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Religious Zionism and the First Flowering of Our Redemption

I had been planning to write about this topic around Yom Haatzmaut (Israel's Independence Day), but have had no time to post over the last couple of weeks. Things are still rather hectic, so I'm drafting this quickly, without giving it the amount of consideration that I'd like.

None of the yeshivas I attended expressed a positive view toward Zionism. However, around the time of the 1991 Gulf War - when I was 18 - I came to the conclusion that the mainstream charedi position toward the State of Israel is, at best, incoherent and inconsistent with contemporary realities. I have recently written about the topic here and here, and won't expand on that matter.

I strongly identify as a religious Jew and as a Zionist. I say hallel - quietly at the end of davening and without a blessing - on Yom Haatzmaut. Nevertheless, I'm not comfortable with the ideology known as Religious Zionism.

My approach to Zionism is rather simple. The State of Israel's formation was a very positive event in Jewish history. As a religious Jew, I therefore believe it is appropriate to express gratitude - both to G-d and to Israel's founders and its heroic figures - for the State of Israel on both a political and a religious level.

My problem with Religious Zionism is its messianic aspects. I believe Rav Kook was one of the great rabbinical leaders of the 20th century; his pre-state support for Zionism - at a time when most of the religious world opposed Zionism because of its secular leadership and goals - was not only bold and courageous, but has been proven to be historically correct.

Nevertheless, I'm not comfortable with the reference, in the prayer for the State of Israel recited in most modern/centrist Orthodox shuls, to the State being reishit tzmichat g'ulateinu, the first flowering of our redemption. I have no idea if the State of Israel has messianic ramifications, and object to unnecessarily creating an issue of religious dogma on the matter.

I know that there are some pro-Zionist shuls that omit these words from the prayer for the State, but the large majority of such shuls include the reference.

When I express my objection to the inclusion of reishi­t tzmichat g'ulateinu, almost invariably I get one of two responses. Some people insist that it is obvious that Israel does have messianic overtones. After all, they say, the formation of Israel in 1948 was a miracle, the fact that a majority of the world's Jews will likely be living in Israel within two decades is a miraculous fulfillment of the promise of the ingathering of the exiles, and, most of all, Israel's dominant victory in 1967 was a miracle.

All that might well be true, but I still don't see how that means that Israel is necessarily connected to a messianic redemption. And furthermore, I still object to adding dogmatic language to the religious liturgy that, at the very least, is not accepted by many observant Jews.

The more common response that I get from those who identify as Religious Zionist is not to take the words reishi­t tzmichat g'ulateinu so seriously. It's just a phrase, most people don't really mean it, we just hope Israel is the start of a messianic era, it's just a way of distinguishing "us" from the charedim who do not support Zionism.

A recent post by Gil Student of Hirhurim illustrates this type of thinking. Gil quoted Rabbi Michael Broyde's outline of three issues of particular importance for identification as modern Orthodox. The first issue, according to Rabbi Broyde, is that: "I am a religious Zionist and a member of the religious Zionist movement... I accept that the establishment of the State of Israel -- imperfect as it is -- could be the beginning of our redemption, and is an event filled with religious significance, that should be noted accordingly." (italics added)

Rabbi Broyde's formulation is much more palatable that the emphatic and absolute statement that Israel is - not could be - the beginning of our redemption. Furthermore, I think many more people identify with his statement than with a dogma that requires one to believe that Israel is the flowering of our redemption. Nevertheless - or perhaps, precisely for this reason - I actually found R. Broyde's approach to be disturbing. Indeed, I think it is heretical when viewed from the prism of the Religious Zionism espoused by Rav Kook and his adherents.

My guess is that in Rabbi Broyde's shul, the words reishi­t tzmichat g'ulateinu still appear in the liturgy. And even if Rabbi Broyde omits these words, is he right that one can identify with Religious Zionism and call himself or herself "a member of the religious Zionist movement" even if they are, as Rabbi Broyde apparently is - and I am - agnostic on the question of whether Israel is the beginning of our redemption? If so, isn't that an acknowledgment that these words, which on a theological level are extremely consequential, are actually meaningless? After all, no observant Jew would say that it "could be" that the Torah is eternal. No Christian religious leader would say that Jesus "could be" the messiah. Once an absolute statement is reduced to a matter of "could be", it becomes no more than a matter of personal preference.

Once the messianic portion is omitted, what exactly makes someone a Religious Zionist? Nothing more than that Israel's establishment "is an event filled with religious significance?" Is that really it?

Why does all this bother me? Precisely because Israel's formation was indeed a seminal event in Jewish history, yet it appears that the vast majority of religious Jews - whether non-Zionist charedim or pro-Zionist modern Orthodox - have no coherent theological approach to, and understanding of, the State. As much as I reject their anti-Zionist ideology, it seems that only Satmar has a religious approach to Israel that is at least clear and coherent.

It is a shame that every shabbos, many serious modern/centrist Orthodox Jews join in a prayer that they do not believe in. There is an alternative (non-messianic) positive approach to Zionism, such as that of Rav Soloveitchik, that is much more consistent with the worldview of rational religious Jews.
posted on 5/24/2005