Haredim and Zionism

Haredi Jewish views on the Zionist movement

Ponevezh yeshiva on Israel Independence Day in Bnei Brak, Israel

From the founding of political Zionism in the 1890s, Haredi Jewish leaders voiced objections to its secular orientation, and before the establishment of the State of Israel, the vast majority of Haredi Jews were opposed to Zionism, like early Reform Judaism, but with distinct reasoning.[1] This was chiefly due to the concern that secular nationalism would redefine the Jewish nation from a religious community based in their alliance to God for whom adherence to religious laws were "the essence of the nation's task, purpose, and right to exists,"[2] to an ethnic group like any other as well as the view that it was forbidden for the Jews to re-constitute Jewish rule in the Land of Israel before the arrival of the Messiah. Those rabbis who did support Jewish resettlement in Palestine in the late 19th century had no intention to conquer Palestine and declare its independence from the rule of the Ottoman Turks,[3] and some preferred that only observant Jews be allowed to settle there.[4]

During the 1930s, some European Haredi leaders encouraged their followers not to leave for Palestine, where the Zionists were gaining influence. When the dangers facing European Jewry became clear, the Haredi Agudath Israel organization decided to co-operate with Zionist leaders to an extent, in order to allow religious Jews the possibility of seeking refuge in Palestine. Some Agudah members in Palestine preferred to form an alliance against the Zionist movement with Arab nationalists, but this never occurred. After the creation of the state of Israel, each individual movement within ultra-Orthodox Judaism charted its own path in their approach to the State of Israel.

A study in late 2006 claimed that just over a third of Israelis considered Haredim to be the most hated group in Israel.[5] According to a 2016 Pew survey, 33% of Israeli Haredim say that the term "Zionist" describes them accurately.[6]

## History

[edit]

### Early opposition to Zionism

[edit]

Grand Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira (d. 1937) was the most outspoken voice of Haredi anti-Zionism

In the hope of winning over the Hasidic masses to the Zionist Organization, Theodor Herzl endeavoured to garner support from one of the most prominent rabbis in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, David Moshe Friedman (d. 1903), the Rebbe of Chortkov. He maintained contact with him for over three years,[7] during which time he tried to convene a conference of rabbis in order to promote Zionism; however, nothing ever materialized.[8] Friedman had been a long-time supporter of efforts to settle Jews in Palestine on the strict condition that they adhere to Jewish law. He had in fact been an early member of Ahavath Zion, a Zionist organization that was established in 1897 with the specific purpose of informing religious Galician Jews about the plan to establish a Jewish national home. Although Ahavath Zion was successful in attracting thousands of members and numerous rabbis from smaller communities, it could not stem the rising anti-Zionist sentiment among the majority of Orthodox leaders. Besides Friedman, they simply could not persuade any of the other great Hasidic leaders to support the Zionist project.[9] The Hasidim were particularly vociferous in their opposition to Zionism and they often protested against the Zionists. They even went so far as to ban the Star of David, originally a religious symbol which only appeared in synagogues, but it had now become "defiled" by the Zionists.[10]

In 1889, Rabbi Joseph Dov Soloveichik proclaimed that early Zionist initiatives resembled the 17th-century false messianic sect which was headed by Sabbatai Zevi. His son Rabbi Hayyim Soloveichik further warned: "The people of Israel should take care not to join a venture that threatens their souls, to destroy religion, and is a stumbling block to the House of Israel."[11] When the Zionists in Brisk claimed that Zionism would stem the tide of Jewish assimilation, Soloveichik felt that what mattered most for Judaism was the quality, not the quantity of it.[12]

Powerful condemnations of political Zionism continued into the twentieth century. In 1903, Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneersohn of Lubavitch published Kuntres Uma'ayan, which contained a strong polemic against Zionism. He opposed the Religious Zionist movement, and was deeply concerned that secular nationalism would replace Judaism as the foundation of Jewish identity.[13] Rabbi Baruch Halberstam (d. 1906) took a leading role in opposing Zionism, in line with the position held by his father, Hayyim Halberstam of Sanz.[14]

In 1912, Haredi leaders in Europe founded the Agudath Israel organisation which hoped to find a "solution to all the problems facing the Jewish people in the Spirit of the Torah." From the outset, the Agudah vehemently opposed the Zionist movement's replacement of the historic religious bond to the land of Israel with secular nationalism.[15] Israel Meir Kagan stated that the fate of the Jewish nation was to remain in exile until the arrival of the Messiah.[16] But with the spread of anti-Semitism in Europe, some Orthodox leaders became more favourable towards the aims of Zionism. Rabbi Isaac Breuer implored Agudah members in 1934 "not to leave Jewish history to the Zionists", hoping that religious Jews would assist in establishing a Jewish homeland.[17] Others remained staunchly opposed, chief among them the rabbi of Munkács, Chaim Elazar Spira (d. 1937), who was the fiercest opponent of Zionism among Hasidic rabbis.[18] Spira saw Zionism as a denial of the Divine Redemption and faith in the Messiah. He even objected to Agudath Israel because of its support for immigration to Palestine. In 1936, he initiated a publication against the Zionist enterprise which was endorsed by 150 rabbis.[19] During the wartime period, Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman (1875–1941) of Baranowicze wrote a pamphlet in which he blamed the Zionists for the persecution of Jews in Europe.[20] He rejected the notion that a secular Jewish state could be considered the "advent of Redemption." The goal of Zionism was to uproot religion and Jewish tradition.[21][22] At the 1937 Agudath Israel Great Assembly in Marienbad, most discussions were devoted to the question of the Jewish State and the Nazi rise to power in Germany, and increasing anti-Semitism in Poland and Lithuania. Palestine beaconed as a refuge for the religious European masses whose situation was gradually worsening. While the majority of attendees rejected the establishment of a secular Jewish State on principle as well as on practical grounds, a minority, which was influenced by the dire situation, was in favour of it.[21]

### Concern in Palestine

[edit]

Old Yishuv

Jewish community in the Mutaṣarrifiyyat al-Quds al-Sharīf (Quds District,Shaam Province) under Usmaniyyah Khilafat rule

Key events

* Nachmanides Aliya (1263)
* Alhambra decree (1492)
* Manuel I decree (1496)
* Hebron and Safed attacks (1517)
* Revival of Tiberias (1563)
* Sack of Tiberias (1660)
* Plunder of Safed (June 1834)
* Hebron massacre (August 1834)
* Safed attack (1838)
* Jerusalem expansion
* Moshavot establishment

Key figures

* Nachmanides (d.1270)
* Joseph Saragossi (d. 1507)
* Obadiah MiBartenura (d. 1515)
* Abraham ben Eliezer Halevi (d. 1528)
* Levi ibn Habib (d. 1545)
* Jacob Berab (d. 1546)
* Joseph Nasi (d. 1579)
* Moses Galante (d. 1689)
* Moses ibn Habib (d. 1696)
* Yehuda he-Hasid (d. 1700)
* Haim Abulafia (d. 1744)
* Menachem Mendel (d. 1788)
* Haim Farhi (d. 1820)
* Aaron Hershler (d. 1873)
* Jacob Saphir (d. 1886)
* Haim Aharon Valero (d. 1923)

Economy

* Etrog cultivation
* Winemaking
* Banking
* Printing
* Soap production
* Textiles

Philanthropy

* Kollel
* Halukka
* Montefiore
* Judah Touro

Communities

* Musta'arabim
* Sephardim
* Perushim
* Hasidim

* * *

* Jerusalem
* Mea Shearim
* Mishkenot Sha'ananim
* Hebron
* Safed
* Tiberias
* Biriya
* Jaffa
* Haifa
* Peki'in
* Acco
* Shechem
* Gaza
* Kafr Yasif
* Shefa-'Amr
* Petah Tikva

Synagogues

* Great Academy of Paris (1258)
* Ramban (1267)
* Abuhav (1490s)
* Abraham Avinu (1540)
* Ari (1570s)
* Johanan ben Zakai (1600s)
* Hurva (1700)
* Tifereth Israel (1872)

