Shahak, Israel & Norton Mezvinsky. Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel. Sterling, VA: Pluto Press, 1999, 168 pp.
“When our forces come across civilians during a war or in hot pursuit or in a raid, so long as there is no certainty that those civilians are incapable of harming our forces, then according to Halakah [Jewish law] they may and even should be killed…. Under no circumstances should an Arab be trusted, even if he makes an impression of being civilized…. In war, when our forces storm the enemy, they are allowed and even enjoined by the Halakah to kill even good civilians….”[i]
Central Region Command of the Israeli army
Violent, religious extremism, at least according to a large portion of Western media and political pundits, is characterized almost exclusively as a trend practiced by Muslims today. It is therefore appropriate to review a book that, although published in 1999, is a timeless testimony to the power of prophetic polemics and their belligerent strains.
Israel Shahak was no stranger to conflict. He and his mother escaped the Nazis; but lost his father to a concentration camp. He served in the Israeli military, witnessing the devastation of occupation and war. Schooled in the sciences, he became a significant force in the quest for democracy and human rights; and, with his death in 2001, the world lost an important voice of reason. Shahak penned this work with Norton Mezvinsky, a history professor and expert on Jewish fundamentalism and Zionism, who has renounced his "right of return" to Israel; and continues to advocate a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian Israeli conflict.
Although these two men reflect the views of numerous Jews around the world, one’s hopes are truly put to the test after reading this authoritative work. They leave no room to doubt the negative effect that Zionism, Jewish fundamentalists, and the rabbis that lead them, have not only on Israeli society, but on the international community.
Judaism, despite its extreme manifestations, is a misunderstood religion; and this book underscores why many Jews seek solace in secular environments, and why there is a significant reform movement within the faith. That is not to say the reader will walk away with a clear understanding of the subject matter. Jewish fundamentalism in all its forms is merely one part of the Jewish tapestry; and its threads are intertwined within every sociopolitical element of world Jewry. Fundamentalists, like Zionists, can neither be compartmentalized nor can the lay reader hope to fully appreciate the complexity of Jewish exegeses, especially with regard to divergent rabbinical interpretations. They, for example, object to Zionism yet have at times compromised in favor of it; and, their opposition to this ideology is not for altruistic reasons. Nevertheless, the authors’ work is admirable for opening a window into this mystical world; and, in fact, it is unlikely that any other commentator could achieve the same degree of relative lucidity.
The authors’ methodology is a key determinant of their ability to help shed light on the subject. The most important factor is the Hebrew source material – contemporary books and articles as well as ancient tracts – they use. The reason, they state, is:
We believe that the great majority of the books on Judaism and Israel, published in English especially, falsify their subject matter. The falsification is sometimes a result of explicitly lying but is mostly the result of omission of major facts that may create what the authors consider to be an adverse view of their subjects…. The omissions pertinent to our subject of Jewish fundamentalism exist for the same apologetic reasons as do the literary omissions in any totalitarian system (150).
The other important route they pursue is that there is no real timeline to events in this work. The authors traverse past and recent history to underscore their message; and discussions of current issues are placed within the context of Judaism’s evolution over time.
Only the first of the seven chapter headings, “Jewish Fundamentalism Within Jewish Society,” implies the book is a historic as well as contemporary analysis; yet this approach is prevalent throughout the book. Chapter 1 defines the two categories of Israeli religious Jews. First are the more extreme Haredim (lit. “fearing,” i.e., God-fearing), divided into two parties: the Yahaddut Ha’ Torah (Judaism of Law) and Shas, a party of the Oriental a.k.a Sephardic Haredim. Second, the religious-national Jews are organized in the National Religious Party (NRP), which, while deemed Jewish fundamentalist, have reconciled with Zionist ideologies in ways Haredi groups have not (for example, NRP members sing the Israeli anthem, Hatikva, at special events while other Haredim recite prayers instead).
