9. Antisemitism and Zionist The 1880s & 1890s are often identified as the period of Zionism's birth. At that time a genuine cataclysm fell on Russian Jewry. But the greater the gloom & adversity of Jewish life, the more intense the recollection of ancestral pride. In the early twentieth century the Balfour Declaration was an authentic turning-point in Jewish history. Before, idea of a Jewish nation in Israel seemed a hopeless dream. But as Herzl had said, "If you will it, it is not a dream!" Dr. Kenneth Hanson, http://drkenhanson.com/