Orson Hyde Dedicates the Holy Land for the Return of the Jews
1841-10
Religious CeremonyDescription
LDS apostle Orson Hyde, having traveled 1840-42 on his apostolic mission, dedicated the Holy Land on the Mount of Olives for the return of the Jews. On PRIMARY-SOURCE FOOTING: four Joseph Smith Papers items (three Hyde 1841 letters plus the Times and Seasons March 1842). TWOFOLD ZIONISM framing: the gathering ran two tracks from the start — Ephraim to the American New Jerusalem, Judah to literal Jerusalem. Hyde's documented pivot from claiming fraternal Israelite kinship to conversion-as-the-gate for covenant belonging is the lineage-vs-membership question at the heart of the covenant-bloodline lane. The Zionist-faction spine of the Mormon Proselyting notebook (Research_5/185, 42 sources).
Significance
The founding act of Mormon Zionism's Israel track: the theological claim on literal Jerusalem, on primary-source footing, two tracks (Ephraim to America, Judah to Jerusalem) running from the start.
Themes