“How Has Zionism Changed Judaism?”

with Rabbi Gamliel Shmalo

The leaders of the Zionist movement were largely a group acting in a rebellious spirit against the Jewish religious establishment of their time. That establishment, at least as the story is usually told, discouraged “forcing the end” by trying to organize mass immigration to Eretz Yisrael by human means. There were voices within the Zionist movement who saw the project of re-founding a Jewish state as a break from the Jewish past, even a transcending of that past to create something totally new. In the words of M.Y. Berdyczewski: “We will either be the last Jews or the first Hebrews.” 

But the reported revolutionary spirit of the founders of Israel deserves a closer look. In this four session mini-course, we will discuss Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik’s masterpiece, Kol Dodi Dofek. In this work, Soloveitchik argues for Zionism as a noble enterprise led by men and women with a truly visionary sense of the fate that has united Jews since ancient times. Given his respect for these leaders, how does “the Rav” advise the halachic community to orient themselves to the project of Zionism? The course will also discuss a pair of powerful recent essays that look back at the work of two founders of Zionism: Theodor Herzl and Ahad Ha’am. Understanding the rivalry between these two men is of invaluable service to all of us who seek to understand what it means to be a Jew today. 

 

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Rabbi Gamliel Shmalo

Rabbi Gamliel Shmalo has taught Jewish philosophy and law at Yeshiva University. He holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA from Hebrew University in Jerusalem in Jewish Philosophy. He has also studied at Machon Shlomo, Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh, Heichal HaTorah B’Tzion, and Beit Ariel Jerusalem. He has published widely on Jewish themes, and he lectures internationally. He was the Director of Education for Meor NYU, and before returning to the U.S. he was on the faculty of Michlalah Jerusalem College and Yeshivat Ohr Yerushalyim for ten years. His book Learning to Grow is published by Kodesh Press. 

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