than most of us that the central core of Zionism is under the Dome on the Temple Mount.

Two ways to connect to Zion

The are many ways to connect to Zion. Here are two suggestions:

1. Pray to “see with our own eyes the “return of the Shechinah to Zion.” Each of us can imagine a positive vision of a Temple Mount that has been restored to its full and glorious function as a place of prayer for all peoples, a place that sanctifies intimate relationships, and a beacon of spiritual light that illuminates the world and guides us toward our messianic future.
2. Come to Har Habayit to pray. The conditions for Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount have improved dramatically in the last two years. We can now pray communally and, most special of all, we can now prostrate ourselves before God and pour our hearts out freely.

In Zionism 1.0, the Temple Mount was given to the Jewish people in war. I believe that in Zionism 2.0, the Mount will be restored to the Jewish people through our prayer and the world’s deep desire for the real Zion.

We are living in the generation that is meant to bring this about.

In the words of a recent song by Hanan Ben Ari called “Dor” (“Generation”):

“A generation comes a generation goees.

A generation in the throes of birth

This is the generation that we have been waiting for.

Now this generation is maturing, and it wants

To taste and to touch

To feel from the depths of the heart

To eat from the Tree of Knowledge

and in the end to fall in love.

A generation thirsty for love.”

The article is dedicated to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, 10 Shevat, 5785.

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