In little more than one century the Land of Israel has literally come back to life in one of the most magnificent displays of what must be seen as no less than miraculous. The City of Jerusalem always had a Jewish community, and a small stream of Jews would travel for weeks and months to live in Jerusalem. But, outside of Jerusalem, there was very little until the mid – late 19th century.
Then, out of seemingly nowhere, the winds of nationalism began to be felt across Western and Eastern Europe. That spirit led to the centuries-old yearning of the Jewish people to return to their Land to take on a new level of activity. If the Serbs were returning and fighting for their homeland and the French and German people were feeling strong winds of nationalism, then many Jews began to think that the time had come for the Jewish people to not merely pray, but to take practical steps towards returning to their own homeland, the Land of Israel.
It was just a trickle of Jews – in the tens or a few hundred – who had come before the late 19th century. But then, an organized group came on what would become known as the First Aliyah, shortly after 1880. They were not just driven by the winds of nationalism. They were driven out by the strong winds of antisemitism that were felt in Eastern Europe and Russia.
Their numbers were not high, but they really got the ball rolling and from then on, a mass movement began to grow. Theodor Herzl, a travelling journalist, was shocked and inspired by the antisemitic court case in France in what would become known as the Dreyfuss Affair. He saw the clear miscarriage of justice that was unquestionably driven by antisemitism. He had the talent and connections to turn his ideas into an organized international movement. Before the turn of the 20th century, the Zionist movement was officially born at the 1st Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland.
By the early-mid 1920’s, the Land of Israel’s Jewish population had already exceeded 100,000 Jews. Tens of thousands of Arabs had also come from Egypt and Syria in order to capitalize on the new job opportunities in the Middle East. Foreign investment by Jews who supported the Zionist movement helped fuel much of the buildup of the Land of Israel.
Tens of thousands of Jews had come on Aliyah before World War I and more than that came after World War I as Jews were runing away from the new Communist Empire that had been established in Russia. The 1920’s were actually a fascinating time in the Land of Israel where many kibbutzim and moshavim were established or went from being small to medium. Cities such as Tel-Aviv began to take shape and Jerusalem was beginning to expand to having many neighborhoods outside of the walls.
What this video captures is truly eye opening as it is one of the oldest living historical documents on film of the city of Jerusalem. The entire Land of Israel was under British domination and would stay that way till 1947 – 1948 when Israel would declare statehood and fend off many Arab armies who united to destroy her.