Hassidism was a necessary prerequisite for the Zionist movement

Evidence

This movement, which gave new warmth and vitality to the rabbinic Judaism of that time, was an important, perhaps a necessary, prerequisite to the growth and spread of the Zionist movement. It is certainly remarkable how large a proportion of the pioneers of Zionism, and still more of the Hebrew revival, were men of Hassidic background. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 952

Categorization

• QUESTION: Why specifically did Hassidic background correlate with the Hebrew revival? The author stops at ‘remarkable’ without explaining the causal channel.