This chapter reviews the importance of Talmudic interpretations as well as how some fundamentalists compromise their values when necessary. The reasons why Haredim do not believe in Israel as a state are explained (18-20); and seemingly trivial yet telling beliefs are also examined. According to the Halacha (lit. “accepted,” i.e. the entire body of the Jewish religious law), for example, “a Jewish male who willingly listens to a woman’s singing commits a sin equivalent either to adultery or fornication.” As a result, religious settlers recorded a male singing songs popularized by females, then digitally enhanced them to sound like women, so as not to contravene the religious ruling (9).
The more ominous precepts scrutinized, however, are Talmudic attitudes towards non-Jews, wherein “[f]or religious Jews, the blood of non-Jews has no intrinsic value; for Likud [Israel’s right wing party currently in power], it has limited value” (11). These themes — Talmudic law and attitudes toward women and non-Jews — permeate the whole book; and the authors explain how despite extreme views a minority in Israel have gained power.
“The Rise of the Haredim in Israel” (Ch. 2) seeks to answer two key questions: How have the Haredi parties secured their political influence; and what organizational structure have the Haredim employed for maximum political success. The short answer is both the effect of rabbinical opinion, even on secular Jews, and education as a strategic lever. Shahak and Mezvinsky quote earlier scholars who denounced the payment of salaries to Talmudic students; and show how rabbinical interpretation reversed this ruling, which helped secure funds for male-dominated Haredi schools (women are seen as too weak-minded to study Talmud and “a woman is a sack of excrement” (38)).
The Haredim, through a pervasive hold on their own educational curricula and influence over the nation’s system, impact Israeli broader society at all levels, including political, media and medical organizations. Since the state’s existence is based on Judaism, it is difficult, if not impossible, for Israeli officials, even at the prime ministerial level, to ignore or criticize Haredi commentary or injunctions. The authors give an example of how a Haredi Rabbi, Sheiberger, “met with senior physicians of the Israel Transplants Association and discussed with them Jewish religious prohibitions on organ donations…. He explained: ‘It is obvious that it is prohibited under any circumstances to transplant Jewish organs into Arabs, all of whom hate Jews’” (42).
The authors posit in chapter 3, “The Two Main Haredi Groups,” that an understanding of the differences among Jewish fundamentalists is important to appreciate how they have grown to influence Israeli politics. Whereas the previous chapter is an introduction to Haredi political groups, this section looks at the two categories that form Jewish fundamentalists’ identity: the Ashkenazi and the Oriental (formerly called the Sephardi, a term which is no longer relevant as it referred predominantly to the Jews of Spain, even when they moved to other regions). The authors summarize their history from around 1000 AC to the present time. The development of bitter rivalries between the groups is examined, with numerous examples including the use of curses, subterfuge and vandalism to undermine one another.
They also examine how leaders of the groups devised plans to control the behavior and even migration patterns of their flock. They present an example of the former: “[T]he head of the yeshiva [lit. “sitting,” i.e., institution for higher Talmudic studies] arranges all marriages of yeshiva students. He carefully picks the daughters of rich and pious Jews as wives for students. The better students are matched with daughters of the wealthiest parents. (The head of the yeshiva also matches daughters of rabbis with sons of the wealthiest parents)” (49). Haredi influence is not limited to their own communities, as they shaped the Zionist outlook of the predominantly Ashkenazi government of the 1950s which, for example, “induced Jewish immigration from Iraq bribing the government of Iraq to strip most Iraqi Jews of their citizenship and to confiscate their property” (47).
Chapter 4, “The National Religious Party and the Religious Settlers,” gives the clearest picture of the marriage between Israeli politics and religion. The NRP is allied with the Gush Emunim (lit. “block of faithful,” an ideological and messianic settler movement established in 1974 with a purpose of controlling Greater Israel). Together, the groups have significantly influenced both Labor and Likud policies, as well as the decision-making process of army leaders. The following excerpts are self-explanatory:
· [Shimon] Peres…initiated a new policy which he called “functional compromise” and for which he acquired Gush Emunim support. According to this policy all the land inside the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that was not being used by the inhabitants could be confiscated for the exclusive use of the Jews (57).
