- published: 25 Dec 2010
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Zionism as an organized movement is generally considered to have been founded by Theodor Herzl in 1897. However, the history of Zionism began earlier and is related to Judaism and Jewish history. The Hovevei Zion, or the Lovers of Zion, were responsible for the creation of 20 new Jewish settlements in Palestine between 1870 and 1897.
Before the Holocaust, the movement's central aims were the creation of a Jewish National Home and cultural centre in Palestine by facilitating Jewish migration. After the Holocaust, the movement focused on creation of a "Jewish state" (usually defined as a secular state with a Jewish majority), attaining its goal in 1948 with the creation of Israel.
Since the creation of Israel, the importance of the Zionist movement as an organization has declined, as the Israeli state has grown stronger.
The Zionist movement continues to exist, working to support Israel, assist persecuted Jews and encourage Jewish emigration to Israel. While most Israeli political parties continue to define themselves as Zionist, modern Israeli political thought is no longer formulated within the Zionist movement.
Henry (Hillel) Abramson (born 1963) is the Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Services at Touro College's Miami branch (Touro College South). He is also currently the interim Chair of Judaic Studies there. Effective July 2015, he will serve as the Dean of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences in Flatbush, New York.
Henry Abramson was born and raised in Iroquois Falls, Ontario. He received his doctorate in history from the University of Toronto in 1995, studying under Professor Paul Robert Magocsi, earning the first PhD in Ukrainian-Jewish history awarded since the establishment of the Chair of Ukrainian Studies there. His research was also supervised by Professor Michael Marrus and Professor Zvi Gitelman.
Abramson was named to the Shevchenko Scientific Society in 1999.
He was Assistant and later Associate Professor of History/Jewish Studies at Florida Atlantic University from 1996-2006 and during that time held appointments at a number of institutions including Oxford University, Cornell University, Harvard University, and Hebrew University. While teaching at Hebrew University, he simultaneously attended a class with Rabbi Mendel Weinbach at Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem. As Associate Professor and University Library Scholar of Judaica, he worked with the large collection of Yiddish materials in the Wimberly Library, and in this capacity he founded the Kultur Festival of Yiddish Culture in Boca Raton.