FREE ESSAY ON ZIONISM AND ZIONISTS

ZIONISM AND ZIONISTS

ZIONISM AND ZIONISTS
In the years just after World War II, Zionism (the desire to rebuild a Jewish national
presence in the Promised Land) became a popular Jewish cause all around the world. Many
Jews who were not practicing Judaism at all with religion became involved with the
establishment of the State of Israel. Even today, many years after the successful
founding of the State of Israel, there are Jews whose only real tie to Judaism is their
belief in Zionism and their support for the State of Israel. They are joined by many Jews
who are members of synagogues and support a modern Jewish religious movement, but who
also find their prime identity as Jews in the Zionist cause.
Broadly speaking, Zionists are proud that a small and struggling state made up mainly of
Jews has created a modern democracy out of what were barren mountainsides, near deserts,
and mosquito-breeding marshes. Zionists also point with pride at the ability of the
Israelis to defend their land against the claims and armies of neighboring Arab nations.
SECULAR JUDAISM
Secular Jews express their Jewish identities in a variety of ways. Some feel attached to
the State of Israel, but their Zionist leanings are not a strong driving force in their
lives. Some feel a tie to Jewish religion and attend religious services from time to
time, often on the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur , but they do not
maintain a lifelong membership in a synagogue or temple. Some secular Jews express their
identity through study sometimes returning to the study of Judaism in their later years,
sometimes seeing study as a way of searching for their roots. Often, secular Jews look
for spirituality--sometimes turning to Jewish ideas and practices, even if they never
fully return to the religious practices of their ancestors.
Some few Jews are ideologically secular. They may be atheists who do not believe in the
existence of a god. Or they may be agnostics, unsure of whether or not God exists. Among
religions, Judaism is somewhat unique in that it makes room for both atheists and
agnostics to remain Jewish. It is often pointed out that there is no positive commandment
in the Torah requiring a Jew to believe in God. When it comes to belief, the Torah
commands that Jews adhere to the laws of the covenant, which means that idolatry (the
belief in many gods) is forbidden. But a person can theoretically live an exemplary
Jewish life without a belief in God. Moreover, connection with the Jewish people is
determined by birth, not by belief. If a person is born a Jew (or converts to Judaism),
he or she is identified as a Jew. There is no question about this. Even the most
religious Jew accepts birth (or conversion) as the only criteria for membership in the
Jewish people.
ORTHODOX JUDAISM
Religious Jews today disagree on what Judaism is and what it should be. Orthodox Jews
claim to hold the true religion of Judaism. In fact, Orthodoxy only began to organize and
solidify its beliefs in the nineteenth century, in direct response to the Reform
movement. To this day, there is less agreement among Orthodox Jews about what being
Orthodox means--especially about how particular laws should be followed--than there is
disagreement in any of the other modern movements. So, for example, the State of Israel
has two ""chief"" rabbis to serve the Orthodox--one of them serving the style of
Orthodoxy (Ashkenazi) that developed in Europe and the other serving the style of
Orthodoxy (Sephardi) that developed in what today are primarily Arab lands. Among
Ashkenazi Jews, many of the Orthodox follow the laws of the Torah as explained and
expanded in a multi-volume code of Jewish law called the Shulchan Aruch that was written
by Rabbi Joseph Karo in the sixteenth century.
Generally, all Orthodox Jews believe God gave the entire Torah to Moses at Mount Sinai in
two parts--the written Torah that contains the 613 mitzvot and the spoken Torah, the oral
traditions and explanations later recorded in the work of the rabbis and sages of the
Talmud. Orthodox Jews wear a small head covering called a Kippah or Yarmulke at all
times. Orthodox Jews are required to offer three prayer services each day (one in the
morning and two offered jointly in the late afternoon/early evening), though women are
excused from this obligation so they may carry on with their tasks of running a household
and raising a family. For the same reason, women are not often encouraged to continue or
excel in their Jewish studies.
For the most part, Orthodox children are trained in Jewish parochial schools that teach
not only the full range of state required subjects but also Jewish subjects such as
Hebrew and Aramaic (and sometimes, Yiddish), Talmud, Jewish history, and Prayerbook.
