A central figure in the Hovevei Zion (lovers of Zion) movement, Lilenblum (1843-1910) is a celebrated author, philosopher and religious leader in the European Jewish community. Beginning his career believing that education for Jews and non-Jews alike is the guarantee to tolerance of Jews in Europe, he is shocked by the violence that occurs in the 1881 Pogroms in Russia, changing his opinion on the possibility of tolerance for Jews. He begins advocating for the creation of a Jewish national consciousness, writing the article “Obshcheyevreiski Vopros i Palestina,” where he speaks about the reestablishment of the Jewish community in Palestine as the solution to the Jewish question.