When Cornell students see classmates posting about the Israel-Hamas war, or Israeli flags waving on campus, I imagine many wonder why Israel is important to their peers. Most pro-Israel students are simply American Jews, yet their passion for a faraway country the size of New Jersey is personal and paramount. There are those who feel differently, who can’t hold two truths: the ability to disagree with a country’s government, and the incredible importance of the existence of a Jewish state in the homeland critical to Judaism. Israel is inherently connected to Jewish cultural and religious practice, but, could you take the Israel connection out of being Jewish? Preview: only with difficulty and ignorance.
The journey to understanding begins with learning the word “Jewish” comes from “Judah,” either the tribe that formed in present-day Israel, or the kingdom, which existed there from around 1000 to 580 BCE. Thus, Israel is predominant in Jewish prayers such as Musaf, which is read on holidays, was instituted between 520 BCE - 70 CE and includes: “G-d of our ancestors, who restores their descendants to their land… lead us in joy back to our land and plant us within our borders.” Examining Jewish holidays shows an undeniable connection; because the Jewish calendar is lunisolar, we will look specifically at key 2025 dates.
February – Tu Bishvat
Tu Bishvat is the “birthday” or “new year” of the trees, which was important in ancient times when Jews were farming – surprise! – in Israel. The Torah (Jewish name for the Hebrew Bible) states, “When you enter the land of Israel and plant any tree for food, you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. [for] Three years…” This is the necessary time for trees to strengthen and grow good fruit. For the farmers to mark each year, rabbis chose a date when Israel’s annual rainfall has finished, readying the soil. When early Zionists returned to Israel, they planted trees to restore the land’s ecology, and symbolize the renewed growth of the Jewish people in their homeland. Today, Jews celebrate Tu Bishvat by eating Israeli fruits or donating to the Jewish National Fund, an organization that reforests Israel.
March – Purim
Purim seems Israel-free as it occurs in Persia, however, it actually highlights Israel’s importance. The story begins after Babylonian conquest of Israel and Jewish exile to Persia, when the Persian king’s advisor, Haman, decided the Jews should be killed for refusing to bow to him (Jewish law commands to bow only to G-d.) In The Book of Esther, Haman explains, ”There is one people … their laws are diverse from those of every other people ... therefore it does not profit the king to tolerate them.” Haman’s hate stemmed from the Jews’ differences, ones that had never been an issue in their land under their own authority. Luckily, Haman’s plan was foiled by the Queen, Esther, who revealed her secret Jewish identity, forcing the king to let the Jews defend themselves. Purim, despite its festivities, warns of the dangers of Jews left without autonomy.
April – Passover
Passover might be the most Zionist holiday of all. To begin, Jews lived predominantly in Israel beginning in the 17th century BCE, but travelled to Egypt during a famine. When a new Pharaoh rose to power, he feared the large Jewish population and enslaved them; so begins the Exodus, when G-d sent Moses to free his people and lead them home to freedom, where they established the "Kingdom of Israel" in 1000 BCE. Every Passover seder (traditional meal) since the 5th century BCE (when Passover celebrations began) concludes with “next year in Jerusalem,” a historic symbol of the Jewish people’s longing to return to Israel after diaspora.
June – Shavuot
Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah. In ancient times, Jews celebrated by bringing bikkurim, the first fruits of the harvest, to the Temple in Jerusalem. The Torah says, “He gave us this land… So now… I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground which You, O L-rd, have given to me.” Shavuot celebrates all G-d gave to the Jews, from the Torah to Israel.
September – Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, but its date used to be unclear. In ancient times, the Sanhedrin, supreme rabbinical court in Jerusalem, would determine each month’s length depending on the sighting of the new moon. Bonfires would then be lit and messengers sent so that Jews everywhere knew a new month had begun. If this was Tishrei, then it was Rosh Hashanah. The holiday and calendar (still Israel’s official calendar) depend on Israel’s location.
October – Yom Kippur, Sukkot
Yom Kippur is the day of atonement, the holiest day of the year. Remember “next year in Jerusalem?” This is said on Yom Kippur too, where it ends a day of introspection by refocusing outwards to a people connected by a city and homeland.
Sukkot celebrates the harvest in Israel. It is tradition to take four kinds of vegetation, and wave them together, representing the joining of all Jews that comprise the community of Israel.
December – Hanukkah
The Temple, built in 957 BCE, was the center of Jewish identity in ancient Israel. During the second century, the Seleucids invaded Israel and desecrated the Temple. The Maccabees, a small band of Jews, fought off the Seleucids and rededicated the Temple, but feared their oil would not last to maintain the eternal light. Hanukkah celebrates that a miracle occurred: the flame burned until new oil arrived in Jerusalem.
Judaism is one of the oldest still practicing religions in the world, and for all its existence, Jews have lived in or fought to return to Israel. After all, how could there be Jews without the place Jews are named for, without the land the language originates from, without the country spoken of in prayers? What would Judaism be without Israel, when the calendar relies on its position, harvests depend on its climate and holidays commemorate events that happened there or journeys home? To ignore Israel, to attempt to remove it from the Jewish narrative, is to remove the foundation of a home, to try to remove the fundamental piece.
Jenna Ledley is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at jledley@cornellsun.com.