Those Orthodox Jews who go on to become rabbis study at special colleges called Yeshivot
(singular: Yeshivah).
For various reasons, the Orthodox movement is the least organized of the modern Jewish
religious divisions, with several national associations claiming primacy. In some parts
of Europe--and certainly in the State of Israel, where the majority of the citizens
identify as either secular or Zionist--Orthodoxy is the largest movement. In the United
States, however, the Orthodox movement is far smaller than either its Reform or
Conservative counterparts.
REFORM JUDAISM
Reform Judaism had its beginnings in Germany in the early nineteenth century. Almost
immediately, it met with stiff political resistance from the traditional establishment
that enjoyed the support of the German government. Though the number of Reform synagogues
grew steadily in Europe, its success there was limited compared to its success among Jews
in the United States, where there was no connection between the organized Jewish
community and the government.
Born in a time when scientific and critical study began to triumph over superstition and
entrenched thinking, Reform Jews believe that the Torah was written and edited by human
beings (though some profess the belief that the Ten Commandments were written by Moses
and given to the people at Mount Sinai). Nonetheless, Reform Jews generally believe that
the Torah and its ideas are inspired.
Reform Judaism does not hold that one must wear a kippah, or that one must pray three
times a day. The emphasis in Reform Judaism is on ethics: how a Jew should behave. But
even when it comes to ethics, Reform Judaism does not follow a single guidebook. Instead,
Reform Jews are required to study as much as possible and to make intelligent choices
based on what they have learned. Reform Jews generally send their children to afternoon
or Sunday schools in addition to regular public schools. In these religious schools,
children study the beliefs and practices of Reform Judaism, Jewish history, customs and
ceremonies, and so on.
Reform rabbis are not trained in yeshivot but attend a special graduate school called the
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (with branches in New York, Los
Angeles, and Cincinnati), studying for five years after they have completed their regular
undergraduate college degrees elsewhere. Reform Judaism encourages women and men to
conform to the same standards of ethical practice, ritual behavior, and study. In fact,
the Reform movement pioneered the ordination of women as rabbis.
The Reform movement currently has the largest membership of any Jewish religious group in
the United States. It is well represented in Europe, Asia, Mexico, and Australia; and, in
recent years, it has had some limited success in Israel, as well.
CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM
The Conservative movement emerged in Germany and America in the last century. The early
leaders of Conservative Judaism broke away from the German Reform movement in order to
pursue a middle route between radical reform and reactionary stagnation. In America,
leaders of the Reform movement actually helped to establish Conservative Judaism in the
early twentieth century, in the belief that the new Jewish immigrants coming from Eastern
Europe could identify more easily with Conservative Judaism than with Reform.
Most Conservative Jews believe that some kind of divine revelation took place at Mount
Sinai. Some maintain that the written Torah was given to Moses. Others agree with the
Reform movement, saying that the Torah is divinely inspired, but the work of human
hands.
Especially when it comes to Jewish law, Conservative Judaism takes a stance between plain
reason and blind reliance on tradition. Unlike the Orthodox, Conservative Judaism
believes that Jewish law should be continually examined to meet the needs of every new
generation. Unlike the Reform, Conservative Judaism maintains that Jewish law should be
modified by rabbis and sages, and not by individual Jews.
Conservative Judaism teaches that Jews should offer three prayer services daily and
follow other traditional customs, such as wearing a kippah when praying (some
Conservative Jews wear a kippah at all times, as do Orthodox Jews). But Conservative
Judaism also tries to accommodate the modern world. Conservative Jews generally send
their children to public schools, supplementing this with religious schooling several
times a week Conservative religious schools emphasize the Hebrew language and knowledge
of the Bible.
Conservative Jews prepare to be rabbis at the graduate school called the Jewish
Theological Seminary in New York or the University of Judaism in Los Angeles.
Conservative Judaism originally opposed the idea of women serving as rabbis, but in the
last few years many women have graduated the Jewish Theological Seminary and gone on to
serve as Conservative rabbis.
