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AMERICAN ZIONIST SHABBAT The American Zionist Movement is pleased to update for 2020 5781 and share once again the American Zionist Shabbat initiative This project spans the period from Parshiot Lech Lecha October 31 Cheshvan 13 to Vayishlach December 5 19 Kislev 2020 5781 Below you will see resources for discussing Zionism in synagogues schools and the community during this period including links to materials easily available through the internet Beginning in 2017 the American Zionist Movement AZM launched a new American Zionist Shabbat initiative covering the period of Shabbat Lech Lecha through Vayishlach The updated edition you will find below is running from October 31 Cheshvan 13 to December 5 19 Kislev 2020 5781 AZM is continuing the Zionist Shabbat Shabbat Tzion program in order to encourage greater dialogue within American Jewry on the significance of Zionism and its continuing relevance to our people and community We hope the commencement of Parshat Lech Lecha the beginning of Abraham and Sara s journey to what would become the Land of Israel will inspire Rabbis to speak about Zionism in their sermons drashot and writings day schools yeshivot and Hebrew schools to connect their students to Zionism through the Parshiot and congregations community organizations and Jewish institutions to share materials through programs and discussions on Zionism AZM has compiled this Source Book drawn from materials developed and shared by our AZM organizations and others to whom we express our thanks and appreciation for their leadership and dedication in order to provide a resource for conversations on Zionism during this period of American Zionist Shabbat We will continue to grow and expand this guide and program through the years and encourage others to share sources with us at azm azm org Since the convening by Theodor Herzl of the World Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897 Jews worldwide have been brought together by the discussion of Zionism AZM has continued this tradition to further advance Zionist discourse in the United States We hope that our contribution will connect Jews with our homeland continuing to support the culture and democracy that Israel imbues today Below please find a plethora of Zionist content including Shabbat in Israel Divrei Torah history and culture Please share forward and implement your own thoughts in celebration of Zionism and the American Zionist Shabbat The American Zionist Movement wishes to thank the leaders of each of the AZM organizations who have contributed materials ideas and thoughts in developing the American Zionist Shabbat Sourcebook Special thanks to our summer intern Sam Koffler for his work in updating and compiling this material for 5781 2020

For further information or to make contributions of materials or resources please contact Herbert Block AZM Executive Director 212 318 6100 ext 6946 hblock azm org Alicia Post AZM National Program and Communications Director 212 318 6100 ext 6947 apost azm org The American Zionist Movement AZM including 33 national Jewish organizations represents American Zionists in the World Zionist Organization and works across a broad ideological political and religious spectrum linking the American Jewish community together in support of Israel Zionism and the Jewish People AZM is the U S Zionist Federation in the World Zionist Organization How To Utilize the Zionist Shabbat Source Book 1 Materials Through the wealth of sources pick materials that best align with your needs and values There are sources for weekly Torah portions as well as general Zionist materials 2 Education Classes In adult and youth classes participants can discuss relevant topics and materials This should be led by a community member who can facilitate these conversations 3 On Shabbat It is recommended that if your Synagogue has a children s service or youth groups the leaders include some of the attached games and activities to engage the children 4 During the Week Sources can be sent out to community members earlier in the week as to better familiarize and learn before the discussions on Shabbat Additionally this year you can find Podcasts and Videos to engage members 5 Please see and continue to use the materials from the previous editions which are still relevant at the AZM Zionist Shabbat website for 2017 5778 2018 5779 2019 5780 For nostalgia see the Shabbat Zion materials from 1983 2