Related articles

* History of Palestine (region)
* History of Israel

* Four Holy Cities
* Applicability of religious laws
* History of Zionism
* Timeline
* Pre-Modern Aliyah
* Return to Zion
* Three Oaths
* Haredim and Zionism
* Edah HaChareidis
* ShaDaR

* v
* t
* e

Within Palestine itself, the local Ashkenazi Haredi community of the Old Yishuv was opposed to Zionism.[23] As Zionist settlement was underway during the 19th and 20th centuries, they were alarmed by the influx of predominantly non-religious Jews who wished to establish a secular state in the Holy Land[24] and threatened the peaceful relations the Orthodox community had enjoyed with their Arab neighbors until this point.[25] The chief rabbi of the Ashkenazi community in Jerusalem, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, often referred to the Zionists as "evil men and ruffians" and claimed that "Hell had entered the Land of Israel with Herzl."[26] Sonnenfeld did not want the Orthodox Jewish community to become subject to secular Zionist authority.[27] The spokesman for the anti-Zionist Ashkenazi community in Jerusalem, Dr Jacob Israël de Haan, endeavoured to form an alliance with the Arab nationalist leadership and hoped to reach an agreement that would allow unrestricted Jewish settlement in Arab lands in return for the relinquishment of Jewish political aspirations. In June 1924, de Haan was assassinated by the Haganah after having conveyed his proposals to King Hussein and his sons, Faisal and Abdullah.[28]

The 1929 Palestine riots and the Nazi rise to power led to a crisis within the anti-Zionist Agudah camp. Some still hoped for a Jewish-Arab alliance against the Zionists, while others, such as Yitzhak-Meir Levin and Jacob Rosenheim faced a difficult dilemma. They felt that such an alliance would not be accepted by the masses of Haredi European Jews, yet they did not wish to cooperate with the Zionists.[26] Moshe Blau, another Agudah member, contended that, "No matter how much the Haredi hates the non-religious, heretical, apostate Zionists, he hates the despicable Arab a hundred times over." The brutal murder by Arabs of dozens of Haredi Jews in Hebron and Safed damaged the already difficult relationships between the communities.[29] In 1937, the Central Committee of Agudath Israel in the Land of Israel issued a declaration claiming that secular Jewish rule would pose a danger to Orthodox Jewry, while indicating potential acceptance of a Jewish state if it were a Halachic state. It stated:

> Agudath Israel in the Land of Israel rejects outright any attempt at despoiling the Land of Israel of its sanctity and considers the proposal to establish a secular Jewish state in Palestine as a hazard to the lofty role of the Jewish People as a holy nation. Agudath Israel in the Land of Israel declares that Orthodox Jewry could only agree to a Jewish state in all the Land of Israel if it were possible for the basic constitution of this state to guarantee Torah rule in the overall public and national life.[21]

The Agudah in Europe grudgingly began to cooperate with the Jewish Agency and other Zionist bodies in an effort to alleviate the situation facing European Jews.[30] In response to this, Amram Blau and Aharon Katzenellenbogen of Jerusalem broke away from Agudah in 1938 to form Neturei Karta who refused to have any dealing with the Zionists.[24] During the 1940s the Neturei Karta became increasingly critical of the Agudah's position and in 1945 they succeeded in expelling Agudah members from the Edah HaChareidis.[31] In 1947, Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky petitioned the UN on behalf of his 60,000 strong community that Jerusalem not be included in the Jewish state and pleaded that the city be placed under international control.[32]

### Aftermath of the Holocaust

[edit]

Before and during the Second World War, Haredi opposition to the Zionists persisted. But after the war, the devastating consequences of the Holocaust softened the position of many towards Zionism. The ultra-orthodox in Eastern Europe had been murdered in vast numbers; whole communities had been wiped out.[33] One rabbi, Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal, hiding in Budapest in 1942 and witnessing the persecution of the Jews, renounced his previous hostility to the Zionist movement, and instead strongly criticized the Orthodox establishment for not taking the lead in re-establishing the Jewish homeland.

After World War II, many Jewish refugees found themselves in displaced person camps. The Zionists controlled a camp for Jewish refugee children near Haifa, Israel where, according to the Haredi-affiliated newspaper Hamodia, they operated an anti-religious policy in an effort to cut off Haredi children from their spiritual roots. To a large extent they were successful, and many children from Haredi homes were "poisoned against religion".[34]

## Post-1948

[edit]

The relationship between Haredim and Zionism became more complex after the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. Some Haredi groups "with great reluctance permitted"[35] being involved in the political process of the state by voting in elections and accepting state funding. They maintained that since the government is not an ideological Zionist organization (as is the WZO, for example), and also they are not voluntarily choosing to join the Zionists, but rather it is like a partnership that already exists - "and if one wouldn’t participate, the other partner would take over his rights as well."[36] Others have maintained a more hardline rejectionist position, refusing all funding from the Israeli state and abstaining from taking part in the political process. The positions of specific Haredi groups are discussed in greater detail in the remainder of the article.

There is also a growing group of Orthodox Jews known as Hardalim. They are Religious Zionists who moved in their religious observances towards Haredi Judaism. Philosophically, however, they form a part of the Religious Zionist world, and not of the Haredi world.

United Torah Judaism and Shas, which advocate for a halachic state, are the only two Haredi parties in the Israeli Knesset.

Haredim who do not consider themselves Zionists fall into two camps: Non-Zionists and Anti-Zionists. Non-Zionists do not object to the existence of the State of Israel but see no religious significance in it and do not believe that it has anything to do with the messianic redemption. In their eyes, the redemption cannot be brought about through human hands. Anti-Zionists are opposed to the existence of any Jewish state prior to the coming of the Messiah. According to Aharon E. Wexler and Moshe Krakowski, Non-Zionists constitute a majority of the Haredi world.[37][38]

Anti-Zionist Haredim believe that the existence of a Jewish state prior to the Messianic era is a violation of the Three Oaths.[39] They believe that voting in Israeli elections causes one to become a “partner” in all the sins committed by the government, which includes enabling it to violate the Three Oaths.[40]

## Ideological reasons

[edit]

See also: The Three Oaths

There are many different ideological reasons for religious opposition to Zionism; however, the main two are most widely expressed by Hasidim and Lithuanian Haredim.[citation needed][dubious – discuss]

The overarching motive behind many Haredim's opposition to Zionism stems from a traditional and religious view of Jewish identity and peoplehood which runs counter to Zionism's nationalist ideology.[41][42][43] Haredim often cite the 10th century rabbinic sage Rav Saadia Goan as spelling out their national identity in terms irreconcilable with modern nationalism; as he wrote in his seminal work Emunah v’Deos (אמונה ודעות), "Our nation, the B’nei Yisrael, is a nation only by virture of its Torah (collective religious teachings)."[44] The opposition extends to ancillary parts of Zionist ideology, such as militarism[45] and organic nationalism, which they hold are incongruous with Jewish religious teachings.[46]

However, there is also an Halachic standpoint which makes the case against Zionism even if Israel would - hypothetically - have been a theocracy, where Israel would have been governed under strict Jewish laws.

