Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Alexander Kaye
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Legal Pluralism ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Israeli Society ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Of Israel ◽  
Society Today ◽  
Legal Centralism

The introduction to The Invention of Jewish Theocracy introduces the idea of the halakhic state, which is the belief that the State of Israel should be governed by traditional Jewish law (halakha). It offers a definition and history of the religious Zionist community, whose leaders are the main proponents of this belief, and provides an overview of the idea’s origins and development. The chapter proposes a framework and methodology, which is based on legal and political thought, and especially the ideas of legal centralism and legal pluralism. It lays out some of the main arguments of the book and its implications for Israeli society today, as well as for key debates in the fields of history and religious studies, particularly debates over theories of secularization in the modern world.

The Invention of Jewish Theocracy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Kaye
Keyword(s):  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Israeli Society ◽  
Culture War ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
History Of ◽  
Civil Courts ◽  
State Of Israel ◽  
Common Understanding

The Invention of Jewish Theocracy is about Jewish religious approaches to law and politics in the State of Israel. It uncovers the forgotten history of religious Zionists who tried to create a “halakhic state” by making traditional Jewish law (halakha) into Israel’s official law. This endeavour brought about a conflict over Israel’s legal framework with the majority of Israeli Jews who wanted Israel to be a secular democracy. This struggle over legal authority became the backdrop for a pervasive culture war, whose consequences are felt throughout Israeli society until today. It has also shaped religious attitudes to many aspects of Israeli society and politics, created an ongoing antagonism with the state’s civil courts, and led to the creation of a new and increasingly powerful state rabbinate. The book uncovers the surprising truth, which runs counter to the common understanding, that the religious Zionist ideology of legal supremacy emerged no earlier than the middle of the twentieth century. Even more notably, the book shows that, far from being endemic to Jewish religious tradition as its proponents claim, the idea of the halakhic state borrows heavily from modern European jurisprudence.

Religious Zionism, Jewish Law, and the Morality of War

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Eisen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legitimate Authority ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Jewish State ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Law And Ethics ◽  
Present Book ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Of Israel ◽  
Morality Of War

When the state of Israel was established in 1948, it was immediately thrust into war, and rabbis in the religious Zionist community were challenged with constructing a body of Jewish law to deal with this turn of events. Laws had to be “constructed” here because Jewish law had developed mostly during prior centuries when Jews had no state or army, and therefore it contained little material on war. The rabbis in the religious Zionist camp responded to this challenge by creating a substantial corpus of laws on war, and they did so with remarkable ingenuity and creativity. The work of these rabbis represents a fascinating chapter in the history of Jewish law and ethics, but it has attracted relatively little attention from academic scholars. The purpose of the present book is therefore to bring some of their work to light. It examines how five of the leading rabbis in the religious Zionist community dealt with key moral issues in the waging of war. Chapters are devoted to R. Abraham Isaac Kook, R. Isaac Halevi Herzog, R. Eliezer Waldenberg, R. Sha’ul Yisraeli, and R. Shlomo Goren. The moral issues examined include the question of who is a legitimate authority for initiating a war, why Jews in a modern Jewish state can be drafted to fight on its behalf, and whether the killing of enemy civilians is justified. Other issues examined include how the laws of war as formulated by religious Zionist rabbis compares to those of international law.

Hadassah

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mira Katxzburg-Yungman
Keyword(s):  
Life Stories ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Jewish Women ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
American Jewry ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Of Israel ◽  
Zionist Organization

In February 1912, thirty-eight American Jewish women founded Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. This has become the largest Zionist organization in the diaspora and the largest and most active Jewish women's organization ever. Its history is an inseparable part of the history of American Jewry and of the State of Israel. Hadassah is also part of the history of Jewish women in the United States and in the modern world more broadly. Its achievements are not only those of Zionism but, crucially, of women, and this book pays particular attention to the life stories of the women who played a role in them. The book analyses many aspects of the history of Hadassah. The introductory section describes the contexts and challenges of Hadassah's history from its founding to the birth of the State of Israel. Subsequent sections explore the organization's ideology and its activity on the American scene after Israeli statehood; its political and ideological role in the World Zionist Organization; and its involvement in the new State of Israel in medicine and health care, and in its work with children and young people. The final part deals with topics such as gender issues, comparisons of Hadassah with other Zionist organizations, and the importance of people of the Yishuv and later of Israelis in Hadassah's activities. It concludes with an epilogue that considers developments up to 2005, assessing whether the conclusions reached with regard to Hadassah as an organization remain valid.

