Eretz Yisrael: the Land of Israel

The land of Israel has traditionally been understood as one of the three pillars of Jewish civilization: The G-D of Israel, the People of Israel, and the Land of Israel. Regardless, of one’s personal beliefs and/or level of observance, every Jew is connected by his/her roots to this land, the land of their recent and ancient ancestors.

In this land we became a people, developed a rich culture/spiritual system, and established an independent state. In fact, the only sovereign states to have ever existed in this land have been Israelite ones: the Kingdom of Israel, the Hasmonean Kingdom, Israel under Bar Kochva, and the Modern State of Israel. Despite the fact that successive foreign conquerors and have invaded and colonized this land (the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Turks, and Brits) sending most of our people into exile, the children of Israel have always maintained a presence in their ancestral homeland.

The cities of Tiberias, Tzfat, Hebron, Jerusalem, and a number of smaller villages always maintained Jewish communities inhabited by descendants of both the Judean (and Samaritan) inhabitants who avoided expulsion and Jews returning to Zion from the Diaspora. When the mass return of Diaspora Jewry began around the turn of the 19th century with the modern Zionist movement these two populations became one in an effort to demand the Jewish people’s natural rights to self-determination and sovereignty in their indigenous homeland.

“There can be no forfeiture, no shortcut to Zion. Zion in its entirety belongs to us.” – Ze’ev Jabotinsky

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