The Zionism of the Prophets Reading the Haftarah During Zionist Shabbat 5781 Essay by Rabbi Paul Golomb AZM Vice President for Programming Torah is an obligation Haftarah is a choice One reads the Torah in the synagogue from beginning to end as commanded to Moses in Deuteronomy Chapter 31 Since the Gaonic Era the reading has been accomplished in a yearly cycle of parashiot ending and beginning again on Simchat Torah The prophetic readings that compose the haftarah is not as orderly They were also set and substantially fixed during the Gaonic Era but the weekly portion is not automatic Some decisions had to be made as to what prophetic reading which biblical book which chapter s and how many verses ought to accompany a Torah parashah We cannot be certain who made the determination or exactly what criteria went into the choice although we should assume that it was quite deliberate and carefully thought through We can also surmise that the sages who did set these haftarot lived in Diaspora communities It would hardly be fair to describe these sages as Zionists in the way the term has been employed since the late nineteenth century but it is appropriate to draw Zionist themes from haftarah Virtually everything in Torah is Israel centered From God s command to Abram to go forth through the Exodus and the wandering in the wilderness Torah consistently points toward the Hebrew people aspiring to a national existence on the land of Israel The haftarah on the other hand reflects the reality of a community in exile Even those who read the passages in synagogues situated in the Land were well aware that they were dwelling in a Roman then Umayyid Abbasid and Ottoman administrative state It was exile in a different form The haftarah was therefore designed to point back to the promise of the Israel revealed to Moses in the Torah Here are some themes that can be drawn from haftarot that can be used in a Zionist context Lekh L kha Isaiah 40 27 41 16 More haftarot are selected from Deutero Isaiah Chapters 40 66 than any other source and for good reason The prophet imagines the Jews in Babylonia at the time of the fall of Nebuchadnezzar s empire and exhorts the people to return It is quintessential prophetic material for an exiled community longing to return 41 1 2 is particularly noteworthy let us come together at the seat of Judgment Who has awakened one from the East for whom triumph is met at every step Ibn Ezra and later commentators identify this one from the East as Cyrus the Persian ruler who facilitated the Jewish return from Babylonia The prophet is confident of the end of exile but cannot imagine that it will be accomplished directly by God as in the Exodus from Egypt or by the Jews somehow freeing themselves In the history of modern Zionism its leaders have never relied on divine providence or on exclusive and unilateral action Success in building and maintaining a Jewish State has always been dependent on allies Chayei Sarah I Kings 1 1 31 The narrative details a succession battle between Solomon and an older half brother Adonijah for David s crown upon the old king s death Adonijah assumes that as the eldest of David s surviving sons the monarchy is his Bathsheva and the prophet Nathan implore the infirmed monarch to intercede and David declares his support for Solomon The haftarah reading ends with David s declaration and Bathsheva s thankful response That Solomon succeeds his father need not be read In this way the haftarah focuses on the issue of the process of succession In the case of every state and nation an important concern is not simply who is the leader but rather how leadership is transferred from one ruler president Prime Minister etc to the next It is valuable to note that in this case Adonijah concedes any claim to the throne without a fight 3

To this day throughout the world and particularly in the Middle East transfer of leadership involves either monarchic succession or violence Israel stands out as one of very few nations capable of a peaceful transfer that is not only free of death or violence but may entail an ideological shift from Labor to Likud or back Tol dot Malachai 1 1 2 7 and also VaYishlach in Sephardi congregations Ovadiah The focus of the haftarah is the relationship between Israel Judah and Edom The two kingdoms always had tension along their common border in the Arava south of the Dead Sea Edom allied itself with Nebuchadnezzar and served as the advance troops in Babylonia s conquest The fraught relationship between brothers Jacob and Esau is thus reimagined as an enduring enmity In rabbinic literature Edom will be utilized as a code for Rome and then the Roman Church The prophet reflecting on the Jewish return to the Land and with it the ignominious retreat of occupying Edomites appears to be engaging in triumphant speech The message however is not about vengeance but justice In one noteworthy verse God through the prophet declares twice My Name is great among the nations Mal 1 11 There is a twofold force to this proclamation The fall of Edom is due to a universal and divinely ordained justice a justice by which Israel itself is to be measured A central feature of Zionism is indeed justice There is an inherent justice in the Jewish return to the land and restoration of a national polity The Zionist goals have not come to an end with the founding of the State The need to expect justice toward Israel on the part of the nations especially its neighbors and for Israel to impart justice within its territory remains a prophetic and a Zionist imperative VaYeitzei Hosea 12 13 14 10 and VaYishlach in Ashkenazi congregations Hosea 11 7 12 12 The two haftarot comprising the last chapters of the Book although in a reverse order follow a similar pattern VaYeitzei references Jacob fleeing to Aram VaYishlach begins with a charge that the people have turned from God In this fashion they both commence with exile real and spiritual Hosea the sole northerner among the literary prophets witnessed the rapid disintegration of the kingdom from a period of relative stability and prosperity under the reign of Jeroboam II to the eve of the Assyrian conquest As the Assyrians marched southward the prophet sensed the magnitude of the disunity in Israel as a result of the severing of David and Solomon s kingdom as well as the casual corruption that had long infected Israelite society The feeling of exile of both alienation and of despair was palpably real The heart of Hosea s message is however one of hope Over and again he reminds the people that God despite their waywardness has not abandoned them That the crisis can yet be averted Modern Zionism was born in the wake of bitter disappointment in the promise of an enlightened Europe It organized developed and carried on through pogroms and the disaster of the Shoah The initial hope that as a State the Jewish people would be received as a nation among nations has yet to be fulfilled The challenge of finding stable accommodation among its neighbors and of defending the Zionist idea in intellectual circles continues to be daunting We are reminded by the prophet however not to give in or give up In Hosea s time his voice was not heard and the kingdom did indeed fall Their failure need not be ours if we only listen Drawing from the tradition of Israel s prophets Martin Luther King would say The arc of moral history is long but it bends toward justice The haftarah is born of exile a real exile from the Land and a spiritual exile of feeling lost and abandoned Its message is consistently one of hope and steadfast belief in justice It is Zionism s message as well 4