· [Gush Emunim rabbis establish policy based on Jewish mystical interpretation, i.e., Cabbala. They believe] non-Jews have satanic souls: ‘Souls of non-Jews come entirely from the female part of the satanic sphere. For this reason souls of non-Jews are called evil, not good, and are created without [divine] knowledge’ (58).
· The similarities between the Jewish political messianic trend and German Nazism are glaring. The Gentiles are for the messianists what the Jews were for the Nazis. The hatred of Western culture with its rational and democratic elements is common to both movements (65).
· [Gush Emunim] members argue that what appears to be confiscation of Arab-owned land for subsequent settlement by Jews is in reality not an act of stealing but one of sanctification. From their perspective the land is redeemed by being transferred from the satanic to the [divine] sphere (67).
· Relying upon the Code of Maimonides [1138 – 1204, considered the greatest philosopher of Judaism] and the Halacha, Rabbi Ariel stated: ‘A Jew who killed a non-Jew is exempt from human judgment and has not violated the [religious] prohibition of murder’ (71).
The nature of Gush Emunim and their symbiotic relationship with the NRP (who admonish their adherents to excel in the military’s combat and elite units) and the army is further explored in the next chapter, “The Nature of Gush Emunim Settlements.” They authors show the bulk of settlers are concentrated around Jerusalem; and the remaining settlements in the occupied territories are almost exclusively inhabited by religious extremists. They also show that religious fundamentalists, who constitute roughly 20% of the Israeli population, vilify secular Jews with negligible retort from politicians (although secular journalists frequently criticize the fundamentalists).
This short chapter sets the tone for the next, “The Real Significance of Baruch Goldstein.” The authors do not dwell on the ‘94 slaughter of Palestinian worshippers in Hebron. Rather, they “focus upon Goldstein’s career prior to the massacre and upon the reactions of the Israeli government and fundamentalist Jews to the massacre a short time after it occurred.” The analysis goes beyond the man to what he, and attitudes toward his kind, represents. He “exemplifies the influence of Jewish fundamentalism in Israel: long before the massacre, Goldstein as an army physician repeatedly breached army discipline by refusing to treat Arabs, even those serving in the Israeli army. He was not punished, either while in active or reserve service, for his refusal because of intervention in his favor” (96).
It is telling that a shrine was built in Goldstein’s memory; and that extremist rabbis effusively eulogized him. Rabbi Dov Lior, for example, stated that Goldstein “took action for no other reason than to sanctify the holy name of God.” Interestingly, the Israeli press had on previous occasions criticized Lior, who spoke of the Goldstein’s humanity, for “recommending that medical experiments be performed on the live bodies of Arab terrorists” (104). (It is important to note here that the authors, on several occasions in the book, emphasize that when fundamentalist refer positively to “humanity,” “men,” “human beings,” and so on, it is exclusively about Jews as non-Jews are deemed inherently satanic).
The next and final chapter looks beyond the extremes of Jew against non-Jew; and analyzes “The Religious Background of Rabin’s Assassination.” Secular Jews and the world were shocked by the first high-profile internecine act of murder; yet it was one with centuries of precedent. As with the Goldstein saga, the authors do not dwell on the murderer but on his frame of reference. In fact, chapter 7 is the most replete with historic notes, including events at Masada, which many in Judeo-Christian circles erroneously believe to have been a mass suicide to avoid persecution by Romans:
The defenders of Masada were…a band of assassins called Sikarikin, a name taken from the word for a short sword that group members hid under their robes and used to kill their Jewish opponents in crowds of people…. The Sikarikin escaped to Masada not from the Romans but from their Jewish brethren. Shortly after the rebellion against the Romans began [AC 66 – 73], the Roman army that was advancing to Jerusalem was initially defeated and had to withdraw. The Sikarikin attempted forcefully to establish their leader, Menahem, as absolute king. The Jews of Jerusalem then attacked and defeated the Sikarikin in the temple itself, killing most them including Menahim. The remaining Sikarikin escaped to Masada where they stayed during the rebellion; they did not fight the Romans but instead robbed neighboring Jewish villages…. On Passover eve in the year AD 70, another rebel leader, Yohanan of Gush Halav…dressed his soldiers as pious pilgrims…. After being admitted to the temple by the gullible Eliezer [leader of the Sikarikin] without a body search, they…pulled out their swords and slaughtered all their opponents (114/5).
