Gadolim on Zionism

Israel should be one nation, an entire nation that should have no other foundation for its existence, survival, activity and significance other than this Torah. It is to see the realization and devoted observance of this God-given "fiery Law" as its one contribution in world history for the edifice of human salvation. What the Phoenicians sought to bring about with the keels of their ships, what the ancient Greeks sought to achieve with their chisels and what the ancient Romans sought to attain with their swords, Israel is to accomplish with its Torah. Nay more, Israel is a nation that became a nation only through and for the Torah, a nation that once owned a land and existed as a state only through and for the Torah, and which possessed that land and that statehood only as instruments for translating the Torah into living reality. This is why Israel was a people even before it possessed land and statehood; this, too, is why Israel survived as a people even after its land was destroyed and its statehood lost, and this is why it will survive as a nation as long as it does not lose this only מורשה, this sole foundation for its survival and significance. That is the kind of nation that Israel, that all of us, should be.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch "The Character of the Jewish Community," Collected Writings, Vol. VI, p. 35

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Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Breuer


But more than the most radical reform, Jewish truth is threatened by the movement propagated under the name of Zionism, which, if given ever greater influence would, God forbid, only serve to prolong our Galuth. Yet there are numerous Yehudim who do not shrink back from joining this movement which displays the most sinister 'k'firo' on its banner in the hope to return the homeland under its leadership. --- When will the curse of 'bechia shel chinem' finally fade away? When will the truth of 'zu hakneses yisroel l'aretz' conquer all Jewish hearts? (Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Breuer, 'Chokhmo U'musar' volume 'Bamidbar-Devarim' p. 39-40. Felheim Publishers [Jerusalem New York 5737/ 1977]

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I have also read your words in connection with the sect of the Zionists who are now powerfully banded together. I do not blush to admit that I know not how to find paths, along which to go forth, against them.

Seeing that these men are known as evil in their localities, and have already proclaimed their purpose, to be the uprooting of the fundamentals of the faith and, for this purpose, the conquest of all places in which Jews live, will be as an aid to the fulfilment of their aim. In view of their announcement of all these things and their revelation of their plan in the newspapers, what more can we say? Are our words concerning them, likely to be believed more than the things which they openly say about themselves?

It is hardly credible that after the revelation of the arrogance of their hearts through their own mouths there should be still found right-minded men willing to ally themselves with them. It is a cause for great astonishment throughout the whole Congregation of the Exile, that they should be given a place and a voice in affairs, and that they should find support at a time when it is known to be a public sin.
Therefore, I find that your honour is justified in appealing to all who fear G"d, to act together and to protest bitterly and publicly, making known the things, which the Zionists have themselves made known. This will be of great advantage as this time these words come forth from a pure heart. Perhaps it will bring healing to the multitude of the House of Israel whose hearts have not yet been corrupted, and they will repent and be healed.

Let them beware in their souls lest they join in the destruction of our religion and become a stumbling-block to the House of Israel.

Chaim HaLevi Soloveitchik


Friday, 10 Elul, 5659 (1899), Brisk in Ohr le-Yesharim, Warsaw, 1900 in I. Domb, Transformation. The Case of the Neturei Karta. Brooklyn, NY: Hachomo, 1989, p. 18
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The Brisker Rav said, "Two things are certain: 1) Zionism is idolatry, and 2) every Jew living in Eretz Yisroel stumbles in Zionism." (Uvdos Vehanhagos Leveis Brisk, v. 4 p. 197)

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Rabbi Aaronson: "Are there not many who were far from Israel and did not even desire to be called Jews, but are now through the influence of Zionism boasting of their identification with Jewry?

The Rebbe: "You state that at any rate the Zionists have influenced men who are far from Israel to draw nearer. May I ask in what way they have drawn nearer? Have they begun to observe the Torah and its commandments! No, on the contrary, through the Zionist movement they have moved even

further from the fulfilment of the Torah and commandments and from belief in G"d.

