“Zionism without Judaism is empty.” Well said, but here endeth not the lesson. I submit that Humanity without Judaism is empty. Without the Jews, the world will have lost its guardians of the “Instruction Manual.” Without the Jews, the world will have lost its guiding light. Without the Jews, the Good Lord may conclude that there are no more righteous men (or women) living in Sodom and Gomorrah and “fffooomm”, gone in a flash. Move on to the next planet, start over, and wait another million years. As long as the Jews survive, we all survive.
Thankfully, it can be said that Zionism has been achieved. The re establishment in 1948 of modern day Israel in its original homeland.
Others would say that Zionism will be accomplished when all world Jewry make Aliyah.
Since I believe there will always be a diaspora of our people, better to believe Zionism is not outstanding, and was achieved with the wonder of our magical modern nation .. 💙🇮🇱 🎗️🎗️
Beautifully written. "It was spiritual alchemy, where prayers became passports and tears became blueprints" -- as great a sentence as was ever put on paper.
Definition of conventional definition of criticism in a nutshell is judgmentalism, usually condemnatory. Compare that to critique, which engages in detailed, analytical evaluation.
Considering that anti-Zionism is the rejection of the right of Jews to self determination in their ancestral homeland, something anti-Zionists would never deny any other national peoples, anti-Zionism is ergo by definition antisemitic.
"To suggest that Zionism is somehow “colonialism” is to erase thousands of years of Jewish connection to the land. No other people on earth has maintained such an unbroken link — through scripture, ritual, language, and longing — with a particular place."
Missing from the observation is the crucial fact that Jews have maintained a physical 3,500+ year unbroken presence on their unceded ancestral territory.
"it has been said that Zionism without Judaism is empty, while Judaism without Zionism is crippled."
Worse — Judaism without Zionism is a scraggly capon: it rejects the Covenant, and without the Covenant, Judaism is merely the hollow legalistic rote tradition many Christians have long typified it in their dismissal of there being any intrinsic value, meaning, or worthiness to Judaism.
A fine essay! I love seeing these scholarly arguments, like Talmudic debates, but with a clear winner. It worries me that many do not even listen, let alone care about it. It bothers me that some Jews appear allied with outsiders against the very existence of a Jewish state. It worries me more, now that we have re-established the "temple" - the country of Israel itself - that history is straining to repeat itself. Without support, the next destruction of the temple could be the worst. The US government has so far been reliable. But politics here has rapidly become more a game of profit and loss without allegiances. Not that the last administration was better as it advised Israel to do nothing after October 7. The US and western mass media have become outlets for jihadist propaganda and false victimhood. White supremacists are happy to join after eighty years of living in the woodwork. Anti Zionism, to paraphrase Mr. Hoffman, is antisemitism.
Jews after emancipation in European lands did their best to discard Jewish identity publicly including rabbinic Judaism. Jews who were motivated by Zionism returned and built vigorous communities that were rigidly socialist and rejected all holidays that were only "religious" such as Yom Kippur. (I worked and studied Hebrew on one) Jews in the Ottoman lands were clearly Jews as faith identity was the community to which you belonged. Like European brethren North Africans did their best to be like the surrounding culture and with emancipation by the French adopted that language and French ways, not Arabism. Consequently no Jews in Algeria. A lot of contradictions in Jewish History. Rejection of Zionism by some Jews today gets a lot of coverage. "Open Hillel" to allow anti Zionism as legitimate Jewish expression. "asajews" in jvp and code pink hog the spotlight. see B. Sanders, made aliyah to all white Vermont to be the standard bearer of the oppressed. None or very few are in any way Judaically Jewish. For me, always drawn since I'm a kid to Zionism and Israel, there is no base or meaning in my Judaism without the Land of Israel. And the modern independent State of Israel. When I have visited....I feel at home. One of my kibbutz friends answered me.....not her...she saw the Jews as foreign to "Palestine" even as she worked on a socialist kibbutz. I didn't get that then and I don't now.
“Zionism without Judaism is empty.” Well said, but here endeth not the lesson. I submit that Humanity without Judaism is empty. Without the Jews, the world will have lost its guardians of the “Instruction Manual.” Without the Jews, the world will have lost its guiding light. Without the Jews, the Good Lord may conclude that there are no more righteous men (or women) living in Sodom and Gomorrah and “fffooomm”, gone in a flash. Move on to the next planet, start over, and wait another million years. As long as the Jews survive, we all survive.
Yes!
Yes, correct.
