Zionism

The prophetic project of return — and what it must yet become.

Political Zionism Is Autonomy

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Morning meditation on political Zionism:

The political component to Zionism is not Jewish sovereignty over the land.

According to Jewish tradition, the Creator was, is, and forever will be the sovereign over this land and all lands. We are just migrants, tenants granted the right to reside here and the responsibility to live with the land’s sanctity and natural sensitivity to injustice.

What political Zionism seeks to promote is Jewish autonomy.

The freedom to rule ourselves according to our laws and values, without external oppression, persecution, or pressure to participate in a supremacist social hierarchy.

Jewish people believe that the Creator brought us to this land in order for us to exercise that freedom, in safety, security, and holiness. Over the millenia our ancestors lived, prayed, and died in this land, our traditional culture was born and flourished in its mountains and its plains, its coasts and its wilderness.

But land – protected space – is just a precondition for full autonomy.

Full autonomy, according to Jewish tradition, finds expression in lawful self-governance. The בן חורין autonomous individual is the one paradoxically bound by the laws of the Torah. As a nation, full autonomy is found in our laws.

“The tablets were inscribed with autonomy”

Physically returning to the land is inarguably necessary.

Mentally healing from the exile is essential.

But the political goal of the re-establishment of Israelite civilization in the land of Israel is the reassertion of Israelite autonomy – and that comes through the establishment of a fully-functioning lawful society.

“There is no sanctity except in the Laws”

In the merit of our rejoicing in both the Torah and the return of our captive brothers to the embrace of our national family, may we merit to achieve full autonomy in this land in the establishment of a lawful, just, and holy society dedicated to the liberation and elevation of all sentient beings through the civilizational program of our sacred Torah. You know, political Zionism. 😉

The Road Leads to Zion

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Yesterday I saw a video of an execution on Facebook.

A row of kneeling men, shot in the head from behind.

The person who shared the video asserted that the shooters were Hamas soldiers, the victims were men accused of “collaboration” with Israeli forces. From what little I could tell, this was the case.

This event happened after the ceasefire went into effect and while the kidnapped Israeli captives were being returned to Israel.

Like the war itself at the beginning, I accept this ceasefire now for its necessity while harboring many questions and doubts.

It is necessary to stop bombing Gazans without a strategy or endgame or even evaluation of our tactics. It is necessary to rescue our kidnapped citizens. It is necessary to chart a new course forward, that neither abdicates responsibility for the populations of Gaza and the West Bank nor supports fascist enemies as “assets” for political expediency.

But there are many points in Trump’s updated Biden Plan that raise eyebrows, if not red flags. And the key security assurances depend on Hamas disarming, accepting an international transitional force, and withdrawing from Gaza.

None of which they have agreed to do.

While they apparently reorganize as a “police force” and execute Gazan dissidents.

Look, I’m glad the kidnapped captives are reunited with their families. I’m glad the airstrikes have stopped. I have deep gratitude to the Creator for these undeniably good things, and I recognize that neither our relationship with divine justice nor the tools it utilizes to achieve its implacable ends, are uncomplicated or pure.

But this deal – Biden’s deal – is a bad deal.

As much as I detest Benjamin Netanyahu for being a generally incompetent and criminal prime minister, and for unnecessarily prolonging this war in particular, this deal was and is a bad deal.

And if Donald Juniper Trump contributed to this deal, what he contributed was political pressure and/or guarantees (the ol’ carrot and stick) to Benjamin Netanyahu in order to persuade him to accept a bad deal.

It’s unsurprising that POTUS would be so proud of a bad deal for Israel (and Gazans, if we’re being honest). The mess he’s proudly made of his own country suggests that he’s not the man to bring about peace in the Middle East.

(So, no Noble Prize for him.)

But it seems that Israelis and Palestinians will be footing the bill for this deal in years (if not months) to come. (More exemplary leadership from the worst prime minister in Israeli history.)

But where does that leave us?