Shabbat Zionism Prayers and Sources Let s Start Davening packet pdf WZO Beit Ha am Zion in the Sources Yearning for Zion covers Mitzvot Prayers and Tehillim pdf WZO Education Department Liturgical References to Zion Packet Center for Israel Education Shabbat and Zionism WZO Education Department s Chagim Center Shabbat Sources and Philosophy WZO Education Department D var Torah Zionism Shabbat Hadassah A Zionist Shabbat with Texts from The Zionist Ideas Professor Gil Troy Parshiot Weekly Torah Readings Shabbat Tzion pdf Israel Forever Foundation Parshat Lech Lecha pdf Parshat Vayera pdf Parshat Chayei Sarah pdf Parshat Toldot pdf Parshat Vayetzei pdf Parshat Vayishlach pdf The Shabbat Parashat HaShavua WZO Education Department Chagim Center Dvar Torah on Parshat Lech Lecha pdf Former WZO Chairman Avraham Duvdevani Lekh Lekha Rabbi Vernon Kurtz Past President AZM From Yitzhak to Yitzhak Parashat Vayera WZO Beit Ha am The Greatest Love Story Parashat Chayei Sarah Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt Congregation B nai Tzedek Potomac MD and Founder Zionist Rabbinic Coalition Parshat HaShavua Religious Zionists of America 5

Zionist History Timeline Steps To Statehood Timeline pdf Israel Forever Foundation Events and Personalities in the History of the Zionist Movement WZO Analysis of Hatikva Reform Judaism Modern Zionism AZM s Statement of Principles of Zionism pdf Brandeis on Zionism A Collection of Addresses and Statements by Louis D Brandeis pdf Reclaiming Reviving Zionism Want Zionism To Survive Keep It Simple pdf Tablet Magazine Reclaiming Zionism pdf Jewish Week Reclaiming Zionism pdf Jerusalem Post Reclaiming Zionism pdf By Gil Troy JTA What happened to Zionism pdf JTA Transcending our differences pdf eJewishPhilanthropy The Alienation of Zionism pdf MERCAZ Olami Zionism Reclaiming an Inspiring Word Rabbi Alan Silverstein Masorti Olami 6

Current state of Zionism What is Reform Zionism ARZA Zionism A Jewish Communal Response UK The opportune time to visit Israel pdf iCenter Current State of Zionism pdf Tikvah Fund Teen Zionist Experience of a Lifetime pdf StandWithUs WZO Beit Ha am Zionism Packet Zionism Asking Exploring Dreaming An Impenetrable Wall Between Progressivism and Zionism pdf Ameinu The Zionist Story Of Abraham Sarah in the Torah Herut North America It s Zionism Month Time to proudly say I am a Zionist pdf Zionism 101 pdf Rabbi Vernon Kurtz AZM Past President How to discuss Israel in a productive form Hadassah Videos and Podcasts Podcasts The Evolution of American Zionism Pardes Elmad Part I Part II Z3 Project Videos Discussing Zionism in the 21st Century Hadassah What is Zionism Israel Unpacked 7