Historically, many dynasties in Hasidism have expressed anti-Zionist opinions because of the "Three Oaths". The Talmud, in Ketubot 111a, mentions that the Jewish people have been bound by three oaths: 1) not to ascend to Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) as a group using force; 2) not to rebel against the nations of the world; and 3) that the nations of the world would not persecute the nation of Israel excessively.[47][failed verification] Some consider the establishment of the State of Israel to be a violation of these oaths. The first Haredi anti-Zionist movement was Agudath Israel, established in Poland in 1912.[48] Haredi groups and people actively and publicly opposing Zionism are Satmar,[49] Toldos Aharon,[50] Neturei Karta.[49]

Lithuanian Haredim, sometimes called mitnagdim, take a different approach to their beliefs from their Hassidic counterparts.[citation needed] Lithuanian religious Jews oppose the state not because of the three oaths midrash but because they feel that Zionism epitomizes secularity and Jewish desire to be void of Torah. Many Lithuanian religious Jews, such as Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, have been involved with Zionist politics[clarification needed] as Israel progressively becomes more Jewish-oriented.[citation needed][dubious – discuss]

Amongst the Ashkenazi Orthodox rabbinical leadership, religious Zionists form a minority.[51] Generally speaking, most Sephardi Haredi authorities have never shared the anti-Zionism of their Ashkenazi counterparts, and some (such as the late Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu) are strongly affiliated with Religious Zionism, taking a similar stance to the Hardal movements.[citation needed] However, there are anti-Zionist elements in the Sephardi communities as well. It is known that the late Baba Sali supported and celebrated the anti-Zionist views of the Satmar Rebbe.[52]

## Current positions of Haredi groups

[edit]

### Groups which do not recognize the State of Israel

[edit]

Members of Neturei Karta holding Palestinian flags and placards saying that "Judaism condemns the state of Israel and its atrocities" in London, 2022 Flyer in the small neighbourhood of Meah Shearim which declares: "No entry to Zionists!"

There are a number of Haredi groups which not only oppose Zionism, but also do not recognize the State of Israel. Among them are the Hasidic sects of Shomer Emunim (and its offshoots, Toldos Aharon, and Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok), Mishkenos HoRoim, and Dushinsky. In July 1947, Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, Chief Rabbi of the Jerusalem-based Edah HaChareidis, declared to the United Nations his "definite opposition to a Jewish state in any part of Palestine". The largest anti-Zionist Hasidic group is Satmar, which has around 100,000 adherents worldwide (as of 2006). The group's position was crystallized by their leader, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, who authored comprehensive and polemic tracts detailing his opposition to Zionism. He encouraged his followers who live in Israel to form self-sufficient communities, rejecting social state benefits, and not to vote in Israeli elections. He instructed his people not to visit the Western Wall and other holy sites which had been captured by Israel in the 1967 war.

One of the most extreme sects is the Neturei Karta. Formed in 1938 as a breakaway from Agudath Israel, its 5,000 members are based mainly in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh. Despite their shared opposition to Zionism, Satmar and other anti-Zionist Haredi groups are frequently critical of the activities of Neturei Karta and publicly distance themselves from them.[53]

### Groups which do recognize the State of Israel

[edit]

The Agudat Israel is an international organization (with an Israeli association) of various Haredi groups, mainly from the Lithuanian yeshiva communities and Hasidic groups such as Ger and Belz. The Agudah was initially created as an umbrella organization of Orthodox Jews who were united to fight against the Zionist movement.[54] Out of necessity and "to save from the mouth of the lion" they permitted participating in national elections and sending their representatives to the Israeli Knesset, "to actively protect what is holy to us."[55] They did not take full part in it by not serving in its military, and do not celebrate any of the State's official holidays. They are adamantly opposed to serving in the military, because of the gilui arayot, murder, and avodah zarah that exists there.[56] The Agudat Israel party in the Knesset is represented as United Torah Judaism, a collective party of Agudat Israel and Degel HaTorah. It tries to influence the Knesset with a pro-Judaism outlook, by mainly focusing on funding for Jewish education (yeshivas), exemption from military service for Haredi yeshiva students, and trying to safeguard basic rights such as freedom to practice their religion.[57] In general, the Agudath Israel position is supportive of Israel.[58]

#### Lithuanian stream

[edit]

A number of Lithuanian (non-Hasidic) leaders, like the Chazon Ish (1878–1953), Rav Shach (1898–2001), and Rabbi Yosef Sholom Elyashiv (1910-2012), have expressed strongly anti-Zionist views. Examples of this are found in lectures and letters of Rav Shach.[59] One of the newspapers of the Litvish world, the Yated Neeman, regularly publishes articles strongly criticizing Zionism, naming it a "heretical movement". The main Litvish community does vote, as per what many say were the instructions of the Chazon Ish.[60] However, some of the Chazon Ish's disciples dispute this claim.[61] Rabbi Elyashiv would urge his followers to vote for the Degel HaTorah list. Rabbi Shimshon Dovid Pincus, quoted in the book of his speeches about Purim, explains that in each generation, the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) appears in different forms. Examples he gives are the Enlightenment and communism. He goes on to explain that nowadays, Zionism is a form of the Yetzer Hara.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1895–1986), one of the American leaders of the Lithuanian Jewish world, writes in a responsum to a question whether it is permissible to pray in a synagogue which displays an Israeli flag: "Even though it is improper to bring the flags into shul, and all the more so not to keep them there permanently, and all the more so, not near the Aron Kodesh, and one should try to remove it peacefully. However, to make a fight over this is forbidden."[62]

Anti-Zionism does not translate to personal antagonism, and Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz, the Mirrer rosh yeshiva, openly displayed thanks to soldiers of the Israeli army.[citation needed]

The Soloveitchik dynasty of Lithuanian Haredi Judaism is known as one of the most elite scholastic dynasties in all of Orthodox Judaism. The dynasty split into two groups in the 20th century, as parts of the Soloveitchik Rabbinical family veered away from their anti-Zionist tradition set by Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk, and adopted views aligned with Modern Orthodox Judaism and Religious Zionism. Ironically, the Zionist faction of the Brisker dynasty is centered in the United States, and the anti-Zionist faction was, and continues to be, centered in Israel. Rabbi Meir Soloveitchik and Rabbi Dovid Soloveitchik, who lead two of the Brisker yeshivas in Jerusalem, continue to be outspoken opponents of Zionism.

#### Hasidic groups

[edit]

While ideologically opposed to Zionism, the moderate Hasidic groups of Ger, Breslov, Vizhnitz, Belz, and Klausenberg do vote in the Israeli elections, and accept Israeli government funding. Ger and Belz are two of the most influential movements behind the Israeli political party Agudat Yisrael, which, together with the Lithuanian Degel HaTorah, forms the United Torah Judaism party. Prominent Gerrer rabbi, Yitzhak-Meir Levin, was a signatory to the Israeli Declaration of Independence. He also served as Minister of Welfare, though today, members of Agudat Israel prefer to serve as Deputy Ministers, or in Knesset Committees. These groups do not observe any days associated with the state, and neither do they recite the Prayer for the State of Israel.

Agudat's position evolved into one generally co-operative with the State of Israel, with an emphasis on supporting religious activities within its borders and the maintenance of Haredi institutions. Some rebbes affiliated with Agudat Yisrael, such as the Sadigura rebbe Avrohom Yaakov Friedman, took more hard-line stances on security, settlements, and disengagement.[63]

#### Chabad-Lubavitch

[edit]

Main article: Chabad

The fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneersohn (1860–1920), also known as the RaShaB, published Kuntres Uma'ayan, the beginning of which contains a strong polemic against secular Zionism. He was deeply concerned that secular nationalism would replace Judaism as the foundation of Jewish identity. The seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, as wells as his predecessor, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, nonetheless insisted on trying to increase the observance of the Torah in Israel, both among individuals as well as to make the state's policies more in line with Jewish law and tradition.[64] He also expressed overwhelming support for the State's military endeavors, and vehemently condemned any transfers of land as against Jewish law. His reasoning was based on the code of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch,[65] which states that the Sabbath must be violated (carrying weapons) by the residents of a Jewish community (in any country) that borders a hostile Gentile settlement, even if they are threatened in the most subtle manner. He viewed the whole of Israel as such a community, and that was the impetus for his support. He argued that the safety of the Jewish people was paramount, and the physical presence of so many Jews in the land meant that its borders had to be protected as a matter of course. At the same time, he also drew support for his statements from the notion in the Torah that the land of Israel was given to the Jewish people, and that inherent Jewish ownership of the land could not be superseded by mere political interests. Nevertheless, he refused to call the state by name, pointing out that the Holy Land exists independent of any authority that sees itself as sovereign over the land.

Many Chabadniks in the world live in Israel, and there are a great deal of Chabad houses there. Their young men serve in the Israeli military. In line with the late Rebbe's instructions to vote for a party that refuses to support giving away parts of the Land of Israel as part of any peace negotiations, Chabad does not endorse any particular party in the election process.