The Zionists have done even more harm than the 'Society for the Spread of Enlightenment' (Maskilim). The Society gave the people something that was additional to the Torah by spreading their evil view that 'enlightenment' was necessary and obligatory. Seeing that' enlightenment' and external studies are hostile to Torah-particularly inasmuch as they derive these studies from lying sources-consequently, in the course of time, these studies prevailed over the Torah until those who occupied themselves with them became heretics and infidels and cast off from upon them the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven and the yoke of the Torah just as our eyes have witnessed both among the older generation in the past and particularly among the young men occupied in such studies.

Yet the old follower of the' enlightenment' or the pupil of the schools that spread disbelief in the Lord and in His Torah, is aware that he has gone astray from the path of the Torah. and the commandments and that he is not a right Jew. There is, therefore, hope that sooner or later he will take this to heart and return to the Lord, for even though he has sinned, he is of Israel and has a divine spark in Him; and when he realizes well that he is opposed and contrary to the Divine Will and that he is not a proper Jew at all, it will be possible that he will be roused sooner or later and feel a discontent with the extent of his separation and, with the evil and bitter thing that he has done in abandoning G"d.

He may then make an agreement with himself to walk in the way of the Torah and the commandments as is enjoined on him by the Lord our G"d through his servants the prophets. But the Zionists are far more cunning in their evil and they have made nationalism a substitute for Torah and

commandments. Mandelstam in his open letter stated that a Jew was not one who fulfilled the commandments but one who was a Zionist even though he did not put on Tephilin and did not keep the Sabbath, etc. etc. The periodical, Hashiloach, wrote in the past year, that even one who transgressed all the commandments of the Torah, even one who denied the existence of G"d, was a Jew provided only that he was a  nationalist.

Another periodical, Wschod, expanded on the above mentioned theme by stating that when Israel went forth from Egypt and became a people, Moses gave them the Torah and the commandments, in order to give them a sense of social cohesion, by belonging to one religion and that afterwards at

the time of the destruction of the Sanctuary, when the Sages of Israel saw the people scattered and dispersed to the four corners of the earth, they wisely preserved this religion through a number of limitations and restrictions, in order to preserve social cohesion. Now, the writer went on, it is

important to note that religion will not preserve social cohesion and that in its place must come the nationalist ideal which will strengthen the social will to be a people. From all these articles written by Zionists we can c1early see that their main aim and activity is to make--and unfortunately they do--the impression among the' people of Israe1 that' the whole purpose of the Torah and the commandments is merely to strengthen collective feeling. This theory can easily be adopted by the young people who regard themselves as instruments prepared for the fulfilment of the Zionist ideal.

They naturally regard themselves as completely liberated from Torah and the commandments for now, they think, nationalism has replaced religion, and is the best means for the preservation of society.

After this assumption is accepted, anyone who enters the movement regards himself as no longer obliged to keep the commandments of the Torah nor is there any hope consequently that at some time or other he will return because, according to his own reckoning, he is a proper Jew in that he

is a loyal nationalist. It is clear, therefore, on idealogical grounds that the Zionist ideal has not only failed to bring near those who were far from Israel, but has even driven them further away. Moreover, it has even led right-thinking Jews to uproot from their hearts every concern with the holiness of the Torah, faith in G"d and the fulfilment of the active commandments. By that it has taken from them the basis of the obligation of Torah and commandments altogether. and has planted in their hearts instead the belief that through nationalism they are complete Jews.

Naturally, all who are caught in their toils. are lost without hope. Everyone who has even a little knowledge will admire the fact that the agitation of Herzl and Nordau in favour of Zion is not attributable to any religious feeling stirred in their souls.