This historical anecdote is followed by others through the ages to underscore the permissibility of killing Jews deemed apostates, including Yitzhak Rabin. Fundamentalist rabbis have defined a heretic as “a Jew who was disrespectful of another Jew in the presence of a rabbi” and “a Jew who called a rabbi by his name without using the honorific title” (124). Justification for the assassination is further explored via two halachic laws, din rodef (law of the pursuer) and din moser (law of the informer), which stipulate:
The first law commands every Jew to kill or to wound severely any Jew who is perceived as intending to kill another Jew…. The second law commands every Jew to kill or wound severely any Jew who, without a decision of a competent rabbinical authority, has informed non-Jews, especially non-Jewish authorities, about Jewish affairs or who has given them information about Jewish property [i.e., Greater Israel] or who has delivered Jewish persons or property to their rule or authority (136).
The authors’ main aim in this section is to highlight the risks of giving rabbinical authorities a say in Israeli politics. Drawing upon lessons of the past, they warn of:
two lessons for contemporary Jews who do not wish to submit to the tyranny often prevalent in Jewish orthodoxy: 1) An intellectual compromise with Jewish orthodoxy is no more possible than is an intellectual compromise with any other totalitarian system. 2) An apologetic approach to the Jewish past, which is in reality false beautification and falsification of one part of Jewish history and is intended to remove the horrors and persecutions that Jews suffered at the hands of their own authorities and rabbis, only increases the dangers of a developing Jewish “Khomeinism (132).
And it is on this thought that the book comes to an end. The entire work is a marvel of research and represents a unique insight into the murky world of Jewish fundamentalism. The authors undertook this impressive effort to deliver a simple message about the dangers of a theocracy. Their final words summarize their goal: “Our firm belief is that a fundamentalist Jewish regime, if it came to power in Israel, would treat Israeli Jews who did not accept its tenets worse than it would treat Palestinians. This book is an attempt to provide wider understanding of Jewish fundamentalism and hopefully help avert the danger from becoming a reality” (149).
[i] http://www.wrmea.com/archives/october01/0110071.html
Israel Shahak was no stranger to conflict. He and his mother escaped the Nazis; but lost his father to a concentration camp. He served in the Israeli military, witnessing the devastation of occupation and war. Schooled in the sciences, he became a significant force in the quest for democracy and human rights; and, with his death in 2001, the world lost an important voice of reason. Shahak penned this work with Norton Mezvinsky, a history professor and expert on Jewish fundamentalism and Zionism, who has renounced his "right of return" to Israel; and continues to advocate a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian Israeli conflict.
Although these two men reflect the views of numerous Jews around the world, one’s hopes are truly put to the test after reading this authoritative work. They leave no room to doubt the negative effect that Zionism, Jewish fundamentalists, and the rabbis that lead them, have not only on Israeli society, but on the international community.
Judaism, despite its extreme manifestations, is a misunderstood religion; and this book underscores why many Jews seek solace in secular environments, and why there is a significant reform movement within the faith. That is not to say the reader will walk away with a clear understanding of the subject matter. Jewish fundamentalism in all its forms is merely one part of the Jewish tapestry; and its threads are intertwined within every sociopolitical element of world Jewry. Fundamentalists, like Zionists, can neither be compartmentalized nor can the lay reader hope to fully appreciate the complexity of Jewish exegeses, especially with regard to divergent rabbinical interpretations. They, for example, object to Zionism yet have at times compromised in favor of it; and, their opposition to this ideology is not for altruistic reasons. Nevertheless, the authors’ work is admirable for opening a window into this mystical world; and, in fact, it is unlikely that any other commentator could achieve the same degree of relative lucidity.
