UNPACKED: Watch – Did Jews Always Support Israel?
In the late 1800s, rising antisemitism had people concerned that Judaism would disappear entirely. Two very different solutions arose in an attempt to solve this crisis: Reform Judaism and Zionism. Reform Judaism aimed to emphasize more universal Jewish values rather than rituals in an attempt to better integrate with non-Jews. Zionism focused on the desire for Jews to re-enter the world stage as their own people in a Jewish state. Eventually, after the horrors of the Holocaust, the Reform movement recognized the need for Zionism and moved to support it. Today, Jews both in and out of Israel have different and often polar opposite views about how to be Jewish, yet they remain part of the same peoplehood focused on Jewish continuity.
