The Rabbi’s Top 10 Zionists

Having just celebrates Israel’s 66th birthday this week, here is my list of the greatest Zionists. among so many deserving:

1. Theodore Herzl– Visionary and a genius for political advocacy and organizing

2. Eliezer Ben Yehudah– Reviver of Hebrew as a spoken language

3. Chaim Weitzmann– Finest Zionist diplomat and first president of Israel

4. David Ben Gurion– the Israeli George Washington

5. Yigael Yadin– soldier, scholar, archeologist: Masada, Dead Sea Scrolls

6. Golda Meir– Prodigious fundraiser and diplomat before Prime Minister

7. Moshe Dayan– swashbuckling general and epitome of the new Israeli

8. Menachem Begin– Right-wing Prime Minster who made peace with Egypt

9. Abba Eban– Urbane diplomat and voice of Israel to the world

10. Yitzhak Rabin– soldier-turned-Prime Minster who shook Arafat’s hand

About the Author

Barry L. Schwartz is director emeritus of The Jewish Publication Society, rabbi of Congregation Adas Emuno in Leonia, New Jersey, and author, most recently, of Open Judaism: A Guide for Believers, Atheists, and Agnostics (JPS, 2023).