MembersA Modern Orthodox Jewish Woman’s Perspective on Zionism

If one looks at a map of the globe, one sees the United States at one end of the earth and the State of Israel on the other. However, despite the geographic distance between my birth country and the Jewish state, I always felt a deep connection to the State of Israel. After all, as Jews, we are one nation, and geographic distance should never diminish our identity as Jews or the accompanying passion to defend the State of Israel.

It was ingrained in my being from childhood onwards to feel strongly Jewish. Every time I did the Passover Seder out in the “wilderness” with my parents we proclaimed: “Next year in Jerusalem.” It became a part of who I was every Hanukkah when we learned about the Maccabees and their struggle to restore the Temple in Jerusalem. By lighting the Hanukkah candles, I felt as if their struggle was also my struggle.

It became a part of my soul, as my father read me bedtime stories about the Holy Land. As I lay in bed at night as a...