#### Chabad Zionism

[edit]

Chabad Yeshiva students have been joining the IDF in record numbers.[66] There are Chabad synagogues that celebrate Yom Ha'atzmaut.[67][68][69]

Chabad Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg spoke at Yom Hazikaron Ceremony in Jerusalem in 2011.[70] He also lit one of the torches at the Zionist state ceremony commemorating Israel Independence Day on behalf of his grandson, Chabad Rabbi Moshe Hotzberg.[71]

Chabad Rabbi Sholom Lipskar celebrated Jerusalem Day at Yeshiva Mercaz HaRav in Jerusalem, the most prominent yeshiva in the Religious Zionist world.[72]

In 2011, Rabbi Menachem Brod of Kfar Chabad, who is a spokesman for Chabad, says the group is Zionist in its support for Israel.[73] He stated: "When the average Israeli citizen says 'Zionism', he is referring to love of the land, strengthening the state, and being close to the nation and the land, to military service. If all this is Zionism, then Chabad is super Zionist!"[74]

#### Sephardim

[edit]

Sephardic Haredim are generally more supportive of Zionism and the State of Israel than their Ashkenazi counterparts, and the number of Sephardic organisations and rabbis who remain opposed to the state constitute a small minority of the Sephardi Haredi leadership. These include the Edah HaCharedit HaSefaradit and Rabbi Yaakov Hillel, who draw their ideology from the writings of Iraqi sage Ben Ish Chai.[citation needed] The Baba Sali praised VaYoel Moshe, the polemic against Zionism written by Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum of Satmar.[75]

In 2010, Shas, the political party which represents the vast majority of Sephardi Haredim in Israel, joined the World Zionist Organization, becoming the first Zionist Haredi party in the Knesset. Shas MK Yaakov Margi claimed that "there's nothing earth-shaking about saying Shas is a Zionist party. We operate as such, we join governments and are partners in the Zionist experience, (our members) serve in the army. There's nothing new here."[76] The party's former spiritual leader, the late Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel Ovadia Yosef, forbade the flying of the Israeli flag in synagogues, calling it "a reminder of the acts of the evil-doers".[77] While serving as Chief Rabbi, he allowed the recitation of psalms of praise after prayers without a blessing on Israel Independence Day; he did not permit saying Hallel either as a part of the prayer service (where it is normally recited on holidays) nor with the customary blessings before and after that are only said on holidays.[78]

#### Chardal

[edit]

Chardal Jews usually refers to the portion of the Religious Zionist Jewish community in Israel which inclines significantly toward Charedi ideology (whether in terms of outlook on the secular world, or is their stringent (machmir) approach to Halacha); however, it is sometimes used to refer to the portion of the Charedi Jewish community in Israel which inclines significantly toward Religious Zionist (Dati-Leumi) ideology. Chardal is an initialism of the words Charedi and Dati-Leumi.

## Haredi newspapers in Israel

[edit]

The main Haredi newspapers, Hamodia, HaMachane HaHaredi, and Yated Ne'eman, occasionally publish articles strongly criticizing Zionism, naming it a "heretical movement".[citation needed] They sometimes refer to the country as "Israel", and at other times will only refer to the geographical entity as "Eretz Yisroel". The Israel news columns are almost exclusively right of centre, lambasting Arab terrorism. Articles about outreach movements in Israel and Israeli culture are very common, and are shown without ideological bias.[citation needed] Hapeles, another Israeli Hareidi newspaper has campaigned extensively for Hareidim not to be drafted into the Israeli Defense Forces. When the offices were raided and computers confiscated in 2017 the newspaper claimed that the raid was political and intended as a reprisal for their anti-draft activities.[79]

## Haredim outside of Israel

[edit]

### America

[edit]

On June 9, 2013 a rally was held in Foley Square in Manhattan, NY to protest the conscription of Orthodox Jews into the Israeli Defense Forces. Between 20,000 and 30,000 Haredim attended.[80][81] Among the speakers was Rabbi Elya Ber Wachtfogel, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Moshe in South Fallsburg, NY.

On June 11, 2017 a similar rally was held in Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Close to 20,000 Haredim attended.[82][83] The speakers included Rabbi Aaron Schechter, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Chaim Berlin, Rabbi Leibish Leiser of Pshevorsk, known as The Pshevorsker Rebbe, one of the most prominent leaders of the Haredi community of Antwerp, Belgium, and Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro, author of The Empty Wagon: Zionism’s Journey from Identity Crisis to Identity Theft. A letter was read from Rabbi Aharon Feldman, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, MD, who wasn’t able to attend in person.[84] Rabbi Schechter lambasted the attempt to draft Orthodox Jews as an assault on the essential characteristics of religious Jews.[84]

### Europe

[edit]

On June 27, 2013 Haredim protested in front of the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium against Israel attempting to draft Orthodox yeshiva students.[85][86][87] The protest was attended by Rabbi Ephraim Padwa, head of The Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations in London, Rabbi Elyakim Schlesinger, a prominent English rosh yeshiva and internationally recognized halachic authority, and Rabbi Leibish Leiser of Pshevorsk from Antwerp, Belgium.[88]

## Haredi books about Zionism

[edit]

Several books on the issue of Zionism were written by different rabbis.

### Eim HaBanim Semeicha

[edit]

Eim HaBanim Semeicha was written by Rabbi Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal, and published in 1943. Teichtal grew up as a staunch anti-Zionist Hasid of the Munkatsher Rebbe. However, during the Holocaust, Rabbi Teichtal changed his position from the one he espoused in his youth. The physical product of that introspection is the book, Eim HaBanim Semeicha, in which he specifically retracts his previous viewpoints, and argues that the true redemption can only come if the Jewish people unite and rebuild the land of Israel.[89] Many of his co-religionists viewed the book with skepticism, some going so far as to ban Rabbi Teichtal from their synagogues.[90]

In the book, Rabbi Teichtal strongly criticizes the Haredim for not supporting the Zionist movement. When it was written, it was a scathing criticism of the Jewish Orthodox establishment, and Agudat Israel in particular. He writes: "It is clear that he who prepares prior to the Sabbath will eat on the Sabbath (Avodah Zarah, 3a), and since the Haredim did not toil, they have absolutely no influence in the Land (of Israel). Those who toil and build have the influence, and they are the masters of the Land. It is, therefore, no wonder that they are in control... Now, what will the Haredim say? I do not know if they will ever be able to vindicate themselves before the heavenly court for not participating in the movement to rebuild the Land."

### Sefer Vayoel Moshe

[edit]

Main article: Vayoel Moshe

Vayoel Moshe was published by the Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum in 1961. It consists of three parts: Maamar Shalosh Shevuos (three oaths), Maamar Yishuv Eretz Yisroel (settling the Land of Israel), and Maamar Loshon HaKodesh (the holy language). The first part, discusses the three oaths mentioned in Ketubot 111a - that the Jewish people are not allowed to ascend to Eretz Yisrael by force, that the Jewish people are not allowed to rebel against the nations of the world, and that the Jewish people may not by their sins delay the coming of Moshiach, the Jewish messiah. It is primarily a book of Halacha (Jewish law). Rabbi Teitelbaum refers to Religious Zionism as a major desecration of God's name, blames Zionism for the Holocaust, and refers to Zionist leaders such as Theodor Herzl as "heretics".

### Kuntres Al HaGeulah VeAl HaTemurah

[edit]

Published in 1967 also by Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, this small book consists of inspirational polemics against Zionism as a rebuttal to those who said that the Six-Day War was a divine miracle that showed God's support for the State of Israel. Teitelbaum wrote that he did not believe anything miraculous had occurred; small, but advanced, armies often defeat far larger ones.[91] However, for those who insist that the Israeli victory was a supernatural event, it should be viewed as a test from God to see whether the Jewish people would follow the Torah or be led astray by miracles which seemed to support Zionism in the eyes of the masses. He compared this to the miracles that are often done by idolaters in support of their religions, inasmuch as Judaism is not based on miracles, but, rather, on the national revelation on Sinai.

