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Haredi anti-Zionism refers to the position of some Haredi Jewish movements in opposition to Zionism.
Before the Holocaust, the majority of Haredi Jewry was strongly opposed to Zionism. After the Holocaust, some Haredi groups, such as Ger and Chabad-Lubavitch, became strong supporters of the State of Israel, while others, most notable the Satmar Hasidic movement remained strongly opposed to it, with several Hasidic groups calling Zionists the personification of Satan, blaming Zionism for the Holocaust, accusing them of being the source of all evil in the world and defiling the entire world with their impurity.
Background
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) not to delay the coming of Moshiach, the Jewish messiah, through their own sins. Zionism is perceived as a violation of all three, but primarily the first two oaths.
This passage of the Talmud is based on a mystical meaning of the verse "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the hinds of the field, that you neither awaken nor arouse the love while it is desirous." This verse is found thrice in Shir HaShirim, (Song of Songs), verses 2:7, 3:5, 8:4.
In Poland and Hungary in 1920s, most Haredi Jewish movements, including the entire Hasidic world, remained opposed to Zionism. In some cases this opposition was only mild and passive; in other cases it was very strong. The strongest forms of anti-Zionism originated in Hungary, where in 1920 a group of 12 leading rabbis condemned Zionism in very strong words. It was followed by a similar declaration in 1925. Hasidic movements strongly opposing Zionism are, amongst others, Satmar, Bobov, Munkacz, Belz, Vizhnitz, Toldos Aharon, Dushinsky, Pshevorsk, Tosh and many others. Satmar is the biggest Hasidic movement in the world today, with a membership estimated between 100,000 and 125,000 persons; Belz numbers circa 50,000 people.
Regardless of their position, almost none of these groups and rabbis opposes the idea of Jews as individuals emigrating to Israel, but rather oppose the notion of Jewish sovereignty over the Land of Israel, either in its current form, or sometimes in any form at all.
Also, the vast majority of anti-Zionist Haredim will support Israel to the outside world. Very few of them actively cooperate with non-Jewish anti-Zionist movements, due to the perceived anti-Semetic nature of many of these groups.
Different Haredi groups on the issue of Zionism
Lithuanian ('Litvish') Haredi Judaism
A number of Lithuanian leaders like the Chazon Ish (1878-1953), Rav Shach (1898-2001), and Rabbi Yosef Sholom Eliashiv, have expressed strongly anti-Zionist views. Examples of this are found in lectures and letters of Rav Shach. The main newspaper 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 the instructions of the Brisker Rov and the Chazon Ish. Yosef Sholom Eliashiv urges his students to vote for the Degel HaTorah list. The opposition of the Litvish world against Zionism differs from that of the Hasidic world in that it is mainly focused on the secular character of Zionism, and less strongly so on the issue of a Jewish state being forbidden whether it is religious or not.
Nonetheless, one of the leaders of the Lithuanian Jewish world, Rabbi Moshe Feisntein (1895-1986) expressed something approaching ambivalent support of the State of Israel, claiming that it is proper to pray for the Welfare of the State of Israel, so long as one does not call it the "first flowering of the redemption." (The reference is to the standard Zionist prayer for the Welfare of the State of Israel, which refers to the State as the first flowering of the Redemption)
Satmar
Slightly more moderate anti-Zionist Haredim, however, number in the hundreds of thousands. The Satmar Hassidic movement, whose previous Rebbe, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum wrote an extensive refutation of Zionism entitled Vayoel Moshe, counts more than 100,000 members alone. Other extreme anti-Zionist Hassidic groups include Dushinsky and Toldos Aharon, both having many thousands of adherents mainly in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum of Satmar, whose movement counts more than 100,000 followers, wrote in his book Vayoel Moshe, written during the 1960s, that the Holocaust came to pass only because of the Zionists, that the Zionists made sure that fleeing Jews were refused entry to western nations, and that the Zionists have intentionally caused a huge rise in antisemitism around the world. He held that all of Israel's wars were against Jewish law, that Zionism is the greatest spiritual impurity in the entire world, and that it is the duty of every God-fearing Jew to oppose the Zionists as much as he can.
Historically, Satmar has played a major role in Jerusalem's Edah HaChareidis rabbinical council; the last two Satmar Rebbes, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum and Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, succeeded each other as its President, with Rabbi Joel serving from 1953 until his death in 1979, and his nephew and successor Rabbi Moshe leading it from 1979 until his death in 2006. All movements affiliated with the Edah accept Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum's Vayoel Moshe as binding.
