Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jewish anti-zionist here (NP).
Can you explain this: “ because most Jews believe in our own right to self-determination and take seriously the Jewish imperative to care for am Yisrael (the Jewish people).”

I have been trying to wrap my head around this for 25 years because we were fed this propaganda as kids, and don’t get why I as a Jewish woman would want to care for the Jewish people more than I want to care for non-Jewish people. Isn’t that in itself the problematic propaganda? Just like Americans shouldn’t want to care for Americans more than Canadians or others.

Can we not care for am Yisrael in a way that isn't a zero sum? What if you interpret this imperative not as "care for Jews more than you care for non-Jews" but rather as "care for all Jews," without measuring that care against how you do or don't care for other people? You can find plenty of grounding in Jewish teachings to support, say, a position that vehemently opposes the war and the occupation — caring for am Yisrael doesn't have to mean you DON'T care for other people.

But it does mean, for instance, that we shouldn't turn our backs entirely on our Israeli Jewish brethren, even as many of us find ourselves increasingly angry and/or disturbed by choices they're making.

Anonymous wrote:Jewish anti-zionist here (NP).
Can you explain this: “ because most Jews believe in our own right to self-determination and take seriously the Jewish imperative to care for am Yisrael (the Jewish people).”

I have been trying to wrap my head around this for 25 years because we were fed this propaganda as kids, and don’t get why I as a Jewish woman would want to care for the Jewish people more than I want to care for non-Jewish people. Isn’t that in itself the problematic propaganda? Just like Americans shouldn’t want to care for Americans more than Canadians or others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adas Israel is affirmatively Zionist.

Yes but not uniformly in favor of everything the Israeli government does. I don’t know what OP is seeking, exactly, it’s pretty hard to separate out ALL Zionism from Judaism, it’s basically been part of the liturgy since centuries before there was a Zionism movement.

Respectfully, there is difference between spiritual longing for Zion which is thousands of years old and modern political Zionism which is 150 years old. I really want to protect the sacredness of this section and will not comment further.

?????