### Ikvesa D’Meshicha

[edit]

Written by Rabbi Elchonon Bunim Wasserman, regarded as one of the closest students of Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan, better known as the Chofetz Chaim. He was a prominent rosh yeshiva and leader in Agudath Israel. It was first written in Yiddish and later translated by Rabbi Moshe Schoenfeld into Hebrew. It was printed most recently in Kovetz Mamarim v’Igeres, a collection of writings by Rabbi Wasserman on various topics published through Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon founded by Rabbi Simcha Wasserman, the author’s son.[92][93] In the book he refers to the Zionist movement as Amalek: “Those who wage war against God, if they could they would fly to heaven to do it but since they can’t they have decided to fight against the Jewish People who are God’s servants and accept His kingship. Being so, their goal is not their own benefit, rather to spite God and disgrace His honor.”[92] In the book Rabbi Wasserman details various facets of nationalism/Zionism that run counter to the fundamentals of Jewish Hashkafah (religious philosophy). Rabbi Shimon Schwab wrote Beis HaShoeivah Al Ikvesa D’Meshicha compiling and elucidating Rabbi Wasserman’s source material.[94]

### B’ayos Hazman

[edit]

Written by Rabbi Refael Reuvain Grozovsky the rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Kamenetz in Poland and later Mesivta Torah v’Daas in Brooklyn, NY as well as Yeshiva Bais Medarsh Elyon in Monsey, NY. He was the son-in-law of the venerated rabbinic leader Rabbi Boruch Ber Leibowitz and an active member of the Agudas Yisroel organization in Europe and America. The book addresses the permissibility of voting in Israeli elections which Agudas Yisroel in Israel had recently permitted. Rabbi Grozovsky writes that participation in the Israeli government is clearly a sin in Jewish law rather he questions if such a sin could be permitted in the face of the grave situation of Orthodox community living in Israel at the time and if the participation is used as a tool to combat the influence of Zionists. Throughout this discussion Rabbi Grozovsky writes adamantly that justifying the participation in Israeli elections in not to be taken as justifying the ideology of Zionism and that Orthodox Jews voting in such elections should only be viewed as a tactic to disempower the Zionists.[95]

### I Will Await Him

[edit]

I Will Await Him, published in 2018 by Yirmiyahu Cohen, argues that the establishment of the State of Israel violates Halakhah, claims it is illegitimate, and calls on religious Jews to disassociate from it.[96]

### The Empty Wagon: Zionism’s Journey from Identity Crisis to Identity Theft

[edit]

Published in 2018 by Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro.[97] The book details the incongruence of Judaism and Zionism, particularly the ideology of Zionism rather than just the practical establishment of a state in Jewish law. It received approbations from Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, head of the Edah HaChareidis in Jerusalem, and Rabbi Elya Ber Wachtfogel, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Moshe in South Fallsburg, NY and a prominent Haredi leader in America.

## Involvement with the State of Israel

[edit]

Tel Aviv, symbol of secularism, crossed out on this traffic sign in Jerusalem.

Among Haredi anti-Zionist movements, opinions differ on what attitude to take now that a state exists. Some movements remained actively anti-Zionist, while others lowered their voice; some refuse to vote, while others do vote; some accept money from the government, while others do not.

Many Hasidic Rebbes with followers in the land of Israel, including the Gerrer Rebbe, the Belzer Rebbe, the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, and others, have encouraged their followers to vote in Israeli elections.[98][99] Lubavitcher Hasidim are encouraged to join the Israeli Defense Forces,[citation needed] in order to ensure the state's security (inasmuch as the State's security is inextricably entwined with the safety of the Jewish people who live within its borders). Most other Haredi groups refuse to serve in the IDF under any circumstances including participating in National Service (Sherut L’umi).[100]

Meanwhile, the Edah HaChareidis Rabbinical Council of Jerusalem and its associated communities, including Satmar, Dushinsky, Toldos Aharon, and Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok, do not vote, and do not accept government money. Around election days, posters by the Edah HaChareidis are posted throughout Haredi neighborhoods of Jerusalem, proclaiming that it is forbidden to vote in the elections, and that doing so is a grave sin. The Edah HaChareidis and its affiliated movements have permitted co-operating with the Israeli police under extenuating circumstances.[101]

### Work force and tax contribution

[edit]

See also: Haredi Judaism § Work force and tax contribution

As of 2023-2024, Israel's ultra-Orthodox community made up 14% of the country's working-age population, but only generated 4% of the national tax revenue, so the result of an Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) study.[102] As a result, the government lost billions of shekels and the average non-Haredi worker will have to pay an additional 3,540 shekels with their 2025 taxes in order to make up for the deficit.[102] Just 54% of Haredi men were employed in 2024, and 81% of the women as of 2023.[102] While Haredi households contribute less in income taxes, their community is consuming a higher rate of state services.[102] It benefits from discounts on public transportation fares and municipal tax, and receives housing assistance.[102] The IDI researcher found this situation to be unsustainable, with the conservative Kohelet Policy Forum also recently reporting that 80% of Haredi households are net receivers, collecting more government benefits than they are paying back in taxes.[102]

## See also

[edit]

* 2013 Haredi anti-draft protests in Israel
* Conservative Judaism and Zionism
* Humanistic Judaism and Zionism
* Protest against conscription of yeshiva students
* Non-Zionism
* Reconstructionist Judaism and Zionism
* Reform anti-Zionism
* Reform Zionism
* Secularism in Israel

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Halpern, Ben (2004) [1990]. "The Rise and Reception of Zionism in the Nineteenth Century". In Goldscheider, Calvin; Neusner, Jacob (eds.). Social Foundations of Judaism (2nd ed.). Eugene, Or: Wipf and Stock Publ. pp. 94–113\. ISBN 1-59244-943-3.
2. ^ Lintl, Peter; Stiftung Wissenschaft Und Politik (2020). "The Haredim as a Challenge for the Jewish State". Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (in German). doi:10.18449/2020RP14. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
3. ^ ha-Peles; volume 3, issue 4.
* Alexander Moshe Lapidus, a strong supporter of Hovevei Zion writes in Shivath Zion (volume 1 p. 35):

