Preface

Summary

IN DOZENS of Jewish households dotting the West Bank landscape, religious parents tuck their children into bed with the following story:

Long, long ago, in a faraway land in the heart of the Exile, the great rabbi Tsevi Kalischer, a distinguished scholar and teacher, dreamt of a home such as ours in the hills of Judah. God's spirit burned within him and he saw clearly the Torah's commandment that every Jew should move to the Holy Land and work to possess it as his own. The lovers of Exile ridiculed and denounced Rabbi Kalischer, but he persisted in his teachings and did many great deeds to hasten the redemption of Israel…. On his deathbed he knew in his heart that the Messianic Era had begun. And we, today, know how right he was, for all around us we see clear evidence that God's promises are being fulfilled. Soon the signs will be so manifest that no one, not even fools, will be able to deny that the redemption has come. (oral communication, courtesy of Mark R. Levy)

Unfortunately, daily realities in the isolated settlements contrast harshly with traditional messianic dreams. Settlers routinely carry arms, pass through numerous military checkpoints as they drive to work and home again, and must cope with the legacy of death and grief that currently accompanies Jewish residence in predominantly Arab lands. Religious Zionists such as these are increasingly disheartened by the possibility of relinquishing Israeli sovereignty over territory they believe is theirs by divine command, and by the reality of violence that such possession entails. Telling stories about courageous forerunners like Kalischer boosts morale and inspires the next generation to stay the course.

Outside these circles, however, Kalischer's name is not as well known. The later proponents of Religious Zionism, men who absorbed, adapted, and expanded his teachings, are more familiar. Tsevi HirschKalischer lived from 1795 to 1874, and while he was not the only one in his day to advocate the rebuilding of a Jewish polity in Palestine, he was one of the first impeccably Orthodox rabbis to argue that the Torah itself sanctioned such activist efforts. His writings contain a substantial collection of approving references to messianic activism scattered throughout talmudic and medieval rabbinic literature.