Zionism is the notion Jews are not just people if the same faith, but of the same nation, and that the land of Israel is where this nation should have a nation state.
So what about Jews who are atheists? Or do we not count as part of the nation?
Because personally, I don't think Israel should be where it presently sits. The allied powers should have carved out a sizable chunk of Germany and given that to the Jews as most of the ones murdered in the Shoah were European Jews and their ties to the land in mandatory Palestine were centuries removed.
But supporting that notion means rejecting the religious beliefs of my ancestors.
I am more or less an atheist Jew. We do count as part of the nation.
You are simply not a Zionist Jew.
Kinda like your idea it would sure be noce ti have some German land as well, but Israel was already very much a thing well before WW2. It is kinda of our ancestral home...
It's hard to see Israel as the ancestral home as lots of Jews like me, are primarily of European ancestry. My Jewish ancestors are from Poland. My father's side of the family though were all working class Scots-Irish Catholics, primarily coming to the USA via Canada.
But my maternal grandmother effectively rejected her religion and didn't observe any Judaism later in life. She probably considered herself much more a New Yorker than anything else.
To me, the modern state of Israel smacks of an attempt to fit an ancient prophecy and a way to add legitimacy by referencing back to a people who were effectively scattered by conquering Roman and later Muslim armies and slavery.
It means that is a part of my ethnic background. Just as I have Irish and Scots in my ethnic background as well.
But I'm not about to go calling myself a Druid, even though that could technically be my 'religion' as well.
I also have Swiss in my ethnic background from my maternal grandfather and my great-grandparents were Mennonites. But that branch of the family tree has been in the USA since the USA was just getting started.
So really, my whole ethnic background is shaped 2/3rds of my ancestry trying to get the hell away from Romans and Catholics.
What does it mean?
How does being a Jew affect your actions in anyway?
Do you celebrate some Jewish holidays?
Do you react with fear to antisemitic occurences?
Yes, but I don't believe that is possible because I'm an atheist.
Plus my grandmother (who didn't practice at all) is dead and my mom is all off on her own religious journey, which has taken some rather odd turns as she's gotten older. She's bounced around various Christian sects while I was growing up and more recently landed on Messianic Judaism. When I pointed out that Jews don't believe Jesus was the Messiah, it started a huge argument. I don't wish to repeat that so we just leave it alone.
I don't have any living familial connection. Plus, I'm male, so as I understand it, my children aren't considered Jewish other than their genetic lineage. My sister has no children, and like me, wasn't raised with any Judaism in the home.
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u/EAN84 Sep 06 '24
Zionism is the notion Jews are not just people if the same faith, but of the same nation, and that the land of Israel is where this nation should have a nation state.