We still have a democracy. As the war (or this round of it) officially draws to a close, we can turn our focus to next year’s elections and the long-overdue investigations of the politicians and bureaucrats responsible for October 7. There is no longer any political excuse for delaying action on these crucial matters. For two years we’ve held off on holding our leaders accountable. The bill has come due.

We still have joy. Communities across Israel had a dual celebration last night and today – the regular celebration of the Torah on the eight day after the joyous festival of Sukkoth, which was stolen from us for two years and only resumed today – and the unprecedented celebration of the release and reunification of kidnapped captives with their families and friends and people, after they were stolen from us two years ago. Across Israel, we sang “the children have returned to their land” like never before. That joy was palpable and is a source of great power, if we nurture and bring it with us into the days ahead.

We still have each other. Despite every effort by the Russo-Sino-Iranian Axis to isolate and turn the world against Israel; to coerce Gazans into embracing Hamas; to radicalize Israelis and Palestinians, and their respective supporters, against each other – despite the horrors and devastation and trauma of war and occupation and loss, the bridges burned and the alliances torched in the livestreamed shock of rubble and bodies, the skyrocketing mistrust of the other’s intentions and good faith – despite this dirty diaper of a deal that neither ensures Israelis’ security nor grants Palestinians autonomy – Israelis and Palestinians here in this land are still talking to each other, quietly, two here and three there, as neighbors and fellows bound to the same land with the same fate. So much went so wrong in the wake of Oct 7, and we’re slowly picking up the pieces – together.

I don’t know what bends, twists, and dangers the road ahead will bring.

But I know where the road leads.

Peace. Justice. Security.

For all.

Zion.

Reckon with the Devastation

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This will make some people irrationally mad but: Zionism must reckon with the devastation of Gaza.

We’ve left behind the naive days when we waged war solely and wholly in self-defense, with great concern and cunning strategy to decisively end wars with as little human, moral, economic cost as possible.

Rejecting the blood libels and insulating ourselves from the propaganda is insufficient in light of our public failure to meet our professed standards of conduct and policy in Gaza.

Correct assignment of moral agency and culpability to Hamas for instigating and doing their part to prolong the war is insufficient in the aftermath of what we, together, wrought in Gaza.

Even if the bombs were meant for the deserving, even if steps were often taken to protect the undeserving from the bombs, the net result has been thousands dead that should have lived and they too have a claim on our dream of Zion.

Zionism is about return.

Return to the nation.

Return to the land.

Return to the covenant.

Return to right relationship.

Now as we end this miserable war, we must return to our senses and show the world what it means to return to the right way.

What return to the unfinished dream of Zion, as a nation of individuals with agency and autonomy, truly looks like at home and on the world stage:

– a just and peaceful law-abiding society
– a symbiotic relationship with the land
– a common culture of beautiful holiness
– a sanctuary for all human beings, created in the divine image

And furthermore.

In the name of building the Zion of which we have dreamed for millenia – in the name of return – it is not enough that we bring about the rebuilding of and return to Beeri and Nir Oz.

We must do everything we can to rebuild and encourage the return of Gazans to their homes, their communities, their lives.

Yes, Gazans – those who have unfathomably suffered for the past two years as they scrambled for cover trapped between Hamas and the IDF, deserve to return home no less than any Israeli.

We must reckon with their loss at our hands, just as we must reckon with our own – and build Zion from the ruins of Beeri and Gaza together.

At this delicate and uncertain time, on the eve of the Hebrew anniversary of the attempted genocide that started this horrific war, when so much about the future remains unknown and opaque to us – I pray that the Creator of all hearts accept our prayers for a just peace, for an end to wicked injustice and cruel violence, for the remaining kidnapped hostages to be reunited with their families, for a rebuilt Gaza, and for a day when awareness of our common Creator fills the world like the waters of the ocean.

