Zionism made the Bible a national rather than religious text

Evidence

The Zionist enterprise is, in its poetic-historical imaginary, above all, a return to the Bible, especially to the books of Joshua and Judges and some of the prophets, which is also – at the same time – a “return to history” and to the “West.” Biblical images were instrumental for the construction of the new culture. Until recently, they had a prominent role in the Israeli educational system and were instrumental to the selfperception of the new Jewish community. As Uriel Simon (1999) puts it, Zionism has transformed the Bible into a “national midrash” (exegesis) (see also Shapira 2005; Shavit and Eran 2007). The new Zionist culture saw in various biblical images a model for emulation. Accordingly, it viewed itself as the triumphal completion of a historical process. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 327

Categorization

• DEFINE: ‘National midrash’ is the key concept here — the Bible read not as religious scripture but as the national founding epic legitimizing settlement.
• XREF: connects to: Zionism fuses religious and national identity so completely they are indistinguishable. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 483; Zionism alone sustained biblical justifications because of a real cultural tie to the land — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 489; Zionism was never secular but always leaned on biblical narrative. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 153 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Secular Zionism reinterpreted theology rather than departing from it #expands (0.90)
• Zionist secularization nationalized messianic myth rather than replacing it #expands (0.90) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 315
• Zionism countered the earlier invention of Judaism as a religion #expands (0.85) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 748
• Jewishness was transposed from a nation’s religion into a national religion #qualifies (0.85) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 836
• Secular Zionism internalized Christian anti-Talmudic polemics by splitting Bible from law #expands (0.80) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 341
• Zionist Revisionists rejected the religious-moral view in favor of ancient Hebrew political power #exemplifies (0.75) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 545