Hibbat Zion

Lexicon of Terms

Hibbat Zion

Hibbat Zion was a Jewish national movement established in Russia following the pogroms of 1881-1882 and the enacting of the May Laws in 1882. The movement was aimed to promote the return of the Jewish people to Eretz Yisrael.

Moses Hess, Judah Alkalai, Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer and other philosophers were among the first in the 1860’s to raise the idea of the return of the Jewish people to Zion, but their ideas had an impact only among the intellectual elite. However, the riots of 1882 brought the Jews of all standings to question their future in Russia. Local chapters of Hibbat Zion were then founded in Russia and in neighboring countries.

Leon Pinsker’s book “Auto-Emancipation” provided the ideological basis for the movement, and in its wake, various small groups and offshoots united as one movement led by Pinsker, Moshe Leib Lilienblum and Samuel Mohilever. Many of Hibbat Zion’s members were among the Zionists who took part in the First Aliyah, which began in 1882.

The Katowice Convention, initiated by Pinsker and Lilienblum, was held in 1884 to mark the foundation of the movement. Thirty-six delegates participated in it, representing Hibbat Zion chapters from Russia, Germany, Romania, France and England. Its executive committee, to which 18 members were elected, was established in Berlin.