Although I'm not on board with an actual god, I think we can trace much that is valuable and ethical in our western Enlightenment to the Jews.
You ARE a phenomenon. Mazel Tov. The Force IS with you. Hatzlacha. Toda rabah.
Very nicely said, Josh.
Zion, its -isms and -ists, are of G-d. “…the Lord has founded Zion…” Isaiah 14:32.
Thankfully, it can be said that Zionism has been achieved. The re establishment in 1948 of modern day Israel in its original homeland.
Others would say that Zionism will be accomplished when all world Jewry make Aliyah.
Since I believe there will always be a diaspora of our people, better to believe Zionism is not outstanding, and was achieved with the wonder of our magical modern nation .. 💙🇮🇱 🎗️🎗️
This is so beautifully written. Thank you.
Beautifully written. "It was spiritual alchemy, where prayers became passports and tears became blueprints" -- as great a sentence as was ever put on paper.
"far-Left Jewish critics of Israel"
Definition of conventional definition of criticism in a nutshell is judgmentalism, usually condemnatory. Compare that to critique, which engages in detailed, analytical evaluation.
Considering that anti-Zionism is the rejection of the right of Jews to self determination in their ancestral homeland, something anti-Zionists would never deny any other national peoples, anti-Zionism is ergo by definition antisemitic.
"To suggest that Zionism is somehow “colonialism” is to erase thousands of years of Jewish connection to the land. No other people on earth has maintained such an unbroken link — through scripture, ritual, language, and longing — with a particular place."
Missing from the observation is the crucial fact that Jews have maintained a physical 3,500+ year unbroken presence on their unceded ancestral territory.
"it has been said that Zionism without Judaism is empty, while Judaism without Zionism is crippled."
Worse — Judaism without Zionism is a scraggly capon: it rejects the Covenant, and without the Covenant, Judaism is merely the hollow legalistic rote tradition many Christians have long typified it in their dismissal of there being any intrinsic value, meaning, or worthiness to Judaism.
A fine essay! I love seeing these scholarly arguments, like Talmudic debates, but with a clear winner. It worries me that many do not even listen, let alone care about it. It bothers me that some Jews appear allied with outsiders against the very existence of a Jewish state. It worries me more, now that we have re-established the "temple" - the country of Israel itself - that history is straining to repeat itself. Without support, the next destruction of the temple could be the worst. The US government has so far been reliable. But politics here has rapidly become more a game of profit and loss without allegiances. Not that the last administration was better as it advised Israel to do nothing after October 7. The US and western mass media have become outlets for jihadist propaganda and false victimhood. White supremacists are happy to join after eighty years of living in the woodwork. Anti Zionism, to paraphrase Mr. Hoffman, is antisemitism.
Toda. Shared broadly.
Jews after emancipation in European lands did their best to discard Jewish identity publicly including rabbinic Judaism. Jews who were motivated by Zionism returned and built vigorous communities that were rigidly socialist and rejected all holidays that were only "religious" such as Yom Kippur. (I worked and studied Hebrew on one) Jews in the Ottoman lands were clearly Jews as faith identity was the community to which you belonged. Like European brethren North Africans did their best to be like the surrounding culture and with emancipation by the French adopted that language and French ways, not Arabism. Consequently no Jews in Algeria. A lot of contradictions in Jewish History. Rejection of Zionism by some Jews today gets a lot of coverage. "Open Hillel" to allow anti Zionism as legitimate Jewish expression. "asajews" in jvp and code pink hog the spotlight. see B. Sanders, made aliyah to all white Vermont to be the standard bearer of the oppressed. None or very few are in any way Judaically Jewish. For me, always drawn since I'm a kid to Zionism and Israel, there is no base or meaning in my Judaism without the Land of Israel. And the modern independent State of Israel. When I have visited....I feel at home. One of my kibbutz friends answered me.....not her...she saw the Jews as foreign to "Palestine" even as she worked on a socialist kibbutz. I didn't get that then and I don't now.
You’ve beautifully captured the heart and soul of being a Jew, Joshua.
Well done Joshua!
May the Lord G-d bless, keep, guide, and make you fruitful in His service…
Brilliant. Very poetic yet very true. Thank you for a great essay that puts everything into perspective
Joshua. What a beautiful piece. Started my day with a feeling of warmth and wanting to ensure that I do my mitzvah
The Torah gave an identity to the 12 tribes that we call Judaism today.
Unlike Christianity or Islam, Judaism is not simply an identity of Torah and Orthodox interpretation, but a national one.