At one time, Conservative Judaism was the largest movement in the United States, but its
popularity has dwindled in recent years. Like the Reform movement, it is represented in
countries around the world (with an especially large following in Great Britain) and it
has made some in-roads in the State of Israel.
RECONSTRUCTIONIST JUDAISM
The newest of the four modern Jewish religious movements in the United States is the
small Reconstructionist movement. This movement broke away from Conservative Judaism in
the 1920s to follow the teachings of the brilliant rabbi, Mordecai Kaplan. Kaplan felt
that Judaism needed, not small changes, but a ""reconstruction"" for our time. Kaplan''s
idea of God was unique in Judaism, for while all Jews believed that history was an
important aspect of the Jewish religion, Kaplan viewed history as the unfolding of God in
the world. In this light, God could be said to be the sum total of all things that are,
were, and are yet to be.
In its philosophy, Reconstructionist Judaism differs from Conservative Judaism. In
practice, however, Reconstructionist Judaism adheres closely to its parent.
Reconstructionist Jews generally send their children to public schools and to afternoon
or Sunday religious school for instruction in Hebrew and Judaism. As in the Conservative
and Reform movements, students train to be rabbis at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical
College (Philadelphia) only after completing four years of undergraduate work at another
university. The Reconstructionist movement has always been a staunch supporter of
women''s rights in Judaism. Indeed, the first recorded ceremony of Bat Mitzvah was held
for the daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan. Women in the Reconstructionist movement are
encouraged to become rabbis and the first ordination of a Reconstructionist woman rabbi
was held in 1974, only two short years after the first Reform woman was ordained.
HASIDIC JUDAISM
Hasidic Judaism is a very vocal sub-group that wields influence beyond its small numbers.
Its beginnings can be traced to the late 1700s, but the group that calls itself Hasidic
today bears little resemblance to its early progenitors. Hasidic Judaism began in an
honest effort to restore the joy of Judaism to the average Jew. It succeeded due to the
charisma of its early teachers; and where it continues to succeed today, it is still due
to charismatic central leaders who are known as rebbes (a Yiddish term used instead of
the term, rabbis). Like many other reactionary movements, the main idea of Hasidic
Judaism is that Jews should stop living in the modern world and return to ""the good old
days."" On close inspection, however, ""the good old days"" (that is, the
eighteenth-century world which Hasidism represents in both dress and practice) were
really days of oppression and ignorance for the average Jew. It was only in such a world
that Jews could have given credence to the claims that their rebbes worked miracles,
cured illnesses, and exorcised demons.
One group of modern Hasidim--the followers of the Lubavitch rebbe who call themselves
Habad (often spelled, Chabad) Hasidim--have proven very canny in the use of modern media
to get attention. Their persistent and growing presence on the Internet, for example,
makes it seem like they number in the millions while quite the opposite is the case.
Despite their outward look of modernity, their medieval roots were recently exposed when
their rebbe died. He was soon proclaimed by his followers to be either the messiah or a
harbinger of the messiah. Huge billboards called for the dead rebbe''s resurrection. It
is easy to see that such a call for the resurrection of a charismatic leader is outside
the character of mainstream Judaism and has been so since at least the first century,
C.E.
In terms of belief, the Hasidic movement hardly differs from the Orthodox movement,
except that it is consistently more stringent and less modern. While study is encouraged
for men and boys, women are accorded a lower place in Hasidic Judaism than they are in
any other Jewish religious group. Unlike the vast majority of Jews in this or any other
age, the Hasidim read the Bible as the literal word of God believing, for example, that
the world was actually created in seven days. Hasidic Judaism is also cult-like in its
demand for complete and blind faith on the part of its adherents who live in small
tightly knit, carefully controlled communities.
The Hasidic movement is the smallest Jewish religious group in the world Like many other
radical, rightwing movements in the history of Judaism, Hasidic Judaism is probably
vestigial--the last gasp of a movement which once brought new vigor to the Jewish world.
Ironically, early Hasidism was the exact opposite of present day Hasidism--it set out to
be a liberalizing influence in a Jewish world that was itself moving toward the radical
religious right.
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