Satmar and Neturei Karta are often confused by people not aware of the difference between these movements. While certain elements of Neturei Karta actively cooperate with Arab and Islamic movements calling for the destruction of Israel, Satmar Hassidim have never and will never do this, as they have been instructed by their leaders.
Ger and Belz Hasidism
The Ger and Belz Hasidic movements have adopted a pragmatically supportive stance towards the state of Israel, Ger slightly more so than Belz. While both movements have a history of anti-Zionism just like that of all other Hassidic movements, in modern times their positions have changed. Like all other Haredim, they do not say prayers for the State of Israel nor do they serve in the Israeli military. However, they do vote, and Ger mildly opposes withdrawals from the occupied territories. Ger and Belz are the most influential movements behind the Israeli political party Agudat Yisrael, which together with Litvish Degel HaTorah forms United Torah Judaism.
Dushinsky
In July 1947, less than a year before the actual founding of the state, Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, who was both the Rebbe of the Dushinsky Hassidic movement and the Ashkenazi Haredi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, of the Edah HaChareidis rabbinical council, went to New York to deliver a personal statement on behalf of the Edah HaChareidis to the United Nations, declaring his "definite opposition to a Jewish state in any part of Palestine."
Neturei Karta
A small group holding this ideology is Neturei Karta, with bases mainly in Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh and New York, and has been condemned by other anti-Zionist Haredim for their alliance with the Palestine Liberation Organization led by Yasser Arafat and their contacts with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and with Palestinian militant organization Hamas.
Haredi books about Zionism
Several books on the issue of Zionism were written by different Haredi rabbis.
Eim HaBanim Semeichah
One of the early Hareidi books written about Zionism was Eim HaBanim Semeichah, written by Rabbi Shlomo Teichtel, and published in 1943. Teichtel grew up a staunch anti-Zionist. However, during the Holocaust, Teichtel adopted a decidedly different position fron the one he espoused in his youth. The physical product of that introspection is the book, Eim HaBanim Semeichah, 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.
He writes:
It is clear that he who prepares prior to the Sabbath will eat on the Sabbath (Avodah Zarah, 3a), and since the Orthodox 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 Orthodox 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. (p. 23)
Sefer Vayoel Moshe
Vayoel Moshe was written by the Satmar Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum (1887-1979). 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 tongue). The first part, which is the main part of the book, discusses the three oaths mentioned in Ketubot 111a - that the Jewish people is not allowed to ascend to Eretz Yisrael by force, that the Jewish people is 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.
Kuntres Al HaGeulah VeAl HaTemurah
Also written by the Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, this small book consists of inspirational polemics against Zionism.
Involvement with the State
Among Haredi anti-Zionist movements, opinions differ on the attitude to take now that the state exists. Some movements remained actively anti-Zionist, others lowered their voice; some refuse to vote, while others do vote; some accept money from the government, while others do it.
Neturei Karta organizes active demonstrations calling on others not to vote on election days. Some of whose members refrain from using Israeli government-subsidized buses, since bus tickets are partially subsidized by the government as in most western countries. They also prefer not to touch Israeli money, and do not acknowledge the authority of the Israeli police in any matter, including criminal affairs. Some of those who affiliate with Neturei Karta have physically attacked those rabbis who hold that it is permissable to vote.
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. Nevertheless, the Edah HaChareidis and its affiliated movements do recognize the authority of the Israeli police in criminal matters.
The main newspaper 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 the instructions of the Brisker Rov and the Chazon Ish. The Lithuanian leadership, most notably Rabbi Yosef Sholom Eliashiv, instructs his students to vote for the Degel HaTorah list. Indeed, one Degel HaTorah representative, Rabbi Uri Lupolianski, is as of 2006 the mayor of Jerusalem.
See also
References
- Sefer Vayoel Moshe, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum (translated excerpts)
- 1920 declaration of 12 Hungarian rabbis opposing Zionism
- 1925 declaration by Chief Rabbis of Kaszica, Hungary, opposing Zionism
- Jews Against Zionism
- [http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/rabbi_quotes/dushinskyjuly1947.cfm STATEMENT TO THE U.N. SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PALESTINE by Chief Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky (July 16, 1947) (Taken from the United Nations Trusteeship Library)]
- MEMORANDUM ON JERUSALEM by Chief Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky (November 19, 1947)
- Eim HaBanim Semeichah