I. 5.
What of Reality? Rabbinic Visits
All of these factors explain why, as mentioned before, “Zion”
was fast becoming an abstraction in the eyes of Jews throughout the world.
The process was becoming increasingly marked after the development of the
Kabbalistic messianic doctrines associated with Isaac Luria, the Safed sage
of the late sixteenth century.
It was the intense kabbalistic activity of the generations that
came after Luria which had the effect of accentuating the symbolic aspects
of the Land and removing it to a realm of intense over-spiritualisation. The
question had to be asked whether, in such a rarefied spiritual atmosphere
where the idea of the Land was weighed down with so much symbolism, the reality
of the Land was not being lost.
One who clearly identified this trend and protested against it
was the distinguished Chassidic Rebbe, Nachman of Bratslav. In the early nineteenth
century, Nachman made a journey to Israel in mysterious circumstances. From
the research, it is clear that he was pre-occupied with trying to retain the
idea of the reality of the Land, even as he accepted so much of the deep symbolism
associated with it. Upon his return, he repeatedly emphasised to his followers
the physical nature of the land and the fact that so many Jews whom he had
met there confessed that prior to their coming to the land they had perceived
it in purely spiritual terms.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, some
important rabbinic figures encouraged their followers to make the journey
to the Land of Israel and to live there. Among those who immigrated were Chassidic
students of the Ba’al Shem Tov; anti-Chassidic followers of Elijah,
the Gaon [eminence, genius] of Vilna; and the Hatam Sofer, the leader of strictly-Orthodox
Hungarian Jewry.
The motives were varied, including:
- An attempt to create a “pure” Jewish centre of Torah learning
in Eretz Yisrael, away from the “polluted” lands of Europe where
Reform Judaism and assimilation were having increasing influence;
- A response to clear Messianic excitement within the traditional Jewish communities
of Europe;
- A desire to fulfil the mitzvot (commandments) that could only be
performed in Eretz Yisrael.
Some of these initiatives included practical efforts at settlement
on the Land and are therefore especially noteworthy. During the late 1870s,
attempts were made to found two agricultural settlements, one in Petach
Tikvah and the other in Gai Oni (the original Rosh
Pinah), but essentially, the ideational framework of these initiatives
remained traditional - that is, based on a Messianic vision of the world.
The same might be said for the interesting ideas of a number of
nineteenth century rabbinic thinkers who started to talk enthusiastically
of the need for the return of Jews to the Land of Israel. However, these figures,
who include Rabbis Judah Bibas of Corfu, Yehuda
Hai Alkalai of former Yugoslavia and Zvi
Hirsh Kalischer of Posen and Thorn, were also influenced by contemporary
European events, particularly the unfolding of the emancipation process and
the rise of nationalism, both of which led them to believe that the first
stage of the redemptive process might be brought about by natural, human means.
Despite their considerable efforts including the mapping of practical programs,
their influence was limited. In this sense, they fit the category of being
Forerunners of Zionism and
precursors of Religious Zionism.