“Secular Jewish movements are doomed to failure, except for the one successful one”…
Well, yes, most people don’t have much interest in “hereness”. Judaism as a religion (like most other indigenous religious beliefs) has always been intrinsically linked with the land of Israel - that’s how original ancient Judaism was, and Rabbinical Judaism as you noted above revolves around the absence from that land. Trying to mash Judaism together with a weird foreign concept like “hereness” doesn’t work.
Zionism is the one form of secular Judaism that maintained the connection to the land, hence its success.
If it was like, impossible to translate Yiddish into Hebrew, you might have a point? But on the other hand, Yiddish is specific to one Jewish subculture, and there were plenty of secular Jewish writings in plenty of other Jewish and non-Jewish languages. That’s a very Ashkenazi-centric view.
There’s no doubt that for many Americans, identification with the State of Israel has provided a way to embrace Jewish identity without having to actually obey any inconvenient commandments or anything. But it’s not really building community in the sense I’m talking about; only a tiny minority of American Jews are actively involved in any secular Zionist organizations beyond sending the occasional check. In fact, the only secular Jewish mass organizations that are growing here are ANTI-Zionist ones like Jewish Voice for Peace.
So I take it you follow all 613 commandments (minus the ones relating to a Temple of course)? Or are you casting stones from a glass house?
That definitely hasn’t been my experience. Outside of this message board, I can think of exactly one Jewish American I know personally who does not have a strong connection with Israel.
…What does JVP have to do with Jewish organizations? These are the guys who posted a Kwanza lamp on Hannukah and printed their Seder plates mirrored. That’s some Jill “Post a Photo On Twitter Tagged ‘As A Jew’ With a Crucifix In the Background” Steinn idiocy.
Just like with any other group there are no lines.
The only unique thing about jews is that a much wider swath than the average ethnic/cultural group spends a bunch of effort trying to define where the imaginary line is.
Recently read someone answering the question “what is Judaism?” with “Judaism is showing up at the shiva when an acquaintance dies, so the family can fulfill the obligation of saying Kaddish”. THAT is to my mind the best part of our community – showing loving support for each other, and feeling obligated to do so even at times when we don’t feel like it. People have deeply meaningful emotional moments at shivas, forming memories that can provide them with lasting comfort. Do many of these moments happen during the actual minute that everyone stands up and recites a few paragraphs of Aramaic? No, but you have to do it, because that’s what makes it a shiva, not just a memorial lunch. So, really, agree/disagree with the first sentence there.
I am more or less a Reconstructionist. I don’t believe that the Torah is the literal word of God, or that the actual God much resembles the character of that name in the Torah. But I do believe that being a Jew means that the Torah imposes behavioral obligations on me. What those obligations are depends on the consensus of the community and on one’s individual conscience, but they have to exist for Judaism to be meaningful.
Do I think God cares if I put tefillin on in the morning? No. But I do it because it’s part of the package. Being Jewish means doing Jewish stuff. I have faith in the halachic system devised by centuries of Jewish genius, plus/minus Divine inspiration; I think that doing Jewish stuff will make me a better person, and I don’t think I’m smart enough to pick out which bits are important, so my default assumption is that I should try to do it all. I’m prepared to make exceptions for a lot of things, like the divorce laws and the homophobia which are just obviously wrong, but my default mode is to defer to the tradition unless there is an compelling reason not to.
So are you now claiming the right to decide who isn’t a real Jew? And condemning these people’s Jewish legitimacy specifically based on their lack of knowledge of religious tradition? I am shocked.
Which makes me wonder what your own perspective is. If you don’t have to be religious to be a Jew, is there anything you DO have to be or not be? Does it rely solely on ethnic pedigree, and if so how does that work? Are we just accepting the traditional religious definition, and if so isn’t that kind of weird if we identify as secularists? Is conversion to Judaism legitimate, and if so are there particular rules governing it, or is it purely a matter of self-identification? Do you think there are many people in the world who are falsely claiming to be (or not be) Jews? If a Jewish person converts to Christianity, are they still Jewish? Is it relevant whether or not THEY think they’re still Jewish?
(Not expecting a specific answer to every one of these questions, of course, just wondering about your general perspective)
Personally, I think there’s a lot to be said for just going with self-identification. Certainly it’s the simplest and most practical system, but I’m curious what Babale thinks.
But is this “connection” to Israel leading them to deliberately seek out other secular Zionists in their communities and actively work on forming personal relationships with them based on their shared values? If not, it’s not serving the same function as religion.
Sure, plenty of atrocities on both sides, I do not dispute that. However, the aid that the US sends to Israel does not support the activities in Gaza. I have pointed this out several times. Please read those posts-
Since the US can not stop Hamas from terrorism or the IDF from over reacting, then all the US can do it try to broker peace deals- which Hamas keeps rejecting- and the ones that Hamas does not reject- Israel does.
What do YOU think about this situation? Do you have an opinion?
No, he does not-
that “nearly 80 percent” of Gazans surveyed "said they were interested in receiving information about mechanisms for relocating to a third country
Supporting this Israeli government is supporting these atrocities, whether or not the specific arms are being used there. Money is fungible. Giving Israeli a single dollar while they’re doing and allowing atrocities means we’re aiding in those atrocities.
He literally says that the war won’t end unless Gazans leave:
“There is no real solution for Gaza in the end without migration,”
Yes, he’ll couch it in other terms – lying that Gazans want to leave, that Israel is helping Gazans, etc., but those are obvious lies. Their actions and words make it very clear that ethnic cleansing is the goal.
I’m sure 80 percent of Gazans do want to leave. I frankly wonder what is wrong with the other 20%. But given that their desire to leave is driven entirely by Israel’s actions in making their homeland unlivable, it’s horribly disingenuous to claim that Israel is doing them some favor by facilitating emigration.
Seen on Substack and cosigned: (paraphrased, not quoted)
The Palestinians deserve better terrorists than Hamas. Political violence is supposed to be a tactic used to achieve an objective, not something you do ritualistically just because you can.
So Ben-Gvir’s campaign slogan is “He Who Believes Is Not Afraid”. There’s a theme song and everything, YouTube it if you dare. Sounds very inspirational and religious.
Is it from the Bible? No, you may be thinking of Proverbs 28:14, “Happy is the man who fears always, but he who hardens his heart will fall into mischief”. Kind of the same, except exactly opposite. It almost seems as though the Bible is saying a person should be afraid of the possible negative consequences of his or her actions. Sounds pretty woke if you ask me.
So in which traditional, authoritative Jewish source did the oh so deeply religious Ben-Gvir find this line? It’s from a synth-pop song by a heavily tattooed pop singer named Eyal Golan, who was once charged with being involved in the child prostitution ring his father was running, though the charges were dropped.
There really is just nothing redeemable about the theological/political dumpster fire of Religious Zionism.
