Judaism vs Zionism?

Question

What's the difference or is just semantics?

Isreal is already a State! So what does a Zionist mean today?

Answer 1

Hi Wayne,

Per your additional question...

The idea of Zionism is that Judaism is to be thought less a religion and more of a cultural and political identity. As I commented below, that's the reason many religious Jews (but by no means all) find it offensive. The state of Israel having come into existence, the Jewish goals of Zionism have been fulfilled. The term "Zionist" is now predominantly used by anti-Israelis who maintain that the Jewish state seeks political hegemony over the Middle East. It is used as an inflamatory word, very much the way many in the Arab world refer to the US as a "Crusader" nation.

In a practical sense, the word "Zionism" has no more meaning in Israel nowadays than the the word "Crusader" has meaning in the west. These are now buzz-words used in a derogatory way denoting a desire for political hegemony.

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There's a big differrence between them. Judaism is a religion. It is the revealed faith of the Children of Israel. In that sense, Judaism can be seen like all other faiths. And like all other faiths, its claims are essentialy spiritual and moral.

Zionism, on the other hand, is a social/political movement that began in the late 19th century, and was largely the work of Theodore Hertzl, who is regarded as the founder of Zionism.

During the late 19th century, many people throughout Europe were pushing for ethnic self determination: Poles, Slavs, Magyars, etc. These people were claiming to be unique ethnic identities and demanded their own nation-states to live in. Hertzl was a part of this, and thought that the same rights should be accorded to Jews. He led the idea that Jews were also a distinct ethnic and cultural identity, and thus, should have a homeland of their own. This resulted in calls for Jews to emigrate to Palestine and reclaim the land that was once theirs.

Many Jews support the ideas of Zionism, and many are very much opposed to the ideas of Zionism. Many of the Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews believe that Zionism is heretical. They maintain this because their belief is that only the Messiah can create the true Jewish Homeland, and man made attempts to do this represent an affront against God.

You may recall a few weeks ago that an anti-zionist convention was held in Iran, and the some of the attendees to that conference were Jews who were photographed having a pleasant conversation with the anti-Israeli President of Iran.

There's a big difference between Jewishness and Zionism.

Hope this answer helps. Cheers, mate.

Answer 2

Judiasm is the faith of the Jews, ancestors of the forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and then descended from Jacobs 12 sons.

Zionism is the belief that Jews have a right to govern themselves in their own homeland of Israel.

Anyone can be a Zionist - You do not need to be Jewish to be a Zionist.

Many people oppose Zionism because they do not believe that the Jews deserve independence or control over their own homeland. God exiled the Jews for their sins, so many people feel that they need to be Gods enforcers. On the other hand, God also promised that the Jews right to the land was eternal, and that he will always return them to it.

Many people feel that it is racist to want to have a Jewish country, and they want to dismantle the Jewish state. I look at it this way: Why is it OK to have 55 mulim countries and not 1 Jewish one?

Isn't that more racist?

Answer 3

You do recognize that each internet web site you cite there is the very same crew- a bunch of loonies noted as NetureiKarta which have lower than 250 contributors and characteristic been excomminicated by each Jewish denomination! Its easily hilarious how those who hate Israel trey to hang to some style of legitimacy in accordance to this bunch of madmen! And Zionism isn't hostile to Judaism- in truth, it truly is an inherent area of the religion considering there are guidelines that are suitable in Israel, the Temple is in Israel, prayers for the merely good 2 thousand years were for an end to the exile and the go back of the Jews to Israel. As we are saying on the suitable of the Passover meal next year IN JERUSALEM!

Answer 4

One does not need to be Jewish to be a Zionist and vice-versa, Zionism is the movement for the creation of a Jewish state in the approximate area of the Biblical Israel.

Answer 5

Judaism is the Jewish religion while Zionism is a political movement devoted to the establishment of a Jewish state and since the founding of Israel, it has come to mean support for Israeli nationalism.

Answer 6

Judaism is a religious belief; Zionism is a political philosophy. There is a world of difference, which explains why some Jews are opposed to the existence of Israel - some even attended the recent Holocaust Conference in Tehran.

Answer 7

Judaism believes in One God who revealed the Torah. It affirms Divine Providence and, accordingly, views Jewish exile as a punishment for sin. Redemption may be achieved solely through prayer and penance. Judaism calls upon all Jews to obey the Torah in its entirety including the commandment to be patriotic citizens.

Zionism rejects the Creator, His Revelation and reward and punishment. Among its fruits are the persecution of the Palestinian people and the spiritual and physical endangering of the Jewish people. It encourages treasonous, dual loyalty among unsuspecting Jews throughout the world. At its root Zionism sees reality as barren and desacralized. It is the antithesis of Torah Judaism.

HANK (Josh)

Answer 8

Zionism is the national expression of the Jewish People. Judaism is the religious expression of the Jewish People. They are intimately connected.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressed this question. He stated:

". . . You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely 'anti-Zionist.' And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountain tops, let it echo through the valleys of God's green earth: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews--this is God's own truth.

"Antisemitism, the hatred of the Jewish people, has been and remains a blot on the soul of mankind. In this we are in full agreement. So know also this: anti-Zionist is inherently anti-Semitism, and ever will be so.

"Why is this? You know that Zionism is nothing less than the dream and ideal of the Jewish people returning to live in their own land. The Jewish people, the Scriptures tell us, once enjoyed a flourishing Commonwealth in the Holy Land. From this they were expelled by the Roman tyrant, the same Romans who cruelly murdered Our Lord. Driven from their homeland, their nation in ashes, forced to wander the globe, the Jewish people time and again suffered the lash of whichever tyrant happened to rule over them.

"The ***** people, my friend, know what it is to suffer the torment of tyranny under rulers not of our choosing. Our brothers in Africa have begged, pleaded, requested--DEMANDED the recognition and realization of our inborn right to live in peace under our own sovereignty in our own country.

"How easy it should be, for anyone who holds dear this inalienable right of all mankind, to understand and support the right of the Jewish People to live in their ancient Land of Israel. All men of good will exult in the fulfillment of God's promise, that his People should return in joy to rebuild their plundered land.

"This is Zionism, nothing more, nothing less.

"And what is anti-Zionist? It is the denial to the Jewish people of a fundamental right that we justly claim for the people of Africa and freely accord all other nations of the Globe. It is discrimination against Jews, my friend, because they are Jews. In short, it is antisemitism."

Answer 9

Zionism has nothing to do with Judaism
At one point the UN called Zionism is a forum of racism.

Answer 10

Judaism is the Hebrew religion. Zionism has to do with the fight for the preservation of the land of Israel.