Even when a world hunted Jews, exiled them, and burned their synagogues, we always remembered who we were, where we came from and always imagined our restoration.
Zionism was the ultimate survival plan. For two thousand years after exile, the wandering Jew adapted, endured, and found ways to live against all odds.
Israel is where Jewish survival transforms into self-determination — a future where we no longer ask permission to exist. We simply do.
w/@EinatWilf
#ZIONisM #ZIONISMisSURVIVAL #ZIONISMisDIVERSITY #ZIONISMisINNOVATION #IMTHATJEW
For centuries, Jews lived at the mercy of others — kings, empires, mobs. Lived as second-class under Christian and Muslim rule.
We were told where to live, what we could believe, and when to die. Zionism changed that. After centuries of persecution, Jews stopped asking to belong.
That’s what freedom looks like when you’ve earned it the hard way. For Jews Zionism was — and is — liberation.
It broke the chains of dependency and powerlessness. It is the Jewish freedom story, still unfolding today.
w/@EinatWilf
#ZIONisM #ZIONISMisLIBERATION #ZIONISMisJUSTICE #ZIONISMisSTRENGTH #IMTHATJEW
Zionism is feminist because it empowered Jewish women not just to survive — but to lead, build, fight, and legislate.
From pioneers tilling fields to commanders in the army to lawmakers in the Knesset, Jewish women shattered old expectations.
Before most Western nations even discussed gender equality, women helped found the kibbutzim, served in combat, and held equal voting rights from Israel’s very first day.
Israel was one of the first countries to elect a female head of government, Golda Meir, in 1969. And today, Israeli women lead in science, tech, medicine, and the military — from Nobel laureates to Supreme Court justices.
Zionism turned women from victims of history into authors of it.
w/@EinatWilf
#ZIONisM #ZIONISMisFEMINISM #ZIONISMisCONFIDENCE #ZIONISMisBELONGING #IMTHATJEW
Mamdani’s recent claim that Israel is “Jewish” only in the religious sense exposes a fundamental misunderstanding of who the Jewish people are.
So @ZohranKMamdani@NYCMayor and your wife @RamaDuwaji, @EinatWilf and I made ZIONisM for moments like this.
As Dara Horn said, the Jewish people predate today’s categories. We are Am Yisrael. The People of Israel.
Less than 5 minutes.
Now you know.
#ZIONisM
ZIONisM
By @eitanchitayat_words and @einatwilf
Zionism belongs to the Jewish people.
Others can have opinions about it.
But they don’t get to define it.
Not our enemies, not hateful mobs, not bots or useful idiots regurgitating lies on social media as if they know our history better than we do. Our national liberation movement has been recast as colonialism, racism, apartheid, and genocide, through repetition, inversion, and a sustained campaign to pressure Jews into surrendering its very meaning.
It’s only by understanding what Zionism is that we can see antizionism for what it is, too. Not the opposite of Zionism, but a comprehensive and sinister assault on Jewish life everywhere, wearing a sophisticated mask.
Enough.
In a world where the true meaning of words seems to matter less, we’ll speak up more. Where words are twisted into weapons, we’ll speak louder. Where lies spread, we’ll continue to fight for truth, because that is who we are.
We are the Jewish People. We are the People of Israel. We are Am Israel. Zionism is our identity, carried for thousands of years of exile by hope, faith, and memory, and now embodied in our survival, our sheer will, and our refusal to disappear.
Zionism is the Jewish People’s movement for self-determination in our ancestral homeland.
It affirms our rights without denying anyone else’s. It is freedom, justice, co-existence, strength, innovation, diversity, survival, indigenous rights, and so much more.
For the People of Israel, the Land of Israel is our one and only home, the only place that ever was – and the only place that ever will be.
That’s Zionism. And it’s in our souls.
#ZIONisM #IMTHATJEW
ZIONisM
By @eitanchitayat_words and @einatwilf
Zionism belongs to the Jewish people.
Others can have opinions about it.
