Cultural Zionism Tiyul in Tel Aviv

by Caroline McKinnon, 11th grade, NJ

Zionism is the aspiration of the Jewish people to build a Jewish democratic state in Eretz Yisrael. What does this mean? Eretz Yisrael is the Jewish homeland, and should be ruled by Jewish ideals and laws. When Jews entered Israel, they first entered Yaffo, just south of modern day Tel Aviv. They had an idea of creating a zionist land, but not the type of zionism that Herzl had talked about, known as political zionism. They wanted something that pertained to everyday life, which we now know as cultural zionism. This meant that the entire culture of the people was Jewish; the dress, morals, and most importantly, language. There were sixty families that were inspired in 1909 and left Yaffo to head north into the desert and create this dream, a dream of a Jewish state. They were carrying 2000 years of life in exile, or the galut. Instead of waiting for the messiah like others, they took matters into their own hands and changed Jewish history as we know it. I find this fascinating because they didn't do what everyone else did and wait, they were ready to live in their homeland, which is now ours. It makes you think of what we could do to help the future of Israel, just like they did.

Photo of the original 60 families who founded Tel Aviv in 1909

These families were headed towards what today we call Tel Aviv. Literally, this means old and new, because it is land in our ancient homeland but the center of modern technological advancements. The families named it this not knowing that it would be such an impactful place in the future of technology, but as a nod to Herzl's book, Altneuland. This also means old and new, but in German. I love Tel Aviv because of exactly that. It is in the Jewish homeland and is such an important part of our past, but also carries the future. Israel is known as the "Startup Nation" and that is mostly because of Tel Aviv. It is the city of Jews, the past, present, and future.

Students walking with Hebrew teacher, Sima, towards Tel Aviv

After walking around for a little bit, we went to the bus and drove to Florentin, Tel Aviv. We met up with Evan, a math teacher this semester and a Jewish History teacher in the spring semester. He also brought along his sons, Matti and Edon, and his wife Yara. We then proceeded to go on a graffiti tour of Tel Aviv, led by Matti of course. Evan helped a little bit too.

Evan, Yara, and Matti leading our graffiti tour

Graffiti in Tel Aviv is not so much vandalising, but rather artistic creations all over the city, Then again, with graffiti you can't have the good without the bad. It is a type of art that even masterpieces can get covered in an instant, which to me is what makes it so cool. One of the coolest things I saw today was a graffiti piece of Srulik, a famous Israeli kids cartoon character with his arms around a Palestinian refugee. It is a beautiful piece to begin with, but it has more of a personal meaning to me. I came on a ten day trip to Israel about two years ago and being the only one under 30,  I don't really remember that much. However, one of the most impactful things was seeing that exact graffiti at a kibbutz located right next to the green line. It is a symbol of peace and hope, and seeing it twice in two different places two years apart tells me that relations with Palestine and Israel aren't all about war. There truly is a hope for peace.

Srulik with Palestinian refugee cartoon, now and then

After taking a highly appreciated break at an ice cream shop, we got back into "classroom mode" and Hebrew teachers Dalia and Sima were there to teach us about the history and importance of Hebrew in a modern text. Going back to the zionists who wanted to make this land a truly Jewish place, they implemented modern day Hebrew as the language of the people. Past Jews had spoken languages like Yiddish, or even the native language if they were assimilated into the culture. In Israel, they were determined to make it purely Hebrew. They had something called the "Hebrew Police", which sounds really funny. Did they really have police to enforce the language? As crazy as it sounds, yes! If these "Hebrew Police" caught anyone speaking anything but Hebrew, they would come up to them and give them a card that translates to, "Hebrewman! Speak Hebrew!!" This was a national effort to show that the Jewish people were no longer weak in the galil, or exile, that we are a strong Jewish nation with our own language that is unique to only Israel.

Students at an ice cream shop in Tel Aviv

Students putting phrases together to help learn about the history of the Hebrew language

Today, we were asked whether Tel Aviv is a Jewish city or just a city of Jews. After this tiul, I have seen that Tel Aviv, and all of Israel, is truly a Jewish state. The law system, schooling, culture, food, dress, and language are Jewish. I find something incredible about that.

View from Yaffo overlooking the sea