Our brethren who fear the Lord, love the Holy Land through the divine feeling that is in them. Their will and delight in the Lord and in His Service leads them to delight in the place which the lord has chosen. This love is an inward feeling. a powerful inward love for this place that brings them

actually to kiss its dust. That such is not the cause of the agitation for Zion raised by Herzl and Nordau is clear. When Herzl was in the Holy land, he was far removed from the Lord. He openly profaned the Torah by entering the Holy City on the holy Sabbath. He went to the site of the Sanctuary which even from an ordinary human point of view he should not have done, thus openly profaning the Sabbath in the Holy City and in the place of His temple, doing evil in the sight of

the Lord.

This action was done with the special intention of displaying their unclean ideology and showing that Judaism is nationalism. The leader of the Zionists had set up the idol of nationalism, rebellion against the Lord and denial of Torah and commandments on the very sight of the Temple of the Lord. The true reason for the agitation raised by the Zionist leaders who deceive and incite the people of Israel away from the Lord and away from his Holy Torah is that the feeble limbs of the body of Israel were already mingled among the nations and joined with them. A Jew of this kind who in Germany regarded himself as a German, and in Austria as an Austrian, etc. and felt that he belonged to his native land and had a part in its government in exactly the same way as all other citizens, led a life of ease and luxury, according to his material attitude--and married with the peoples of the land so that all might be one people.

The Holy One. blessed be He.,Who desires the redemption of Israel through the Moshiach ben Dovid--and Israel can be redeemed only through repentance--has set up foes and adversaries against. His people and His inheritance to afflict and oppress them. They are the anti-Semites who are in every state, and they have begun to isolate Jews from themselves and to remind them that they are Jews. In every corner to which they turn among the great ones of the land and the princes with whom they were familiar and desire to find their place, people look at them as if they are strangers and remove and isolate them. These kind of Jews have the desire and will to be particularly on the level of the princes of these countries and the rulers of these lands. The more they are rebuffed, the more actively do they work to rise and exalt themselves and to boast of their wealth and their wisdom.

Our G"d-fearing brethren know that they are beneath the yoke of the Exile and that they must be subdued in whatever position and situation they are, in the knowledge that they are in exile under the rule of other peoples and that it is their duty to bear the yoke of the Exile because it is the Divine will that in this way their sins shall be atoned up to the time when the Lord will have mercy on us and speedily redeem us.

This was our belief even under the heavy burden heaped upon us at various times. even after all the persecutions and oppressions. They would find for themselves a place, they would have a place in their own hearts as is the nature of the weak in the face of the strong. For to our G"d-fearing brethren the reality was. that they were Jews through the fulfilment of the Torah and the commandments; but the above-mentioned Jews believed that they were Germans, etc. and when they were violently rejected, their whole existence was affected. They had no place for themselves in their own hearts but were forced into isolation. each for himself. How should they exist? Not through the fulfilment of the Torah and the commandments for which they had no desire. Therefore. there was aroused in them the desire to become a people and a government and that was to be the basis of their existence. This and only this is the motive governing their agitation and their return to Israel. They want a Jewish nation and the most suitable place for the nation of Israel is clearly the Land of Israel; but there can be no doubt that Herzl and Nordau are not in the least concerned whether it be the Land of Israel or some other country. As far as they are concerned, that is a matter of purely secondary importance in comparison with their desire for a nation and a government. At the third congress, a proposal was made for a settlement in Cyprus for which Herzl provided an opportunity for debate but the proposal was rejected owing to the powerful objections of Zionists from our country.

However, in order to influence our brethren in favour of this aspiration for an independent nation and government, they have no alternative but to lead the people astray from the path of Torah and the commandments. or at least. to weaken their attachment as much as possible, so that nationalism should prevail over the Torah. Because it is known that those attached to the Torah and the commandments are unlikely to change and accept some other form of faith.

