In Judaism, the categories of “new” and “old” are often intertwined, as in the verse from the book of Lamentations recited each time the Torah scroll is returned to the ark during synagogue worship, in which the worshipper pleas, “Renew our days as of old!” (Lam. 5:21).
Israel is a great example of this. Zionism is both ancient and modern. As a political movement, it is modern, dating back to the 19th century. As a value, it is an ancient idea rooted in our oldest sacred texts. Indeed, this joining of the old and new is the essence of the name of Israel's commercial and cultural hub—Tel Aviv—the Hebrew name given to Theodor Herzl's book Altneuland, meaning “Old-New Land.”
How can we view the relationship of the old, the new, and the act of renewal, through a conversation between the old words of sacred texts and the new words of modern Hebrew song and philosophy?