November 8, 2012
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What Is Zion and Zionism? AllFaith
שמע ישראל ה 'הוא האלוהים שלנו הוא אחד 
Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Echad
Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.
T'zion What is Zion and Zionism?
By John of AllFaith © 7.7.11) Also Posted Here! What Matter's Most: What is Zion? What Matters Most To understand what a given word means in a specifc case we must carefully consider the context in which it is used. The word Zion (t'zion) means a few different things depending on its usage.
The Hebrew word/name Zion appears at least 153 times in the Bible. The term is used as “Mount Zion,” “the daughter of Zion,” the “virgin daughter of Zion,” or simply as “Zion.”
Zion is sometimes used in Scripture to reference the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of biblical Israel (the modern Sanhedrin presides as a religious court only). This ancient court held its sessions within the Temple and according to the rabbis is referenced in passages such as:
Isaiah 2:3: “For out of Zion shall the Torah come forth, and the word of Adonai from Jerusalem.”
This understanding accords with the teachings of Rebbe Y'shua who referred to the rabbis (the elders of Israel) sitting authoritatively in the seat of Moshe. (Matthew 23:3 etc).
Zion also refers to the Temple Mount (or Har haBáyith). This sacred hill is where the Beit HaMikdash or "House of Holy: the Temple once stood and will again reside during the Messianic Age.
What we today know as the Temple Mount is both the biblical Zion and Mount Moriah (where Avraham offered his son Isaac to Adonai). In this sense then Zion is where the Ruach or Presence of HaShem dwells:Psalms 74:2 Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, the rod of Your inheritance which You have redeemed; this mount Zion in which You have dwelt.
And Zion is synonymous with the City of Jerusalem (Yerushaláyim), the city where David established his Kingdom:
II Samuel 5:7 And David took the stronghold of Zion; it is the city of David.
I Kings 8:1 And Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, so that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion.
Throughout scripture “Mount Zion” is synonymous with Mount Moriah, the site of the Temple, and the Holy City it watches over:
Psalm 87:2 Adonai loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
87:3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.Psalm 137:1 There we sat down by the rivers of Babylon; also, we wept when we remembered Zion.
137:2 We hung our lyres on the willows in its midst.
137:3 For there our captors demanded a song from us; and our plunderers demanded gladness, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
137:4 How shall we sing Adonai's song in a foreign land?
137:5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget.
137:6 If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth; if I do not prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.There is however another very significant meaning for the word Zion:
Isaiah 51:16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
So then...the Sanhedrin, the elders of Israel who sit in the seat of Moshe (Matthew 23:2) are collectively known as Zion.
The Beit HaMikdash where the Sanhedrin meet and where HaShem is worshiped is Zion.
Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount, upon which the Beit HaMikdash will one day again arise to the glory of HaShem is Zion.
Yerushaláyim, the Holy City of David and home of the Temple Mount is Zion.
Eretz Israel, the Holy Land of which Yerushaláyim is the eternal capital is Zion.
And Zion is People Israel, to whom Eretz Israel and Yerushaláyim were given as eternal positions. This was signified by Avraham's offer of his dear son, the pregentior of the Jewish people, on Mount Moriah. On that sacred site the two Beit HaMikdash stood and one day the third and eternal Temple will stand. In that Holy House the Sanhedrin will again oversee the divine service of the Elect of God, People Israel.
Zion is adored by Almighty Adonai and:
Psalms 78:68, “He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.”
Psalms 87:2, “Adonai loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.”
As Rabbi Baruch S. Davidson tells us:
The Hebrew word for Zion can be translated as “indication” or “marking.”
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, explains that the Jewish people are called Tzion by virtue of their study of Jewish texts and fulfillment of G-d’s commandments. This causes them to be distinguished, or marked, for their uniqueness. As it states in Jewish law, “When a physical object has a sign, a marking, should it be lost, the sign enables it to be returned to its owners.”
So too, the Jewish nation has its marking; thus they are not lost among the rest of the world, and always return to their Owner.
Zionism
Zionism is the philosophical and political conviction of the truth of the above points.
Zionism is HaTikvah: The Hope of Israel and the world.
HaTikvah
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