Page 21 - Issue 15

influences of the outside secular world. Some Bundists
sought to align themselves with the socialist and social-
democratic forces around them to actualise their values
of טפ ַאשרבח chavershaft and טַייקי ָאד doikayt. And of
course, some Zionists sought to build a homeland,
partially to escape persecution and partially to redefine
their Jewish identity.

But these Zionists were never united in their vision. The
vast array of ideologies, each with their own
philosophical languages, cultural priorities and splinter
groups, reinforced the saying “two Jews, three opinions.”

But also, as these ideologues came to the Land of Israel,
they also understood that such a move could never be
done without discomfort; that their justice and building
could never be done without struggle, without sacrifice
and without recognising that others lived there as well.
While Christian Restorationists claimed that Zionists
were seeking “a land without a people for a people
without a land,” Zionists understood these tensions.
Ze’ev Jabotinsky wrote that he “consider[s] it utterly
impossible to eject the Arabs from Palestine,” and A.D.
Gordon argued that “our relations to the Arabs must rest
on cosmic foundations.” Their visions for how to meet
this discomfort may have differed, but their acceptance
of its existence was mutual, and they continued to take
responsibility over the rebuilding of their people.