Prof. Yacov Rabkin on the Zionist Threat

Posted: December 05, 2006

Prof. Yacov Rabkin

Domain's Guest

Yacov Rabkin


Prof. Rabkin has taught contemporary Jewish history, Soviet history and the history of science at the University of Montreal since 1973. Full Professor at the Department of History since 1987, he has recently developed and taught seminars on Islamic and Judaic attitudes to science and technology (full bio here).

Rabkin's most recent book, and our main topic of discussion, deals with the history of Jewish opposition to Zionism. This book was translated to English in 2006 under the title A Threat from Within: a Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism. It has been nominated for the Governor General Award, the highest literary distinction in Canada.

As usual, readers can send questions to Prof. Rabkin through rosnersdomain@haaretz.co.il.


Dear Prof. Rabkin

The first question is usually more general as to let people understand
our topic of discussion. So - what is "Jewish opposition to Zionism"
and how significant it is in today's world?

Best

Rosner


Last November, those who remembered it at all, celebrated the 59th anniversary of the Partition Resolution. A majority of the member-states of the United Nations decided on November 29, 1947 to partition Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state. A minority objected. Significantly, this minority included the Arab inhabitants of the region where the State of Israel was to be established. Their hostility to the Zionist project has not subsided in spite of the recognition of Israel by several Arab states. The recent commemoration of the Palestine Solidarity Day around the world is a good reminder.

What is less known is that many of Palestine?s traditional Jews objected to the Zionist project even more resolutely, and their opposition has also refused to go away. Many Jews feel angry when they see Neturei Karta members shake hands with the leader of Iran or demonstrate on New York's Fifth Avenue against the very existence of the State of Israel.

Indeed, Jewish opposition to Zionism has often provoked more anger than debate. It is to stimulate debate (and hopefully to assuage anger, which is never a good advisor) that I have written a book, which initially appeared in French under the title Au nom de la Torah (In the Name of Torah). This year it has come out in English as A Threat from within: a Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism (Fernwood/Zed Books).

Was it worth the effort? Curiously perhaps, both Zionist intellectuals and the orthodox rabbis who oppose them agree that Zionism represents a negation of Jewish tradition. Yosef Salmon, a fellow historian working in Israel, writes:

"But it was the Zionist threat that offered the gravest danger, for it sought to rob the traditional community of its very birthright, both in the Diaspora and in Eretz Israel, the object of its messianic hopes. Zionism challenged all the aspects of traditional Judaism: in its proposal of a modern, national Jewish identity; in the subordination of traditional society to new life-styles; and in its attitude to the religious concepts of Diaspora and redemption. The Zionist threat reached every Jewish community. It was unrelenting and comprehensive, and therefore it met with uncompromising opposition."

Judaic opposition to Zionism may seem negligible today. Many secular Jews have come to see in Israel the only hope of survival for the secular Jewish identity. Many Orthodox Jews have also embraced the Zionist worldview, even though their embrace remains circumstantial and emotive. They would be reluctant to question the authority of a Chofetz Chaim or a Baba Salé, a Satmarer Rebbe or a Lubavitcher Rebbe, all of whom articulated strenuous opposition to Zionism and its reliance on military force. In terms of sheer numbers, Judaic anti-Zionism remains modest; the majority of Jews are unaware of the Judaic concerns that motivate it. But it is not merely the longevity of this opposition that makes it significant. In our history, rigorous minorities tend to become triumphant majorities. This is why is it is important to understand the origins and intentions of this opposition. After all, today, the secularized majority of the Jewish people most surely would appear marginal in relation to the continuity of Jewish life, as it has been lived for more than three thousand years.

I have presented my book (which is now available in six languages) in over a dozen countries, and it has truly surprised me that such a broad range of readers - Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and non-religious - found this topic fascinating. Many told me that they had long wondered if it was right to confuse Judaism and Jews with what they read and watch in the media about Israel.

Jewish opposition to Zionism seems at first glance to be a paradox. After all, the public almost automatically associates Jews and Israel. The press continues to refer to "the Jewish State." Israeli politicians often speak "in the name of the Jewish people." Yet the Zionist movement and, later, the creation of the state of Israel were to cause one of the greatest schisms in Jewish history.