A Morally Pure Judaism Without Actual Jews

“Last week, with memories of my family’s Passover seders still vivid, I watched video of the protest ‘seder in the streets’ held in Brooklyn on the second night of the holiday—and was shocked, though not surprised, to see Israel denounced in the name of a definition of Jewish faith that we have not heard much of since its heyday in 19th century Europe and its use in the 20th century by the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism. I found myself wishing that the students in my courses on Jewish thought could have seen the video too. I want them to understand that some of the current arguments made by young Jews against Zionism are in fact old claims about the nature of Judaism,” writes Arnold M. Eisen, chancellor emeritus and professor of Jewish Thought, in The Times of Israel.

Read his article about Passover, protests on college campuses, and a what to make of a “seder that depicts Zionism as idol worship and ignores the suffering of Israelis.”

“A Morally Pure Judaism Without Actual Jews” in Times of Israel