There were days – at the beginning of this movement (-Hovevei Zion) – that the settlement idea had many opposes, but now the opposition is almost gone. The people are already convinced that we are not here to take over the land from the Turks with weapon and we are not planning to establish a government over there. Our only goal is to organize farmers to work in field ... so there is nothing to be afraid about hurrying the exile-end...
4. ^ "Rav Alexander Moshe Lapidus ZT"L". www.tzemachdovid.org. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013.
5. ^ "In brief: Hate for Chareidim". Jewish Tribune, London. 2006-11-02. p. 9.
6. ^ "8. Views of the Jewish state and the diaspora". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. Pew Research Center. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
7. ^ Shimoni, Gideon; Wistrich, Robert S. (1999). Theodor Herzl: visionary of the Jewish State. Herzl Press. p. 303\. ISBN 978-0-930832-08-7. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
8. ^ Rabinowicz, Tzvi (1996). The Encyclopedia of Hasidism. Jason Aronson. p. 201\. ISBN 978-1-56821-123-7. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
9. ^ Diaspora Nationalism and Jewish Identity in Habsburg Galicia. Cambridge University Press. 31 August 2012. pp. 170–171\. ISBN 978-1-107-01424-4. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
10. ^ Diaspora Nationalism and Jewish Identity in Habsburg Galicia. Cambridge University Press. 31 August 2012. pp. 172–173\. ISBN 978-1-107-01424-4. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
11. ^ Newton, Adam Z. (2001). The fence and the neighbor: Emmanuel Levinas, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, and Israel among the nations. SUNY Press. p. 233\. ISBN 978-0-7914-9144-7. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
12. ^ Śalmôn, Yôsēf (2002). Religion and Zionism – first encounters. Hebrew University Magnes Press. p. 349\. ISBN 978-965-493-101-4. Retrieved 30 May 2013. "There is no doubt that R. Hayyim expressed an extreme anti-Zionist position; when the Zionists in Brisk argued that Zionism constituted a barrier against the assimilation of western Jews, he replied that, for Judaism, the quality, not the quantity of it was essential. By limiting the concept of klal yisrael (the entire Jewish people) to the "God-fearing" alone, he was moving closer to the philosophers of German Orthodoxy."
13. ^ Goldman, Shalom (2009). Zeal for Zion: Christians, Jews, and the Idea of the Promised Land. UNC Press Books. pp. 272–73\. ISBN 978-0-8078-3344-5. Retrieved 9 May 2013. "The most eminent Orthodox rabbis of the first decade of the twentieth century, among them the Lubavitcher rebbe Sholom Dov Ber Schneersohn, issued powerful condemnations of political Zionism. In 1903 Schneersohn warned that the Zionists "have made nationalism a substitute for the Torah and the commandments... After this assumption is accepted, anyone who enters the movement regards himself as no longer obliged to keep the commandments of the Torah, nor is there any hope consequently that at some time or another he will return, because, according to his own reckoning, he is a proper Jew in that he is a loyal nationalist."
14. ^ Gershon David Hundert; Yivo Institute for Jewish Research (28 May 2008). The YIVO encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. Yale University Press. p. 1662\. ISBN 978-0-300-11903-9. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
15. ^ Eisen, Yosef (2004). Miraculous Journey: A Complete History of the Jewish People from Creation to the Present. Targum Press. p. 345\. ISBN 978-1-56871-323-6. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
16. ^ Sacks, Jonathan (1992). Crisis and Covenant: Jewish Thought After the Holocaust. Manchester University Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-7190-4203-4. "The saintly Rabbi Israel Meir ha-Cohen invoked the talmudic passage of the three oaths to remind his followers that the Jewish fate was to remain in exile until redeemed by God."
17. ^ Efron, Noah J. (2003). Real Jews: Secular Versus Ultra-Orthodox and the Struggle for Jewish Identity in Israel. BasicBooks. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-465-01854-3. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
18. ^ Haumann, Heiko (2002). A History of East European Jews. Central European University Press. p. 178\. ISBN 978-963-9241-26-8. Retrieved 9 May 2013. "In the inter-war period, the rabbi of Munkács (Mukačevo), Chaim Elazar Spira (Shapira, 1872–1937)—at that time the most resolute opponent of Zionism among Hasidic rabbis—described the three gates of Hell: "The lack of faith of many elements of European Jewry, the absolute subjugation to money in America, and Zionism which was gaining ground in Jerusalem!"
19. ^ "A Jewish Community in the Carpathian Mountains- The Story of Munkács". Yadvashem.org. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
20. ^ Aaron Phillip Willis (1993). Sephardic Torah Guardians: Ritual and the Politics of Piety. Princeton University. p. 246. Retrieved 17 May 2013. "Around this time, the Agudah translated into Hebrew and printed (and then reprinted several times, for interest was high), a pamphlet by Elchanan Wasserman, the headmaster of the Talmudic academy in Baranowicze, who was killed by the Nazis in 1941. It was Wasserman's view that, theologically, the Zionists were to blame for the Nazis, for they embraced "two idolatries" - socialism and nationalism. The rest was inevitable, Wasserman wrote: "In Heaven, the two idolatries were fashioned into one—national-socialism. A terrible rod of fury was forged from them that strikes at Jews in every corner of the earth. The same abominations that we worshipped are now hammering us.""
21. ^ a b c Ḳimerling, Barukh (1989). The Israeli State and Society: Boundaries and Frontiers. SUNY Press. pp. 176–178\. ISBN 978-1-4384-0901-6. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
22. ^ Rabkin, Yakov M. (2006). A Threat from Within: A Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism. Fernwood Pub. p. 39\. ISBN 978-1-55266-171-0. Retrieved 17 May 2013. "Rabbi Elhanan Wasserman (1875–1941), a disciple of Hafetz Haim and a pillar of Lithuanian Judaism, compared Zionists to the members of the Yevsektzia, the Jewish section of the Soviet Communist Party. Wielding their own version of secularized messianism, the Jewish Communists attacked traditional Jewish life with extraordinary vehemence."
23. ^ Zohar, Zion: Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewry: From the Golden Age of Spain to Modern Times, p. 184
24. ^ a b Berger, Marshall J.; Ahimeir, Ora (2002). Jerusalem: a city and its future. Syracuse University Press. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-8156-2913-9. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
25. ^ Rabkin, Yakov M. (2006). A Threat from Within : a Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism. Black Point, N.S.: Fernwood Pub. p. 136\. ISBN 1-55266-171-7. OCLC 61127883.
26. ^ a b Laqueur, Walter (20 May 2003). A History of Zionism: From the French Revolution to the Establishment of the State of Israel. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 410\. ISBN 978-0-8052-1149-8. Retrieved 13 May 2013. "Rosenheim, the political head of central European Orthodoxy, who was accustomed to using far more moderate language, nevertheless warned the religious Zionists against the 'mortal danger' they risked by collaborating with those who did not accept the divine law."
27. ^ Gilbert, Martin (1996). Jerusalem in the twentieth century. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-471-16308-4. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
28. ^ Berger, Marshall J.; Ahimeir, Ora (2002). Jerusalem: a city and its future. Syracuse University Press. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-8156-2913-9. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
29. ^ Berger, Marshall J.; Ahimeir, Ora (2002). Jerusalem: a city and its future. Syracuse University Press. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-8156-2913-9. Retrieved 13 May 2013. "In another letter to one of the harsh anti-Zionists, Blau gave an excellent description of how he conceived this tragic situation: "Your Honor is mistaken in thinking that peace with the Arabs is possible. The Arabs hate us bitterly. We do not want to cut off the shackles of the Diaspora, but neither do we want to be killed and slaughtered, to be like dung in the field.""
30. ^ Mainuddin, Rolin G. (2002). Religion and politics in the developing world: explosive interactions. Ashgate. p. 70\. ISBN 978-0-7546-1507-1. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
31. ^ Stump, Roger W. (2000). Boundaries of faith: geographical perspectives on religious fundamentalism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 47\. ISBN 978-0-8476-9319-1. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
32. ^ "Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem (1867-1948)". True Torah Jews. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
33. ^ Shindler, Colin (25 March 2013). A History of Modern Israel. Cambridge University Press. p. 73\. ISBN 978-1-107-02862-3. Retrieved 24 May 2013. "Before 1939, there had been great bitterness in the ultra-orthodox community against the Zionists. Families were divided and dissidents expelled. Even during the war, such feelings persisted. For a year, Lithuania was sandwiched in between the two revolutionary goliaths of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia; yet, the majority of the heads of the great learning academies, the yeshivot, advocated staying put rather than attempting to leave for Palestine. Instead, they and their followers marched into the gas chambers singing nigunim. The Shoah destroyed the community of the faithful in Eastern Europe, and the ultra-orthodox perished in vast numbers. Such a tragedy softened the position of the survivors towards Zionism. It moved many from and anti-Zionist position to a non-Zionist one."
34. ^ Lichtenstein, Ruth (December 31, 2013). "The History of the 'Status Quo' Agreement". Hamodia (English edition). Retrieved August 31, 2015. "One of the main struggles between the Jewish groups was over education, the future of Jewry. In 1943, a group of about 700 orphaned children, Holocaust refugees who had escaped from Poland to the Soviet Union, were collected by the Jewish Agency's emissaries and brought to Israel. They were put in a camp organized by the Tehran Jewish Agency, where they were poisoned against religion."
35. ^ Elyashiv, R. Yosef Shalom (2010-01-22). "Nevalah Ne'esta B'Yisroel". Yated Neeman.
36. ^ Grozovsky, R. Refoel Reuven, Ba’ayos Hazman,“B’inyan Hishtatfus Chevrei Agudah B’memsheles E”Y”, p. 31 – 32.
37. ^ On haredi opposition to Zionism
38. ^ Think All Orthodox Jews Are Zionists? Think Again.
39. ^ Kanievsky, Yaakov Yisrael. Karyana D'igarta (in Hebrew). p. 205.
40. ^ Teitelbaum, Yoel. Vayoel Moshe, vol. 1 (in Hebrew). p. 141.
41. ^ Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro: Is Judaism a Nationality?, 3 November 2019, retrieved 2022-01-05
