On Zionism

Hi,

"The first goal of the Congress must be great and mighty effort, with all of our strength, before the Ottoman government, to permit our brethren to purchase land and build homes without obstacles or roadblocks. To acquire this license, we must work and struggle with all of our abilities, for the future of colonization dependes upon this.

"Settling the land – purchasing land and building homes, planting orchards and seeding fields – is one of the greatest mitzvot in our Torah. Some of our ancestors said it is equal to the entire Torah! The simple reason for the magnitude of this mitzvah is that it is the foundation of our national future. One who believes is a true lover of Zion, with his entire heart and soul.

"The foundation of love of Zion is to guard the entire Torah, our inheritance across generations, without subtraction or addition. I say, as a rule, that our Torah, the source of our life, must be the foundation of our life in the land of our ancestors."

(Letter of Rabbi Shemuel Mohliver to the First Zionist Congress)

Have a great day,
Mordechai