In theTalmud (b.Megillah 17b),Atchalta De'Geulah (Aramaic:אתחלתא דגאולה;Hebrew:התחלת הגאולה,Hatchalat ha-Geulah; lit., "the beginning of the redemption") is the period of time before the coming of theJewish Messiah takes place. It is the core idea of theReligious Zionist movement.
In the Jewish classical texts, from theGemara and on, one may find many characterizations of the various stages of the redemption. Among the most notable of them are:
One of the fathers of theReligious Zionist Movement, a movement whose belief is that redeeming theLand of Israel and the establishment of the state ofIsrael will bring about the Jewish Messiah, was RabbiAbraham Isaac HaCohen Kook ("HaRaAYaH"). In numerous references, he called his timeAtchalta De'Geulah. In his epistle from 1918 (תרע"ח;Hebrew calendar), he writes:
"Atchalta De'Geulah [the beginning of the redemption] is undoubtedly coming about before us. Even though this coming about [process] has not begun this very day, only following therevealed end [times] (b.Talmud, TractateSanhedrin, 98a), banishing [us from the Land of Israel], and [then] only from the times that the people of Israel started [again] toshoot forth their branches and yield their fruits to the people of Israel [in their Land], for they are at hand to come [to be redeemed] (Book of Ezekiel, 36:8), and only then has thisAtchalta (the beginning) begun."
— Iggeret HaRaAYaH, part III, p. 155
His son,Zvi Yehuda Kook, one of the main spiritual leaders of theIsraeli settlement movement, following RabbiJudah Loew ben Bezalel (the "Maharal ofPrague"),[1] in his work "Lenetivot Israel", reinforces hisAtchalta De'Geulah argument for having an agricultural prosperity, which he views with favour, as is stated in theGemara:
"R. Abba also said: There can be no morerevealed end than this, as is stated (Book of Ezekiel, 36:8):But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel, for they are at hand to come."
The principal learning textbook of the Religious Zionist movement is the book of RabbiMenachem Mendel Kasher,HaTekufah HaGedolah ("The Great Era"), in which he explains the meaning of our times, according to the Religious Zionist view. Some additional textbooks that convey this world view are: RabbiYitzhak Dadon book,Atchalta Hee ("Atchalta it is"), and RabbiYa'akov Moshe Bergman's book,Can the state of Israel be the Atchalta De'Geulah?
Haredi Judaism, in contrast to Religious Zionism, opines that the coming of the Jewish Messiah will bring about the redemption of the Land of Israel and its people (whenever this may occur, and in many different aspects). Regardless, some of the Haredi community, either outside or within theState of Israel, work with the Jewish rule of Israel and its state, and see the advantages of it. In their view, these are two separate issues: the State of Israel, and the coming of the Messiah.
Haredi Jews also distinguish between the concepts of:
The Lubavitcher Rebbe ofChabad, RabbiMenachem Mendel Schneerson, who was a strong supporter ofIsrael, opposed the concept of defining the State of Israel as an Atchalta De'Geulah: He claimed that many are killed in Israel due to some who attribute the term Atchalta De'Geulah to the State of Israel, and that, in so doing, such attribution is delaying the "revealed end [times]".[citation needed]
Israel Eldad wrote in an article in one of the major Israeli daily newspapers,Yedioth Ahronoth, about visiting the Lubavitcher Rebbe:[3]
"When I tried to bring up the conventional formula of Religious Zionism, that Israel is the Atchalta De'Geulah ... his tone of voice took a sudden turn, he banged on the table with his fist, and retorted: 'Rabbi Kook was wrong ...' It was a separate issue in his mind."