What Zionism Has Always Meant

Rabbi Berman is the president of Yeshiva University.

In parts of America and Europe, the word “Zionism” has become little more than a slogan shouted by opposing sides at protests. It can be a term of pride or a biting shorthand for anger toward and condemnation of Israel and its supporters. This has led to a profound misunderstanding of what Zionism is and what it is not. The misuse of the word has flattened its dimensionality. It has, effectively, lost its meaning in the larger public.

Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people possess the right to live freely in their ancestral homeland, to shape their future, defend their dignity, preserve their civilization and contribute their........

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