BINTEL BRIEFAn anti-Zionist Jew wants to know: ‘Am I even Jewish anymore?’
An anti-Zionist Jew writes in to ask whether they’re really Jewish anymore. Graphic by Mira Fox
By Mira Fox September 26, 2024
A Bintel Brief, Yiddish for a bundle of letters, has been solving reader dilemmas since 1906. Send yours via email, social media or this form.
Dear Bintel,
I call myself an anti-Zionist Jew because I oppose Zionism.
As I understand it, Zionism may have once been a movement for Jewish self-emancipation and later an understandable response to the Holocaust, but after the 1942 Biltmore conference, it repudiated Jews who wanted to share Palestine with Arabs and adopted a maximalist, zero-sum view of settlement. This is the only Zionism that has survived today.
Many of today’s Zionists are adamant that Jews like me — anti-Zionist Jews — are self-haters, and probably antisemites. They claim that Zionism and Judaism are joined at the hip and that there can be no separation.
I know this is wrong because I have read all the Zionist and pre-Zionist classics from Ha’am to Herzl and there have been plenty of Jews who regard Judaism as completely separate from Zionism.
My question is: Must EVERY Jew adopt Zionism or cease identifying as a Jew? I’m sick of being marginalized. As I see it, either Judaism is a religion with ethics that repudiate all the ethnic cleansing and occupation implied in today’s version of Zionism — or it’s a religion totally complicit in these crimes. Which makes me ask: Is there still room in the tent for anti-Zionist Jews?
Signed,
Am I Even Jewish Anymore?
Dear Am I Jewish,
First of all: yes. Jewish identity is not determined by your politics or any other litmus tests, and you shouldn’t let anyone else arbitrate your identity.
But, as you’ve clearly experienced, there’s a lot of division in the Jewish community right now over what it means to be a Jew, and how Zionism and Judaism relate to each other. And there are people who are seeking to narrow the definition of what makes you a Jew.
You’ve also clearly done your research, so you know that this is not a new problem. Jews have disagreed about Zionism as long as Zionism has existed. In fact, Jews have disagreed about what it means to be Jewish for pretty much all of Jewish history: The Sacarii and the Zealots of the Second Temple Era, the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes have all said anyone who didn’t believe and practice the way they did wasn’t a real Jew, or at least not a “good” one.
Judaism has survived all of that division and disagreement so far and I think it will continue to survive. Part of that survival is that Jews like you have not simply allowed those they disagree with to tell them to get lost; they’ve continued to engage and argue — and identify as Jewish and practice Judaism throughout it all.
Judaism is a religion uniquely suited to contain disagreement. The entire Talmud is a book of canonized disagreements about what exactly it means to be Jewish, and many of those arguments between the great Talmudic rabbis never even resolve! The most Jewish thing you can do is read the texts, engage with the tradition — and then disagree with it.
So why would you let people you clearly disagree with tell you who you are? And why, if you think they’re wrong, would you believe them?
I also want to push back against the very black-and-white options you gave: Either Judaism is “a religion with ethics” or it’s “totally complicit” in violence against Palestinians.
Judaism has for millennia been a diverse religion filled with disparate viewpoints. It’s never going to be so simple as to say that it’s either an ethical religion or an evil one; what exactly is ethical and what isn’t is in constant debate, not only within Judaism but across the world at large. It changes constantly as our understanding of society evolves.
If you find the ethics you believe in within Judaism, then Judaism endorses those ethics — and if someone else finds a different set of beliefs within Jewish tradition, well, that’s how religion and interpretation work. It doesn’t make either of you objectively correct or incorrect.
I am, however, empathetic to your feelings of marginalization. There is certainly a loud portion of the Jewish community that believes any criticism of Israel is un-Jewish, and calls anti-Zionist Jews kapos or fake Jews.
But they’re not the majority, even if they’re among the loudest: A 2021 Pew study found that less than half of American Jews — 45% — say caring about Israel is a major part of being Jewish. The Jewish community is split.
Or should I say: communities. Because there are many Jewish communities, and not all of them disagree with you. So, especially since you’re feeling so marginalized, you might want to seek out groups and gathering spaces that align better with your views. Jewish activist groups including IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace host Shabbat and holiday services, discussions and other activities that are non-Zionist or anti-Zionist. The Yiddish world often hearkens back to some of those early anti-Zionist movements you mention, such as the Bundists, and many Yiddish groups focus on the traditions of the Jewish diaspora instead of Israel. Most major cities have alternative congregations that don’t emphasize Israel.
All of this is to say: You’re not the only anti-Zionist Jew out there. And just because some other Jews disagree with you doesn’t make you any less of a Jew — if anything, the fact that you’re wrestling with big ideas and their history just affirms how Jewish you are.
Do you have a different solution for Am I Jewish? Email us at bintel@forward.com, or submit a question of your own via this anonymous form.
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