They are particularly unlikely to accept this form, the form of going forth from the Exile by violence and redeeming themselves by their own power. No one attached to the Torah can ever convince himself of it, for it is opposed to the whole strength of the faith and hope of Israel who hope and yearn for the salvation of the Lord through the coming of Meshiach Tsidkenu, who will redeem us both spiritually and physically so that we rise to the loftiest heights. This hope is deeply rooted in their souls which find rest in it, and through this hope, they live through the bitter Exile, strengthened through the fulfilment of the Torah. For their purpose, the spread of the nationalist theory, the Zionists are compelled to distort the former character of Judaism in order that Jews might accept another form of it. They are compelled to do this in order to prevent the ways of the Torah from disturbing their evil and corrupt path. That was the reason why they set out to lead the people away from the Torah and to strengthen the nationalist view--May the Lord have mercy--that the essence of Judaism was not the Torah. They also study the Bible through commentaries which they compile out of their imaginations in order to clothe the verses with nationalist nuances. In their speeches they make use of these treacherous interpretations. All this was commended by Herzl at the second or third congress as having great value.

This method is the basis of their propaganda which is directed at the one aim of removing the heart of the people from the Torah and the holy beliefs that are in the heart of Israel and of implanting instead nationalism as Judaism, Zionism needs 'culture.' This' culture' is one of the fundamental bases of Zionism without which its aim could not be attained; and the statement made at the Third Congress that they had no concern with 'culture' is merely deceptive and due to the fact that many of our brethren have opposed them in this manner. Outwardly that is what they say but in fact they ding to 'culture' with all their might because they cannot survive without it.

Zionists, wherever they are, are busily occupied in teaching youths and simple people the histories of Graetz and Smolenski and also in studying the Bible in the aforementioned manner... This is the basis of their exposition of the Torah in synagogues on Sabbaths and festivals--all with the intention of uprooting Judaism and substituting nationalism.

It is surely clear that the Zionists not only are not approaching Judaism but that they even entirely destroy Jewish souls in intentionally taking away from them even the hidden and mystical feeling in their souls for the Torah and the commandments until there is no hope--Heaven forbid--that they

will return to the lord without His Strong Hand, etc.

That the Zionists glory in the name of Israel applies purely to the name of the people of Israel which to them constitutes Judaism; but from true Judaism which is the fulfilment of the Torah and the Commandments and faith in the Lord and in His holy servants they are completely distant through the Zionist ideal. May Shem Yisborach frustrate their counsel and raise the horn of the Torah and of Judaism and the horn of our brethren the children of 'Israel for the glory of His great Name."

Rabbi Aaronson: Whence can we derive the strength to fight against them? Surely something that cannot be brought to a successful conclusion is not worth beginning?

The Rebbe: "There are many of our brethren who have a little knowledge. They are unable to understand any problem by themselves but can understand and accept what is said to them.

These men when they hear from Zionists of the good that is in the Zionist ideal, and particularly when the Zionists seek to cover up their evil, accept the Zionist view and do not try to understand the evil in it. Yet when both'the hidden and the open evil is revealed to them, they are more inclined to accept the truth, because they themselves have fear and reverence for, the word of the Lord and naturally understand the truth in their souls. Men like these constitute a great part of Israel.

There is another great part of Israel consisting of G"d- fearing men without the knowledge to understand and they are led by those greater than them, and accept what is said to them. When they hear from the preachers of the Zionist ideal of the good that is in Zionism and particularly when they mention the name of Eretz Israel that is so dear to them, they become devoted to Zionism and do all that they are commanded to do. Now, when the people of Israel hear that the Gedoilei Hatorah are bitterly protesting against this movement and the great evil that is in it, then they will turn completely away from it. It is known that there are men who have great power and when they will turn away from it, they will do this also with great power.

For our above mentioned brethren, we are in duty bound to offer up our lives in order to deliver them from the mouths of lions seeking to make them transgress. May the Lord preserve us and help us and speedily bring us Meshiach Tsidkenu, Amen."

R' Sholem Ber Shneerson, the Fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, 5663

in the Transformation, pp. 217-232