- Tragically, too many Jews
today avoid the "Z-word,"
as extremists Left and Right demonize Zionism.
But why let our enemies define us?
We are not just anti-anti-Semites
or anti-anti-Zionists.
Jews should reaffirm their faith in Zionism.
The world should appreciate this gutsy,
visionary movement which rescued
a shattered people
by reuniting a scattered people.
No country is perfect,
no movement pure,
no state ideal.
But today, Zionism remains legitimate,
inspiring and relevant.
Zionism offers an identity anchor
in a world of dizzying choices,
and a road map toward
national renewal and personal meaning.
Zionism, believes that,
one, Judaism isn't just a religion,
Jews are a people.
Two, that Jews have ties to a particular homeland.
And three, that Jews have the rights
to establish a state on that homeland.
A century ago,
Zionism revived pride in the label Jew.
Today, Jews must revive pride in the label Zionist.
I am a Zionist!
I am a Zionist because
I celebrate Israel's existence.
Even when I criticize
particular government policies,
I do not delegitimize the state itself.
I am a Zionist because
I wake up every day
looking forward to working together
to work through our long, society-improving to-do list,
starting with Israel's unfulfilled
promises of full equality
to Arabs, Ethiopians, Mizrachim, the poor.
But I also go to sleep
every night looking backward,
appreciating our progress.
How much better off we are in 2021
than we were in 2001 or 1981,
let alone 1967 or any year before 1948.
I am a Zionist because I am a Jew.
Without recognizing Judaism's national component,
I cannot explain its unique character.
Judaism is a world religion
bound to one homeland,
shaping a people whose holidays
ritualize religious concepts,
relive historic events
and revolve around Israel's agricultural calendar.
Only in Israel can a Jew fully live
in Jewish space and by Jewish time.
I am a Zionist because I share
the past, present, and future of my people.
The Jewish people.
I am a Zionist because I know my history.
For 1,900 years,
enduring repeated persecutions,
the wandering Jews never forgot
their Biblical homeland.
Wherever we prayed,
we turned toward Jerusalem, Zion, our forever-home.
I am a Zionist because Europe's
promise in the 1800s
became a double-edged sword,
only offering Jews acceptance if they assimilated,
yet never fully respecting those who did assimilate.
I am a Zionist because just as India or Japan
are modern states built on ancient civilizations,
Israel's establishment in 1948,
updated our ancient language, Hebrew;
created cutting-edge cities;
and retrofitted the Jews'
3,000-year-old capital, Jerusalem.
I am a Zionist because
this democratic Jewish state
returned Jews to history as activists, not victims,
with all the responsibilities
and dilemmas power provides.
I am a Zionist because Israel worked.
It welcomed Jews home after millennia
of bruising homelessness.
Holocaust survivors and refugees from Arab Lands,
Ethiopians and Russians.
Jews who fled in fear and those who came by choice.
I am a Zionist because I live
in the real world of nation-states.
Zionism is no more or less tribal
than any other Western nationalism,
be it American, British, Canadian, or Dutch.
I am a Zionist because a country
without a vision is like
a person without a soul.
Fusing liberalism with nationalism produced
free, prosperous, always-improving democracies,
including Israel, despite terrifying attacks
often testing its egalitarian
values and basic freedoms.
I am a Zionist because I am an idealist.
Just as a century ago,
imagining an independent,
democratic Jewish state was an impossible dream,
yet worth fighting for,
so, too, today, imagining a thriving,
independent, democratic Jewish state
living in peace with all its neighbors
appears to be an impossible dream,
yet worth seeking.
I am a Zionist because I am a romantic.
The Jews rebuilding their homeland,
reclaiming the desert,
renewing themselves,
was our grandparents' great adventure.
The story of the Jews maintaining their homeland,
reconciling with the Arab world,
renewing themselves,
and serving as a light to others,
a model nation-state, could be ours'.
Yes, it sometimes sounds far-fetched.
But, as Theodor Herzl,
the father of modern Zionism,
said in an idle boast that has become a cliche.
"If you will it, it is no dream."
So I am a Zionist because
there is still work to be done
and I'm ready,
we're ready, to do it.