Atchalta De'Geulah

In the Talmud, Atchalta De'Geulah is the period of time before the coming of the Jewish Messiah takes place. It is the core idea of the Religious Zionist movement.

Origins in the classical texts

In the Jewish classical texts, from the Gemara and on, one may find many characterizations of the various stages of the redemption. Among the most notable of them are:

Difficulties and sufferings - as is stated: "Let him come, but let me not see him" - b. Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin, 98b
Growth of the Plants in the Land of Israel - In the Gemara, it is stated: "There is no more revealed end than this" - b. Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin, 98a
Jewish reign in the Land of Israel - As the words of the Amora Samuel utters: "There is no difference between this world and the days of the Messiah, except bondage of foreign powers" - b. Talmud, Tractate Berakoth, 34b; words that later were ruled to be an Halakhaic law by Maimonides in his work Mishneh Torah
Wars that the People of Israel participate in - "In the sixth year will be thunderings, in the seventh wars, at the end of the seventh, the son of David will come? War is also the Atchalta De'Geulah" - b. Talmud, Tractate Megillah, 17b

Religious Zionist attitude

One of the fathers of the Religious Zionist Movement, a movement whose belief is that redeeming the Land of Israel and the establishment of the state of Israel will bring about the Jewish Messiah, was Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook. In numerous references, he called his time Atchalta De'Geulah. In his epistle from 1918, he writes:
His son, Zvi Yehuda Kook, one of the main spiritual leaders of the Israeli settlement movement, following Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, in his work "Lenetivot Israel", reinforces his Atchalta De'Geulah argument for having an agricultural prosperity, which he views with favour, as is stated in the Gemara:
The principal learning textbook of the Religious Zionist movement is the book of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Kasher, HaTekufah HaGedolah, in which he explains the meaning of our times, according to the Religious Zionist view. Some additional textbooks that convey this world view are: Rabbi Yitzhak Dadon book, Atchalta Hee, and Rabbi Ya'akov Moshe Bergman's book, ''Can the state of Israel be the Atchalta De'Geulah?''

Haredi Judaism attitude

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. Regardless, some of the Haredi community, either outside or within the State 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:

Atchalta De'Geulah - the beginning of the redemption ;
Ikveta De'Meshicha - the footsteps, of The Messiah.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who was a strong supporter of Israel, 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 ".
Israel Eldad wrote in an article in one of the major Israeli daily newspapers, Yedioth Ahronoth, about visiting the Lubavitcher Rebbe:

"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."