Zionism Class 03 Religious Views On Zionism

For the sake of Zion I will not be silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still, till her righteousness goes forth as radiance, and her salvation, like a burning torch. Yesha’yahu 62:1

03. Religious Views on Zionism

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Religious Support for Secular Zionism 1

The allure of Eretz Yisroel was deep amongst the Jews of Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is not surprising that those who viewed the world through the lens of Torah would look at the possibility of return to Zion from that perspective as well. Accepting the practical arguments of the Zionists, several European Rabanim saw the secular Zionist endeavor as a project that could (and should) be supported by religious Jews. This was particularly true at the beginning of the movement, when Herzl made significant efforts not to alienate religious feeling. 2

Some went even further, ascribing a religious significance to the actions of the secular Zionists. These Rabanim went on to set up an organization called Mizrachi (Merkaz Ruchani). It was founded by Rav Yitzchak Yaacov Reines (1839-1915) in 1902 at a world conference of religious Zionists in Vilna.

3

The most sophisticated and articulate proponent of this point of view was never a member of Mizrachi. Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook (1865-1935) was a Yitzchak Yaacov Reines Chasid, who learned from the Natziv (1817-1893). (1839-1915) His support for Zionism was one aspect of his unique, kabala based world view, that saw “sparks of holiness” hidden in many, unexpected, places. His tremendous scholarship and outstanding personal tzidkus made him stand out from the other Zionist rabanim. 4

In addition to seeing a spiritual significance in secular Zionism, Rav Kook was a practical man who put his ideas into action. He moved to Eretz Yisroel in 1904 and was appointed Rav of Jaffo on arrival. In 1914 he traveled to an Rav Avraham Yitzchak Agudas Yisroel convention in Europe, and was marooned there by the outbreak Kook (1865-1935 of war. On returning to Eretz Yisroel in 1918 he was appointed Rav of Jerusalem. With the creation of a National Rabinut (by the British, at the behest of the Zionist Movement) he was appointed first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisroel, in which role he served till his death in 1935.

5

The successors of the Mizrachi (and similar groups) form the National Religious Party (and its splinters) in Israel today.

Religious Rejection of Zionism 1

The Chasidim of Satmar and Munkatch in Hungary rejected Zionism as a point of principle. Holding that an attempt to establish Jewish rule in Eretz Yisroel was against the ratzon HaShem, they saw any compromise or accommodation with Zionism as wrong.

2

Rav Yoel Teitelbaum (1887-1979) the Satmar Rebbe, was the most articulate proponent of this view. In VaYoel Moshe, he writes that the Jewish People are prohibited from mass (as opposed to individual) aliya, by “oaths”. He quotes the Gemara: What are these three oaths? One that Israel not “ascend the wall” [Rashi: together, by force]: one that the Holy One, Blessed be He, adjured Israel not to rebel against the nations of the world: and one that the Holy One, Blessed be He, adjured the nations of the world not to oppress Israel overmuch. Bab. Talmud Ketubot 111a. In addition, the Zohar explains that the Jews should not delay the coming of the Geulah through our sins.

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Rav Yoel Teitelbaum (18871979)

3

The most extreme expression of this viewpoint is found amongst the Neturei Karta, leading their adherents to actively cooperate (at least on the propaganda front) with Israel’s Arab enemies.

Religious Opposition to Zionism 1

The bulk of what we would today call Charadi Jewry opposed Zionism, but for different reasons than those of the Satmerers and their allies. They saw Zionism as a form of collective assimilation. It was viewed as more seductive than the Haskala, since it preserved a form of distinct Jewish identity, whilst jettisoning the Torah content that had always defined the Jewish people.

2

Sholom Dovber Schneersohn (or the Rebbe Rashab) (1860 - 1920) the fifth Lubuvicher Rebbe, summed up the dangers of Zionism in two major points. a.

That it denied the roles of both golus and Moshiach. The way in which individual Jews were to put an end to galus was to make aliya, not through teshuvah. Geula, at the hands of Moshiach, is therefore unnecessary. b.

Rav Chaim Soloveitchik (1853-1918)

The militant secularism of Zionism. Not only was the Rav Sholom Dovber movement primarily formed by socialists, nationalists Schneersohn (1860 - 1920) and atheists, but it soon became dominated by them to such an extent that the educational institutions it established (both in Eretz Yisroel and abroad) actively sought to remove Jews from a Torah lifestyle.

3

Chaim (Halevi) Soloveitchik (Reb Chaim Brisker), (1853-1918) wrote that Zionism was a cult, “They have already proclaimed their goal to uproot the basis of the Jewish faith, and to attain it, and they have made inroads in all places of Jewish settlement so as to enlist other Jews to assist them”.

4

Even supposedly “moderate” Orthodox thinkers, such as Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch opposed Zionism.

5

From 1912, with the founding of the World Agudath Yisrael movement, this viewpoint has been identified with the Agudah and the various groups that have branched off from it.

6

The successors of the opponents of Zionism are today the Charadi parties in Israel. Their accommodation to the Zionist state highlights the divergence of their positions from the antagonists to Zionism. If, in the 19th centaury, Zionism was two steps down from Torah, and even one step down from individual assimilation, in the 20th and 21st centuries it is, perhaps, one step up from ignorance and indifference.

Secular opponents to Zionism 1

In addition to the Torah world’s opposition to Zionism, most other Jews were opposed to it as well.

2

The Reform movement, which rejected the entire concept of Jewish peoplehood, consequently rejected Zionism.

3

The Bundists, while accepting a distinct Jewish, national identity, rejected any link with Eretz Yisroel. They believed in herenkeit, the doctrine that the home of the Jews was Eastern Europe, and that their language was Yiddish.

4

In Europe, large numbers of Jews were communists and socialists, who did not particularly identify as Jews at all.

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