42. ^ Wasserman, Rabbi Elchonon Bunim. Kovetz Maamrim, Ikvesa D'Meshicha (in Hebrew). p. 306.
43. ^ Grozovsky, Rabbi Reuven. B'ayos Hazman בעות הזמן.
44. ^ Goan, Rav Saadia. Emunah v'Deos אמונה ודעות (in Hebrew). pp. 3:7.
45. ^ הירש, שמשון רפאל (2010). The Hirsch Chumash : the Five Books of the Torah. Feldheim Pub. pp. Shemos 17:9, 17:14. ISBN 978-1-59826-260-5. OCLC 782238231.
46. ^ Shapiro, Rabbi Yaakov (2018). The Empty Wagon. ISBN 978-1647647926.
47. ^ "The Jewish Agency". Jafi.org.il. 2014-03-02. Archived from the original on 2004-10-24. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
48. ^ "EPYC | Places | Shtetl". Epyc.yivo.org. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
49. ^ a b "My Jewish Learning: Neturei Karta". Archived from the original on November 17, 2008. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
50. ^ Sefer Shomer Emunim by R' Aharon Roth, Sefer Asifas Michtovim, by R' Avrohom Yitzchok Kohn foundational books of the Toldos Avrohom movement, passim.
51. ^ "Torah and Religious Zionism". www.hagshama.org.il. Archived from the original on February 19, 2007.
52. ^ Yoel Elchanan, Das Hatziyonis, vol. 2, pg. 98-99. Free translation:"...when a protest against the forced secularization of Moroccan children was held, the Baba Sali was the first to send a letter of support, writing "... Woe to us that this has befallen us in the end of days... I call out to all parents... guard your precious children... that they should not be caught in the traps of these trappers of souls... the Sochnut, and Aliat hanoar, who lie in ambush for the souls of our children... to kill them eternally..."(Hasaba Kadisha, vol. 2) "When the Baba Sali received the book  Vayoel Moshe, he closeted himself in his room and studied it in depth... Upon finishing, he emerged from his room and said to his son in law "There is no one in this generation greater in depth and logic, and skilled in answering questions, like Rabbi Yoel (Teitelbaum), he has provided clear proofs against all those who heaped words upon words, he did not leave a single crevice, which he did not clarify..."
53. ^ Sela, Neta (15 December 2006). "Satmar court slams Neturei Karta". ynetnews.
54. ^ The Cambridge dictionary of Judaism and Jewish culture. Judith Reesa Baskin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2011. ISBN 978-1-316-15386-4. OCLC 884646266.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: others (link)
55. ^ Yated Ne’eman, Parshas Bo, 5770
56. ^ Editor, Y. W. (2014-02-25). "Rav Shteinman Shlita Speaks of the Chilul Hashem". The Yeshiva World. Retrieved 2022-01-11. `{{cite web}}`: `|last=` has generic name (help)
57. ^ Kisvei R. Mendel (Zaks) p. 293
58. ^ "Agudath Israel may be non-Zionist, but it supports Israel and its people". 31 March 2008.
59. ^ Lorincz, Shlomo (August 9, 2006). "Chapter Twenty-Seven: I Gave My Blood and Soul". Memories of HaRav Shach, zt"l. Dei'ah veDibur. Retrieved 2007-09-10.[dead link]
60. ^ "What Does The Steipler Say? -- Some Highlights of the Years of His Communal Leadership". We Knew The Steipler Gaon, zt'l -- 23rd Av 5760, His Fifteenth Yahrtzeit. Dei'ah veDibur. September 6, 2000. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
61. ^ SeeMikatawoitz Ad Hei Be'iyar at length
62. ^ Igros Moshe, Orech Chaim vol I, chap 46
63. ^ "Hasidic Leader Yaakov Friedman, the Admor of Sadigura, Dies at 84 - Israel News - Haaretz Israeli News Source". Haaretz.com. 2013-01-01. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
64. ^ "Public Bookmarks". Otzar770.com. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
65. ^ Shulchan Aruch, Orech Chaim chap 329
66. ^ "Chabad Yeshiva Students Joining the IDF in Record Number | World Mizrachi". Mizrachi.org. 2013-07-18. Archived from the original on 2021-07-28. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
67. ^ "Yom Haatzmaut BBQ". Chabadcv.com. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
68. ^ "Yom Ha'atzmaut With Chabad of Ofakim". Shmais.com. 2014-05-08. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
69. ^ "Archived copy". scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2022.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
70. ^ "Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg to Speak - Shturem.org Taking The World By Storm". Shturem.org. Archived from the original on April 24, 2009. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
71. ^ "Print an Article". VosIzNeias.com. 2011-05-10. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
72. ^ "Lipskar Attends Jerusalem Day". Collive.com. 2011-06-02. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
73. ^ "Chabad is Zionist, Rabbi Says". Israelm=nationalnews.com. Archived from the original on 2016-01-18. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
74. ^ "Radio Clash: Chabad Vs. Reform". Shmais.com. 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
75. ^ Čejka, Marek; Kořan, Roman (16 October 2015). Rabbis of our Time: Authorities of Judaism in the Religious and Political Ferment of Modern Times. Routledge. p. 155\. ISBN 978-1-317-60544-7. "It is interesting to recall here the attitude of the famous Sephardic Rabbi Baba Sali towards Va-Yoel Moshe: "This book is a great and important treatise for our generation, and Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum is a pillar of light whose radiance will lead us to the coming of the Messiah." Rabbi Baba Sali studied the book itself over the course of a few days... and said that this book answered all his questions about Zionism "truly and uncompromisingly"."
76. ^ "Shas Becomes First ultra-Orthodox Party to Join WZO - Israel News - Haaretz Israeli News Source". Haaretz.com. 2010-01-19. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
77. ^ Diaspora Nationalism and Jewish Identity in Habsburg Galicia. Cambridge University Press. 31 August 2012. pp. 172–173\. ISBN 978-1-107-01424-4. Retrieved 9 May 2013. "Perhaps, the most prominent Sephardic legal authority, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef of Jerusalem, upholds Rabbi Feinstein's verdict and, in his comment, specifies that "those who chose this flag as a symbol of the State were evil-doers". Emphasizing that removing the flag, "a vain and useless object", from the synagogue should be done in harmony and peace, he recommends "uprooting all related to the flag so that it should not constitute a reminder of the acts of the evil-doers"."
78. ^ "דעת הרב עובדיה על יום העצמאות ועל המדינה". Archived from the original on 2010-06-22. Retrieved 2009-06-13.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
79. ^ "לאחר המעצרים: 'הפלס' במתקפה נגד סגן השר אלי בן דהן". mobile.kikar.co.il. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
80. ^ "Ultra-Orthodox Jews Rally Against Israeli Army Draft Policies". Observer. 2013-06-10. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
81. ^ Clearly explained why Orthodox Jews refuse to serve in IDF, 22 July 2013, retrieved 2022-01-11
82. ^ "Protesters in New York stage massive anti-Zionist, anti-IDF draft rally". The Jerusalem Post | Jpost.com. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
83. ^ "Anti-Zionist Hasidic Jews Shake the Room at Brooklyn's Barclays Center". Haaretz. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
84. ^ a b Tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews in New York protest IDF draft law - Part 1, 12 June 2017, retrieved 2022-01-10
85. ^ "Haredim protest against IDF in Brussels". The Jerusalem Post | Jpost.com. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
86. ^ Yanover, Yori (2 July 2013). "AG Blocks Draft Bill as Haredim Rally Outside EU Headquarters". Retrieved 2022-01-19.
87. ^ A powerful address of Torah Jews in Brussels against Israeli Draft, 22 July 2013, retrieved 2022-01-19
88. ^ "European Rabbis Protest Israeli Persecution Against Orthodox Jews | Torah Jews". www.truetorahjews.org. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
89. ^ "EIM HABANIM SEMEICHAH: On Eretz Yisrael, Redemption and Unity". Urim Publications. Archived from the original on 2015-11-22. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
90. ^ Hamway, Ed. "Eim Habanim Semeichah: Em Habanim Semeha" (PDF). www.ou.org. Archived from the original on 2016-01-18. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
91. ^ Al Hageulah V'al Hatemura, pg. 33, siman 6
92. ^ a b Wasserman, Rabbi Elchonon Bunim (2006). Kovetz Mamarim v'Igeres (in Hebrew). Jerusalem, Israel: מכון אור אלחנן. pp. 259–260.
93. ^ "ספר קובץ מאמרים ואגרות / מאת ... רבי אלחנן בונם וסרמן .. | וסרמן, אלחנן בונם בן נפתלי בינוש, 1875-1941 | The National Library of Israel". www.nli.org.il. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
94. ^ "ספר בית השואבה : והוא קובץ מאמרים על עקבתא דמשיחא : כולל פסוקים, מדרשים ומאמרי חז"ל עם פרושים ... / מאת ... הרב שמעון שוואב ... ונלוה עליו מאמר צפית לישועה / ממרן ... החפץ חיים וקונטרס עקבתא דמשיחא / ממרן ... רבי אלחנן וואסערמאן | שוואב, שמעון בן יהודה ליב, 1908-1995 (כהן, ישראל מאיר, 1838-1933. | הספרייה הלאומית". www.nli.org.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-01-09.
95. ^ "HebrewBooks.org Sefer Detail: בעיות הזמן -- גרוזובסקי, רפאל ראובן". hebrewbooks.org. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
96. ^ Silberman, Shmuel (January 3, 2019). "A Controversial Halakhic Case Against the State of Israel". The Lehrhaus.
97. ^ Shapiro, Rabbi Yaakov (2018). The Empty Wagon: Zionism's Journey from Identity Crisis to Identity Theft. Bais Medrash Society. ISBN 978-1-64255-554-7. OCLC 1038020732.
98. ^ "Deal Over Final Makeup of UTJ List to Go Down to the Wire - Israel News - Haaretz Israeli News Source". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
99. ^ "Aguddat Israel Political Party". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
100. ^ Clearly explained why Orthodox Jews refuse to serve in IDF, 22 July 2013, retrieved 2022-01-05
101. ^ "Dei'ah veDibur - Information & Insight - NEWS". Chareidi.org. 2004-01-07. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
102. ^ a b c d e f Sam Sokol (20 May 2025). "Study: Ultra-Orthodox only pay 4% of total national taxes, costing economy billions". Times of Israel. Retrieved 21 May 2025.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Aran, Gideon (2004) [1990]. "From Religious Zionism to Zionist Religion". In Goldscheider, Calvin; Neusner, Jacob (eds.). Social Foundations of Judaism (Reprint ed.). Eugene, Or: Wipf and Stock Publ. pp. 259–282\. ISBN 1-59244-943-3.
* Neusner, Jacob (1991). "Heresies outside of Judaism: Zionism". An Introduction to Judaism: A Textbook and Reader. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/John Knox Press. pp. 312–322\. ISBN 0-664-25348-2.
* Salmon, Yosef. "Zionism and Anti-Zionism in Traditional Judaism in Eastern Europe", Zionism and Religion, eds. Shmuel Almog, Jehuda Reinharz, and Anita Shapira (Hanover and London, 1998), 25–43.
* Ravitzky, Aviezer. "Munkacs and Jerusalem: Ultra-Orthodox Opposition to Zionism and Agudaism", Zionism and Religion, eds. Shmuel Almog, Jehuda Reinharz, and Anita Shapira (Hanover and London, 1998), 67–89.