Thoughts on Zionism

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Random thoughts on Zionism (ok not random they were points missing in someone else’s overview of Zionism but they will be random to you):

– traditionally Jewish politics put God in the position of sovereign and the nation of Israel in the position of contingent steward/tenant; Zionism is about autonomy, not sovereignty (and for many supporters of Israel, the real fear is a loss of that autonomy)

– Zionist branding worked because the national aspiration for a holy and just society, and the cultural meaning of Zion, already existed in the biblical literature and liturgy for thousands of years

– modern political Zionism starts with Doña Gracia Nasi’s organized purchases of land in the 16th century for the express purpose of re-establishing Jewish settlement in Israel and points to the direct connection between Jewish disenfranchisement as a diasporic minority and the need for Jewish landed autonomy

– religious Zionism may be redundant but insofar as it’s a valid label it can be used to describe many Zionist groups in the 19th and 20th century, and such Zionist leaders as R Abraham Isaac Kook z”l without mention of whom no discussion of religious Zionism can be complete

PSA on Palestine

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PSA to both Leftists and Right-Wingers:

If all you know about the situation in Palestine is derived from memes and viral posts, and you haven’t done any research into the history of this land, or learned about the peoples who come from it, or even just talked to both Palestinians and Israelis who have lived here for generations – then the most responsible and helpful thing you can do for us is to support BOTH Palestinians AND Israelis in creating a just and peaceful society that respects the rights of all the residents of this land, and offers us all a chance to pursue our happiness safely and securely.

Otherwise, you are choosing an arbitrary side in a contrived conflict that is fueled by propaganda, ignorance, and hate.

Furthermore.

Zionism does not demand uncritical and unwavering fealty to a policy or to a government or even to society itself. The biblical prophets railed against the corruption, injustice, and violence of their society in their day – in the name of Zion.

Zionism – consistently from the days of the Hebrew bible through the modern political era – does demand a commitment to justice, based on the recognition of the image of God in which every human being is created. Rebuilding Gaza and ending the military administration of civilian populations are both entirely consonant with that central demand of Zionism.

If you support Zionism, then you should logically support justice for Palestinians as an integral part of establishing Zion in justice.

If you support justice for Palestinians, then you should logically support Zionism not just as a historically necessary complement to that cause but as the very means to actualizing its success.

Nothing about this situation is zero-sum.

And finally.

I reiterate my invitation to all Israelis and Palestinians to join me in establishing a just and peaceful society for us all in this land which is our sacred heritage. Our ancestors shared a covenant, our fates are intertwined – come, let us reason together for the sake of our grandchildren.

The Zionism I Believe In

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The Zionism that I believe in – that I study, that I pray, that I live – does not envision for the holy people of Israel a life by the sword, surrounded by enemies, condemned by the world.

It does not tell us to rule over minorities with callousness and prejudice, it does not demand of us to empower fundamentalists and bigots, it does not ask us to set our sights on anything short of the full flourishing of Torah society in this land.

It also does not require us to hide who we are, to depend on false friends, or to seek our own destruction in order to appease those who have culturally misunderstood us by choice for millenia.

The Zionism that I believe in is the dream of millions of Israelite souls who have lived, fought, built, and died for a country where we can be free to choose ourselves and our God.

It was not defeated by enemy leaders from without and it will not be defeated by failed leaders from within.

The Z Word Podcast

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NGL I kinda want to have open, honest, soulful conversations with people about Zionism in today’s world and the shared future of Palestinians and Israelis, and record them and release them as a podcast The Z Word.

Fetishizing Exile

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Everyone’s entitled to their personal opinion but people who fetishize exile do not and can not represent the Jewish nation, in any serious context.

Whether in the faculty of Harvard, the administration of the Rabbanut, the opinion pages of major media outlets, or wherever else Jewish representation matters and has meaningful consequences for Jewish autonomy.

I Have a King

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I don’t want another king.

I want the revival of the court.

The rebuilding of the sanctuary.

The return of prophecy.

The resumption of our national mission.

But I don’t want another king.

I have a King.

The Ground of All Being

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“For the world is not its place – but it is the place of the world”

The ground of all being necessarily exists, is one, and is incorporeal.

I worship the ground of all being by contemplating its uniqueness and perfection with the mind whose development it causes. In this worship, I join not just the awakened of my own species across our different countries and cultures, but all intelligent beings across all the planets and stars.

Everything else, I do to inspire, guide, deepen, and otherwise enhance that worship.