But they don’t get to define it.
Not our enemies, not hateful mobs, not bots or useful idiots regurgitating lies on social media as if they know our history better than we do. Our national liberation movement has been recast as colonialism, racism, apartheid, and genocide, through repetition, inversion, and a sustained campaign to pressure Jews into surrendering its very meaning.
It’s only by understanding what Zionism is that we can see antizionism for what it is, too. Not the opposite of Zionism, but a comprehensive and sinister assault on Jewish life everywhere, wearing a sophisticated mask.
Enough.
In a world where the true meaning of words seems to matter less, we’ll speak up more. Where words are twisted into weapons, we’ll speak louder. Where lies spread, we’ll continue to fight for truth, because that is who we are.
We are the Jewish People. We are the People of Israel. We are Am Israel. Zionism is our identity, carried for thousands of years of exile by hope, faith, and memory, and now embodied in our survival, our sheer will, and our refusal to disappear.
Zionism is the Jewish People’s movement for self-determination in our ancestral homeland.
It affirms our rights without denying anyone else’s. It is freedom, justice, co-existence, strength, innovation, diversity, survival, indigenous rights, and so much more.
For the People of Israel, the Land of Israel is our one and only home, the only place that ever was – and the only place that ever will be.
That’s Zionism. And it’s in our souls.
#ZIONisM #IMTHATJEW
Two shirts. One identity. One Legacy.
For Father’s Day, a shirt for the Jewish men who came before us. And a celebration of our women.
We’re here because they were here first.
(In first comment + a percentage of proceeds go to Ten Gav charity.)
-
#imthatjew#mother#father
#jewish #parents
If my work resonates with you and you'd like to support my independent Jewish storytelling and advocacy:
https://t.co/bami0zax1i
https://t.co/ewziXiLFtJ
https://t.co/lJGdJ4f70V
It really helps me continue. Thanks.
As Shabbat begins in Israel, I hope you get a chance to slow down, recharge, and spend time with the people who matter most.
Wishing you and your loved ones a peaceful and beautiful one, no matter who or where you are.
Shabbat Shalom.
I was in the South with a friend when he told me about a memorial for an IDF soldier who had been killed in the war.
So, on the way home from a desert trip, we stopped by.
There was a plaque with his photo overlooking nature. When you pressed a button there, you could hear people speaking about him. You could hear music recordings his family had shared.
You could feel him.
And his name was Uri Bar-Or.
Music wasn't just something he liked, it was central to who he was. He composed complex classical works, mixing it up with rock influences and other beats. And at 18, one of the pieces he wrote was even performed by the Israeli Chamber Orchestra on his birthday.
I learned that his mentor believed he would become one of Israel's most important composers. That his talent wasn't ordinary, it was rare.
I learned that beyond music, he taught children chess, math, and physics. He shared everything he knew—guitars, drums, even magic tricks and Rubik's Cube strategies—with anyone simply because he wanted to give.
I learned that he was born in Midreshet Ben Gurion, in the desert itself. That he was described as an old soul in a young body, that the same inner voice that led him to compose also led him to enlist in the Nachal Brigade and serve as an IDF combat soldier defending our country.
After we left, we happened to drive past a house with the name Bar-Or on a sign outside with a small guitar on it. I don't fully know why, but I felt the need to knock.
Noah, his mother, who I didn't know, opened the door. I introduced myself, told her we'd just been at the memorial, that we'd heard his story and music, and she let me in.
Standing there speaking to a mother whose door I'd knocked on—a mother who waited years for her firstborn son, whom she named Uri (light) and then lost in Rafah on May 28, 2024—it's impossible to put into words.
It's hard to say anything to her.
But I promised her I'd make a tribute to her son and share it with the world - and this is it.
I didn't know Uri, but I stood in the desert and heard what he created. I stood in his family's home and felt what he left behind.
Uri left light.
Uri left music.
And somehow, out there in the desert, it's still playing.
#imthatjew