"The ethical and theological question of what it means to be Jewish post Gaza will be one of the defining questions of the Jewish world in decades to come. I wrote about it in today's Haaretz" — Mikhael Manekin
"But the very idea of violating the Sabbath to create more hunger and as a means of punishment or coercion is alien to Jewish rabbinic tradition and would undoubtedly have baffled our sages. However, in Israel, it is an increasingly mainstream ethical position. To be a good Jew is to put the collective punishment of Palestinians ahead of basic observance. Recently, Rabbi Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of Zfat, even wrote a special prayer for those blocking humanitarian aid"
"It demands the expulsion or total submission or death of Palestinians. It sees all those who argue with it as traitorous or weak. Palestinian suffering is dismissed. Religious soldiers recite our holiest prayers while blowing up mosques. There is no room for remorse, skepticism, or introspection"
"The only sin is not giving full rein to our innermost vengeful desires. Restraint is godlessness. Shockingly, this worldview is not some fringe ideology, it's what is currently blocking a hostage deal and prolonging the war with two of its adherents in the Cabinet: Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich"
"For years, religious right extremism in Israel was characterized as "wild weeds." But those weeds have long since turned into a forest, with the movement of the religious right moving into positions of power throughout the Israeli government, military, and judiciary"
Lot of parallels with India in terms of rise of Hindutva in our institutions as well via BJP
"Liberal Zionists around the world have not offered a serious challenge to the theology of the right; they have chosen instead to moderate it"
"But these strategies misunderstand the source of the religious right's appeal: The religious right offers a consistent ideological justification for a policy that is flagrantly anti-democratic"
"Instead of taming it, those who wish to fight for a moral future for the Jewish tradition must confront religious right theology on its terms and offer a rigorous alternative. We must because it is a moral aberration that leads to the justification of death, starvation, and hunger. We must because it is a fundamental transgression of the Torah and a desecration of our tradition"
"To confront it, we must return to our ethical traditions that have been attacked and marginalized. We must rethink issues such as exile and return, exclusivist land ownership and land sanctity, and our view of Jewish relations with non-Jews, especially Palestinians"
"We must relearn our traditions of skepticism about war and fear of violence. We must confront the right's political theology honestly, constructively, consistently, and radically. Both theoretically and institutionally"
Add comment