This dissertation is dedicated to the question of whether Zionist tendencies can be traced back to the founder of Yiddish theatre, Abraham Goldfaden, and if so, how these Zionist tendencies were manifested and incorporated into the plot of Goldfaden's plays and how his work can be classified in relation to other Zionist plays. Furthermore, the historical background, an overview of the development of Yiddish theatre and its performance practice as well as Goldfaden's life and work is given. Four selected plays by Goldfaden are analysed for this purpose and references are made to Biblical texts and legends from the Talmud and Ma'assebuch. Additionally, a comparison is made with censorship texts. A special feature is the analysis of Goldfaden's Ben Ami, as there is no printed version of this play to date.