In 1949, the two chief rabbis of the nascent State of Israel were charged with the task of composing a prayer to give liturgical expression to this new moment in Jewish history. In keeping with the rabbinic injunction to pray for the welfare of the government, they formulated a blessing, with some help from the distinguished author S.Y. Agnon, which is still recited on Shabbat and festivals in congregations identifying with some version of Religious Zionism. The most memorable phrase in this blessing describes the State as reshit tzemichat geulatenu, the first flowering of our redemption. This expression is at the heart of the current chapter, and it serves as a way in to the sensitive question of Zionism and the contemporary State of Israel. With the help of a Talmudic tale concerning the crossing of a mythical river, the chapter offers a framework within which the challenges and opportunities represented by the State of Israel are discussed. The chapter espouses a conditional Zionism, supporting the Jewish national project so long as that project allows for Palestinian national aspirations to be recognized. The contrasting views of two Reform rabbis, Judah Leon Magnes and Emil Fackenheim, are employed to illustrate the complexity and the urgency of the issues at hand.