Hasidism versus Zionism as Remembered by Carpatho-Russian Jews between Two World Wars

This chapter explores the stories of Jews who lived in Carpatho-Russia which demonstrate the conflicts between hasidism and Zionism among Jewish community members. Before the First World War, most of Carpatho-Russian Jewry opposed the Zionist movement and excoriated families and youths who joined it. After the war, the Zionists founded the Hebrew academic high schools; organized groups of potential emigrants to Erets Yisra'el; prepared them for pioneering and agricultural life in a training process called hakhsharah; and, where possible, sent them on aliyah (emigration) to Palestine. Until they emigrated, the newly recruited Zionists were often a cause of social and cultural upheaval in their home towns and villages, as they challenged the long-standing reign of hasidism by presenting an alternative new ethos. The chapter identifies three kinds of conflict brought about by the rise of Zionism in Carpatho-Russia, as reflected in the personal narratives of people who came to Israel from that region as Zionists. One is the ideological, verbal, and physical battle between members of the two movements. The second is the inner struggle of the region's Zionist youth while they were in transition between hasidism and Zionism. Thirdly, the chapter looks at family relations and the conflicts that were the inevitable result of the first two clashes.