Leibowitz, Yeshayahu (1903–94)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Hartman
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Israeli Society ◽  
Modern World ◽  
The Political ◽  
Religious Thought ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
Religious Law ◽  
The One ◽  
State Of Israel

Unlike the major intellectual currents that shaped religious thought in the modern world, Leibowitz’s thought is deeply anchored in the Israeli context. Both as philosopher and activist, Leibowitz lived and articulated the paradoxes of modern Israel where he lived and was best known. His reputation as a Socratic gadfly to the establishment reflected his ongoing critique of both Israeli society in the light of Judaism, and Judaism in the light of the revolutionary implications of the creation of the State of Israel. On the one hand, he was a Jewish patriot, a fighter for Jewish independence from all forms of foreign rule; on the other hand, he was a harsh, relentless critic of national and political expressions of chauvinism in the Israeli establishment. A strictly observant Jew, Leibowitz had less impact on traditional religious Jews than on secular Israelis. His central message is that what makes Jews distinctive as a group is neither their theology nor their Bible, but the system of law with which they regulate their lives. Judaism is a communal concept, and there is no point in religious Jews ignoring the State of Israel, or expecting others to bear their civil burdens for them. Religious law has to be reconciled with life in the political reality of the state, and this necessitates changing those attitudes to the law which reflect the historical conditions of life in exile.

The Pluralistic Roots of Religious Zionism

2020 ◽  
pp. 24-50
Author(s):  
Alexander Kaye
Keyword(s):  
Legal Pluralism ◽  
The State ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Legal Institutions ◽  
Legal Regimes ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Way ◽  
Religious Zionism

This chapter shows that before 1948, religious Zionists were legal pluralists: that is, that they imagined the state being run by several parallel legal regimes, of which only one would be halakha, traditional Jewish law as interpreted by the rabbis. They were willing to accept a democratic legislature and did not call for halakha to rule Israel. This legal pluralism drew on a very long history of Jewish law and was congruent with the way that Jews had organized their legal institutions for centuries. Thinkers who adopted this position included Reuven Margulies, Shlomo Gorontchik (Goren), Shimon Federbusch, and Haim Ozer Grodzinski.

scholarly journals An attitude to the intellectual and political thought of Seyed Jamaluddin Afghan

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 39-44
Author(s):  
Muzhda Tabesh Noor
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Religious Thought ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Important Position ◽  
External Powers

This study aimed to clarify the intellectual and political ideas of Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani, who is one of the most famous philosophers of the contemporary Islamic world and modern world and clarify his visions for the important issues of his era. In this paper, attempts have been made to find out analytical-descriptive approaches relying on library resources.The findings of the study indicated that Seyed Jamaluddin Afghani had a profound view on ideologies, movements, philosophical schools and social changes in the world, and his attitude to the important issues of his era was sociological and reformal, since in his first study, he comprehended the damages of Islamic communities and recommends worthwhile plans to escape the domination of the external powers and domestic tyranny that Islamic countries were struggling with. Seyed Jamaluddin, one of the celebrities of history has the most important position and particular virtue in terms of his role in regional developments, since he has had a glorious role in establishing freedom, equality and brotherhood in the history of relations between nations. An unknown Afghan thought possess from the prominent features of anti-tyranny, reformation of religious thought, convergence and Islamic ties. These parameters were indications of the titles that Seyed Jamal has given us as an important historical map.

THE SEARCH FOR THE ORIGINS OF MODERN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT IN EARLY MODERN SWITZERLAND

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 647-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARC H. LERNER
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Intellectual History ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Political World ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Good Government ◽  
History Of

What are the debts that the modern world owes to the political culture of the Enlightenment? For historians of political thought this is a widely debated subject. Throughout Europe, the Enlightenment provided the critical lens for a widespread reassessment of the nature of political authority. Much of the intellectual history of the eighteenth century focuses on this reassessment and the debates over the nature of good government, liberty and sovereignty. The discussion of these issues is linked to the history of liberalism, democratic republicanism, popular sovereignty, and the nature of the modern political world itself.

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