* v
* t
* e

Religion in politics

General concepts

* Anti-clericalism
* Anti-clericalism and Freemasonry
* Caesaropapism
* Civil religion
* Clericalism
* Clerical fascism
* Confessionalism
* Constitutional references to God
* Divine law
* Divine rule
* Engaged Spirituality
* Feminist theology
* Thealogy
* Womanist theology
* Freedom of religion
* Humanism
* Identity politics
* Organized secularism
* Political religion
* Religious anarchism
* Religious anti-Masonry
* Religious anti-Zionism
* Religious communism
* Religious humanism
* Religious law
* Religious nationalism
* Religious pacifism
* Religion and peacebuilding
* Religious police
* Religious rejection of politics
* Religious segregation
* Religious separatism
* Religious socialism
* Religious views on same-sex marriage
* Secular humanism
* Secular liberalism
* Secular state
* Secularism
* Secularity
* Secularization
* Secular religion
* Separation of church and state
* Spiritual left
* State atheism
* State religion
* Theocracy
* Theonomy

Christianity and politics

* Blaine Amendment
* Christian anarchism
* Christian anti-communism
* Christian anti-Masonry
* Papal ban
* Christian anti-Zionism
* Christian communism
* Christian corporatism
* Christian democracy
* Christian egalitarianism
* Christian environmentalism
* Evangelical environmentalism
* Christian fascism
* German Christians (movement)
* National Catholicism
* Positive Christianity
* Protestant Reich Church
* Christian feminism
* Mormon feminism
* Christian humanism
* Christian law
* Christian left
* Evangelical left
* Christian libertarianism
* Christian nationalism
* Christian pacifism
* Christian peacemaking
* Christian reconstructionism
* Christian republic
* Christian right
* Christian socialism
* In Utah
* Christian state
* Christian Zionism
* Cisalpinism
* Dominion Theology
* Febronianism
* Gallicanism
* Liberation theology
* Maronite politics
* Phoenicianism
* Papal state
* Pillarisation
* Political Catholicism
* Relations between the Catholic Church and the state
* In Argentina
* Sphere sovereignty
* Subsidiarity
* Temporal power
* Theodemocracy
* Ultramontanism
* Neo-ultramontanism

Islam and politics

* Hui pan-nationalism
* Human Rights in Islam
* Imamate
* Islamic anarchism
* Islamic anti-Masonry
* Islamic anti-Zionism
* Islamic democracy
* Islamic fascism
* Islamic feminism
* Sharia law
* by country
* In Pakistan
* In South Asia
* Islamic pacifism
* Islamic republic
* Islamic socialism
* Islamic state
* Islamic Zionism
* Islamism
* Criticism
* Islamization
* Khilafat
* Petro-Islam
* Political quietism
* Taliban
* Talibanization
* Two-nation theory

Judaism and politics

* Halachic state
* Jewish anarchism
* Jewish anti-Zionism
* Haredim
* Jewish Autonomism
* Jewish democracy
* Jewish fascism
* Kahanism
* Revisionist Maximalism
* Jewish feminism
* Jewish law
* Jewish left
* Jewish pacifism
* Jewish political movements
* Jewish right
* Jewish secularism
* Jewish socialism
* Bundism
* Poale Zion
* Zionism
* Religious
* World Agudath Israel

Hinduism and politics

* Akhand Bharat
* Hindu feminism
* Gandhism
* Hindu law
* Hindu modernism
* Hindu nationalism
* Hindutva
* Hindu Rashtra
* Panun Kashmir
* Bangabhumi
* Hindu revolution
* Hindu revivalism
* Hindu environmentalism
* Integral humanism
* Indigenous Aryans
* Rama Rajya
* Saffronisation
* Shuddhi
* Uniform civil code

Buddhism and politics

* Buddhist anti-communism
* Buddhist feminism
* Buddhist law
* Buddhist modernism
* Buddhist nationalism
* 969 Movement
* Nichirenism
* Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism
* Buddhist socialism
* Engaged Buddhism
* Humanistic Buddhism
* Secular Buddhism

Other

* American civil religion
* Disestablishmentarianism
* Imperial cult
* Ancient Rome
* Gottgläubig
* Khalistan movement
* Neopaganist feminism
* Religious aspects of Nazism
* Cult of personality
* State Shinto

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template