Reform Rabbis and Zionism
In answer to some of the statements of Dr. S. Schulman in his sermon, which appeared in THE AMERICAN HEBREW of Friday, February 25, I wrote him the following lines which I beg you kindly to reproduce in your journal, as they may prove of general interest:
There is much to be said against your statements about Zionism. The opponents of that movement, it seems to be, have yet to learn the real viewpoint of those who, though strictly loyal to their American patriotism, can still cherish the hope of a national Jewish regeneration in "Eretz Yisroel." To me, the Zionistic ideal has only strengthened my position as a Reform Jew. Zionism has furnished me with that positiveness which is so woefully lacking in our Reform movement. For you will admit that, in its application to practical life, Reform Judaism has been only a long series of negations, a makeshift for religious convenience. The Reform Temple which came to perpetuate Judaism with the modern Jew, has not given to those whom it spiritually nurtured that religious fervor which the old-time synagogue had so liberally handed out to its Orthodox devotees. The ideal of Israel as a priest-people, purposely scattered all over the world as a missionary community to advocate the unadulterated oneness of God, is indeed beautiful. The trouble is that this grand ideal is hardly ever anything more than a hothouse plant. It is confined to the four walls of the Temple. In the bracing atmosphere of God's free world, in the busy walks of life, it does not hold good, nor is it known or felt as a factor in the life of the "chosen" race. Who more than we, Rabbis, know that with the Reform Jew religion is well-nigh at the freezing point? Surely, we cannot fool ourselves with the delusion that the Jew of to-day is, morally or spiritually, superior to the Gentile. Where the Gentile is stuffed up
with a paganized God belief, the Jew can only parade a soul barren of all religion. The Gentile at least has the comfort which blind faith brings. What, then, becomes of your so-called "mission?" The "missionaries" do not "missionize," neither as active agents nor even passively, in their private life. Now, Zionism is here to give to such spiritual malcontents like myself a real live issue, one that is not merely an abstract idea or a vague hope. Zionism gives us back that past, which Reform has so greatly helped to destroy. For the future millennium we can only hope and pray; the past is a most alluring reality. I am not a rabid political Zionist, for I believe that the cultural aspect of the movement is by far more important than either its political or economic phases. But certain it is that Palestine must again become a great spiritual centre for our people, even if for no other reason than the preservation of, and as a monument to, that wonderful heirloom of the Jewish spirit which Palestine enshrines. It is because of my love for Judaism that Zionism has its unshaken hold on me. In the Western world Judaism is but a step-child. In the East alone will it perpetually thrive. And your very "mission" idea will become a factor in the world of thought only after Judaism, whatever label it bears, has once again become planted in the soil of its origin with all of the present obstacles removed from the path of its normal development.
You may ask: "Why remain in the ranks of the Reform movement at all, if this be your gratitude toward it?" My answer is, "Because, as a modern Jew, Orthodoxy has lost its usefulness for me, and because I see in its ritual and ceremonial a hindrance to the progress of the faith. My position as a reformer is thus quite logical and consistent, though I must confess, it is rather distasteful for me to be dubbed by any such label. I should much prefer to be known as just simply a Jew. Since, however, my mode of living and worship is what is commonly ascribed to the Reform Jew, let me make it plain that, under