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Zionism Is About Love
Noa Argamani, a rescued hostage embraces her father, Yakov Argamani, after the military said that Israeli forces have rescued four hostages alive from the central Gaza Strip, in Ramat Gan, Israel, in this handout image obtained by Reuters on June 8, 2024. Photos: Israeli Army/Handout via REUTERS
By Matthew Schultz
JNS.org – Rabbi Shai Held’s latest book Judaism Is About Love: Recovering the Heart of Jewish Life is the culmination of a career spent correcting a great misconception, namely that “Christianity is the religion of love” while “Judaism is the religion of law.”
“My aim is to tell the story of Jewish theology, ethics, and spirituality through the lens of love,” Held writes, “and thereby to restore the heart—in both senses of the word—of Judaism to its rightful place.”
A similar point could be made about Zionism. Over the past year, anti-Israel protesters have been working to transform the word “Zionist” into a slur. “Zionism” is equated with racism, colonialism and even terrorism. To be a Zionist is to be accused of supporting genocide.
In response, Jews have tried to push our own definition, insisting that Zionism is simply the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their ancient homeland.
It’s not a bad strategy or a bad definition, but this dry political formulation fails to capture why so many Jews around the world feel such a deep connection to Israel.
Before Theodor Herzl’s day, Zionists were known as Chovevei Tzion, “lovers of Zion.” Their Zionism was rooted primarily in a profound love of place. In many ways, it is a better term. An “ism” or an ideology lives in the head, but love is unbounded and experienced by the mind, the heart, the spirit and the senses.
We love Israel because we love the scent of rosemary in Jerusalem and night-blooming jasmine in Tel Aviv. We love Israel because we love the feel of Hebrew on our lips and the particular way a cucumber tastes here. We love Israel because of the kindness of the people, the beauty of winding streets and the watchful gaze of the stray cats.
The nature of this love is somewhat mysterious to me. Do we love Israel because it is beautiful? Or is it beautiful because we love it? Would we feel this way about any Jewish state in the promised land simply because it is the realization of an ancient dream? Or is there truly something different about this place—some indefinable magic—that accounts for the effect that this country has on people?
It’s impossible to know for sure, but I often wonder what the state of Zionism would be like if Israel were different: If the cities were dreary and lifeless; if the food was bland; if the people were less beautiful and charming; if it all felt like a hot, stultifying, cultureless shtetl instead of a vibrant, innovative, Hebrew civilization.
The history of Israel’s founding is a story of unlikely successes. Despite great odds, a dead language was revived, seven foreign armies were defeated and a nation was built. We rarely stop to consider, however, the most unlikely success of all—not that they built a Jewish state, but that they built one so very lovable.
Today, the main emotions we might be feeling as we read headlines about Israel are sorrow, dread, frustration or even anger at Israel’s enemies. But if we are wondering what we can do for Israel from afar in this great moment of uncertainty, the answer is simple: We must cultivate the love at the heart of our connection to Israel.
We can cook an Israeli recipe, read an Israeli poet or put on a favorite Israeli record. Such acts seem small or even kitschy responses to the intensity of this moment, but they are not.
The love of the Chovevei Tzion built Israel.
The love of the Jewish people now will help to protect it.
Originally published by Jewish Journal.
The post Zionism Is About Love first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.