Zionism was formed as a reaction to the pogroms of the late 1800s. The czars were antagonistic to those victimized, and the people were apathetic, and it was made clear to the Jews during these pogroms that they were not wanted around. Many moved out quickly to friendlier lands, such as America or Palestine. But even there they encountered anti-Semitism and a desire of the locals for them to pack up again and leave. Nobody wanted the Jews; they were the outsiders.

Zionism can be deemed a self-understanding of Judaism, dating back to the covenental times and promises -- a promise of Jews forever and a land, a concept in self-understanding of Jewish history is being in the land or wanting to be there. This concept is ancient; from 70 to 1948, the Jews have been in exile. Jews prayed to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the temple. The primary belief of the Jew was that "if I am not in my land, I am not where I belong." In the romantic nationalist phase in Europe, a person was connected by blood to the land. A foreigner can visit, but they really do not belong.

Leon Pinsker, one of two men credited with the establishment of the Zionist movement (the other being Theodor Herzl), anti-Semitism was a significant component in the discoveries leading up to Jewish nationalism. In the summer of 1882 he published a pamphlet entitled Autoemancipation, which stated that the single answer to end anti-Semitism was to give the Jews a land of their own. By about 1895 the theory of Jewish nationalism reached Europe, where the ears of Herzl were listening. Considered a highly assimilated German Jew, he was at the time a newsman of a daily newspaper. He converted to Zionism, having liked what he heard (although local anti-Semitism was high) and because of the Dreyfus affair in France. He felt that Jews could not be integrated into a lifestyle because there would never be any way Jews would be deemed equals in European and/or other nations. Although the Jews adopted many things in their "new" land (wherever that may be) -- for example, clothes and language -- they still garnered no acceptance. The dilemma was not religion (Judaism), but politics (political Zionism). Herzl claimed that the Jewish people would, at most, only be visitors in France. The situation wasn't equal because Jews didn't have a home to invite the French back to. Herzl wanted a land, and any place would do, as long as it belongs to the Jews. Then they can be guests. Herzl actually thought that all Jews would go to Israel after it had been established. The more realistic (and true-to-life) prediction of Ahad Ha-am (his name, the pseudonym of Asher Ginsberg, means "One of the People"), the paramount agent for cultural Zionism, was that the prospect of every single Jew on the planet making the odyssey to Israel seemed like a wonderful idea, but it was not feasible, and it was unnecessary. (To prove Ha-am, ask any American Jew where s/he lives, and where s/he belongs. Most will respond similar to: "I live in my city, and I belong in America. Israel is nice, but I have my family here, my friends here, my contacts here, and I feel comfortable here.") A national spirit needed revival; the secular Jewish culture was being eliminated. The land of the Jews should be a hub, based on the Hebrew language. These communities would inspire other communities to do things in Hebrew with pride in their land and their language. This is cultural Zionism.

In America, and other lands like it, Judaism as a religion has been sadly separated from cultural Judaism. Separation is possible from the ideologies of the covenant and halahkah, while still maintaining a fruitful and productive culture.

The modern city of Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 to complement the ancient and history-rich city of Jerusalem. The League of Nations, later to evolve into the United Nations, gave final approval to the Jewish National Home. Three years later, Hebrew University opened its doors in Jerusalem. In 1937, a commission recommended a Palestinian partition between the Arabs and the Jews. World War II lasted primarily from 1939 to 1945, but throughout the 1930s the Jews in Warsaw were forced to live in the ghetto. When people saw the camps, and all the paraphernalia and residue had been exposed to public view, the Jewish state was finally recognized by the UN in 1948. It didn't make the Holocaust worth it. The state of Israel is not the "good" that came out of the Holocaust. A year after Israel was granted its true independence from the UN (and from the war victory it received the countries that attacked it the day after the UN recognized it), Jews from across the globe -- camps in Europe, Arab and other countries, and especially those Jews in every country who were waiting for their homeland and could finally see it -- made the pilgrimage and mass migrated to Israel.