Collective Memory (3000) As we have seen, a grand narrative has evolved within Zionism; an interpretation of Jewish history, which presented historical dichotomies between the perceived golden age of the Jews in antiquity and the decline of Jewish life in the diaspora (Zerubavel 2002: 115). The narrative supported continuity and identification with Antiquity and contained a strong denial of the Diaspora period. Influenced by anti-Semitic representations of European Jewry, Diaspora Jews were depicted in Zionist discourse as old, sickly, uprooted, cowardly, manipulative, helpless and defenseless in the face of persecution, and interested exclusively in materialistic gains or, conversely, excessively immersed in religion and spirituality (Zerubavel 2002: 116). This narrative of decline was to be replaced by a narrative of progression that began with the Zionist return to the Land of Israel and led towards national redemption (Zerubavel 2002: 115). The return to Zion was to serve as a revival of native Jewish identity, which had been suppressed during centuries of exile. Through a symbolic return to antiquity, a return to the homeland, the revival of Hebrew as a national language, the renewal of the ancient Hebrew national spirit and culture, the Zionist movement sought to preserve historical continuity and incorporate a more broad future for the Jews. people (Zerubabel 2013: 174). This became increasingly evident in the mid-20th century with the idealization of the Sabra, the New Jew, who embodied the opposite qualities of the “Old Jew” of the Diaspora; the Sabra were young and rugged, bold and enterprising, direct and down to earth, honest and loyal, ideologically committed, ready to defend... middle of paper... highlight the ideology behind their purpose. Treated as myth, diaspora narratives, such as Gordon's, are valuable in illustrating how the authors and the people they represent understood the diaspora and its influence on the Jewish people. From this we can perhaps assume that Gordon lived in an era affected by disillusionment and disintegration and the narrative is a reaction to this. Gordon's essays confirm that the diaspora experience is a fundamental indicator of the identity of the “true Israel” in the Zionist vision. As we have seen, the diaspora experience is only ideological, not historical, since the experience would hardly have been as negative as the one represented by Gordon. The concept of rejection of Jewish life in the diaspora encourages the dedication necessary for the vast national homecoming enterprise implicit in Zionism (Schweid 1996: 133).