Zionism is a nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century as a colonial project in pursuit of the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people, ideally in Palestine, a region roughly corresponding to the Land of Israel in Jewish tradition. Following the establishment of the State of Israel, Zionism became an ideology that supports the development and protection of Israel as a Jewish state. It has also been described as Israel's national or state ideology.
A homeland for the Jewish people is an idea rooted in Jewish history, religion, and culture. The Jewish aspiration to return to Zion, generally associated with divine redemption, has suffused Jewish religious thought since the destruction of the First Temple and the Babylonian exile.
The World Zionist Organization, or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the Zionist Organization at the initiative of Theodor Herzl at the First Zionist Congress, which took place in August 1897 in Basel, Switzerland. The goals of the Zionist movement were set out in the Basel Program.
Theodor "Teddy" Kollek was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 1973, 1978, 1983, and 1989. During his tenure, Jerusalem developed into a modern city, especially after its reunification in 1967. He was once called "the greatest builder of Jerusalem since Herod."
Arthur Cohn is a Swiss film producer and a multiple Academy Award winner.
Judah ben Solomon Chai Alkalai was a Sephardic Jewish rabbi, and one of the influential precursors of modern Zionism along with the Prussian Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer. Although he was a Sephardic Jew, he played an important role in a process widely attributed to the Ashkenazi Jews. Alkalai became noted through his advocacy in favor of the restoration of the Jews to the Land of Israel. By reason of some of his projects, he may justly be regarded as one of the precursors of the modern Zionists such as Theodor Herzl.
Hillel Kook, also known as Peter Bergson, was a Revisionist Zionist activist and politician.
Marvin Hier is the dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, its Museum of Tolerance and of Moriah, the center's film division. He has been a Track II diplomacy contributor to the genesis of the Abraham Accords.
The Dohány Street Synagogue, also known as the Great Synagogue or Tabakgasse Synagogue, is a historical building on Dohány Street in Erzsébetváros, the 7th district of Budapest, Hungary. It is the largest synagogue in Europe, seating 3,000 people and is a centre of Neolog Judaism.
Theodor Herzl was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist, lawyer, writer, playwright and political activist who was the father of modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the Zionist Organization and promoted Jewish immigration to Palestine in an effort to form a Jewish state. Due to his Zionist work, he is known in Hebrew as Chozeh HaMedinah, lit. 'Visionary of the State'. He is specifically mentioned in the Israeli Declaration of Independence and is officially referred to as "the spiritual father of the Jewish State".
Abraham Shalom Yahuda was a Jewish Palestinian polymath, teacher, writer, researcher, linguist, and collector of rare documents.
Recha Sternbuch was a Swiss Orthodox Jewish woman who was a major Holocaust-era Jewish rescuer.
Let My People Go: The Story of Israel is a 1965 American documentary film directed by Marshall Flaum. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1965. Flaum also produced and wrote the documentary.
Joshua Benjamin Trank is an American film director, screenwriter, and film editor. He is known for directing the found-footage sci-fi thriller film Chronicle (2012), the superhero film Fantastic Four (2015), and the Al Capone biographical film Capone (2020).
The Prime Ministers: The Pioneers is a 2013 American documentary film about former Israeli prime ministers, directed by Richard Trank. It was based on the book The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership written by Yehuda Avner, a former Israeli diplomat and speechwriter to Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin and Shimon Peres. Moriah Films, a division of Simon Wiesenthal Center produced it.
Aaron Wolf is an American actor, writer and director best known for the feature documentary Restoring Tomorrow. He is the co-founder and President of Howling Wolf Productions based in Los Angeles, CA.
Moriah Films is the Jack and Pearl Resnick Film Division of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Jewish Lives is a biography series published by Yale University Press and the Leon D. Black Foundation. It was founded in 2006 and the first book was published in 2010.
Zionist antisemitism or antisemitic Zionism refers to a phenomenon in which antisemites express support for Zionism and the State of Israel. In some cases, this support may be promoted for explicitly antisemitic reasons. Historically, this type of antisemitism has been most notable among Christian Zionists, who may perpetrate religious antisemitism while being outspoken in their support for Jewish sovereignty in Israel due to their interpretation of Christian eschatology. Similarly, people who identify with the political far-right, particularly in Europe and the United States, may support the Zionist movement because they seek to expel Jews from their country and see Zionism as the least complicated method of achieving this goal and satisfying their racial antisemitism.
Arthur Cohn was born in 1862 in Flatow, West Prussia, the son of the local rabbi. He received his rabbinical training at the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin under Esriel Hildesheimer. At the same time, he studied history and philology at the University of Berlin and received his doctorate under Theodor Mommsen. From 1885 until the end of his life, he was the first Orthodox rabbi of the Jewish community of Basel, Switzerland, and the first full-time rabbi to be confirmed in office several times. Until then, the rabbinate had been exercised by the rabbis of Hégenheim. Cohn additionally worked in many other Swiss communities and was renowned within the Orthodox community. Numerous postcards testify to his standing in local communities. Approximately 400 of these postcards are now in the collection of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland, and give insights into the everyday issues of Jews in Switzerland at the beginning of the 20th century.