The authors’ methodology is a key determinant of their ability to help shed light on the subject. The most important factor is the Hebrew source material – contemporary books and articles as well as ancient tracts – they use. The reason, they state, is:
We believe that the great majority of the books on Judaism and Israel, published in English especially, falsify their subject matter. The falsification is sometimes a result of explicitly lying but is mostly the result of omission of major facts that may create what the authors consider to be an adverse view of their subjects…. The omissions pertinent to our subject of Jewish fundamentalism exist for the same apologetic reasons as do the literary omissions in any totalitarian system (150).
The other important route they pursue is that there is no real timeline to events in this work. The authors traverse past and recent history to underscore their message; and discussions of current issues are placed within the context of Judaism’s evolution over time.
Only the first of the seven chapter headings, “Jewish Fundamentalism Within Jewish Society,” implies the book is a historic as well as contemporary analysis; yet this approach is prevalent throughout the book. Chapter 1 defines the two categories of Israeli religious Jews. First are the more extreme Haredim (lit. “fearing,” i.e., God-fearing), divided into two parties: the Yahaddut Ha’ Torah (Judaism of Law) and Shas, a party of the Oriental a.k.a Sephardic Haredim. Second, the religious-national Jews are organized in the National Religious Party (NRP), which, while deemed Jewish fundamentalist, have reconciled with Zionist ideologies in ways Haredi groups have not (for example, NRP members sing the Israeli anthem, Hatikva, at special events while other Haredim recite prayers instead).
This chapter reviews the importance of Talmudic interpretations as well as how some fundamentalists compromise their values when necessary. The reasons why Haredim do not believe in Israel as a state are explained (18-20); and seemingly trivial yet telling beliefs are also examined. According to the Halacha (lit. “accepted,” i.e. the entire body of the Jewish religious law), for example, “a Jewish male who willingly listens to a woman’s singing commits a sin equivalent either to adultery or fornication.” As a result, religious settlers recorded a male singing songs popularized by females, then digitally enhanced them to sound like women, so as not to contravene the religious ruling (9).
The more ominous precepts scrutinized, however, are Talmudic attitudes towards non-Jews, wherein “[f]or religious Jews, the blood of non-Jews has no intrinsic value; for Likud [Israel’s right wing party currently in power], it has limited value” (11). These themes — Talmudic law and attitudes toward women and non-Jews — permeate the whole book; and the authors explain how despite extreme views a minority in Israel have gained power.
“The Rise of the Haredim in Israel” (Ch. 2) seeks to answer two key questions: How have the Haredi parties secured their political influence; and what organizational structure have the Haredim employed for maximum political success. The short answer is both the effect of rabbinical opinion, even on secular Jews, and education as a strategic lever. Shahak and Mezvinsky quote earlier scholars who denounced the payment of salaries to Talmudic students; and show how rabbinical interpretation reversed this ruling, which helped secure funds for male-dominated Haredi schools (women are seen as too weak-minded to study Talmud and “a woman is a sack of excrement” (38)).
The Haredim, through a pervasive hold on their own educational curricula and influence over the nation’s system, impact Israeli broader society at all levels, including political, media and medical organizations. Since the state’s existence is based on Judaism, it is difficult, if not impossible, for Israeli officials, even at the prime ministerial level, to ignore or criticize Haredi commentary or injunctions. The authors give an example of how a Haredi Rabbi, Sheiberger, “met with senior physicians of the Israel Transplants Association and discussed with them Jewish religious prohibitions on organ donations…. He explained: ‘It is obvious that it is prohibited under any circumstances to transplant Jewish organs into Arabs, all of whom hate Jews’” (42).
The authors posit in chapter 3, “The Two Main Haredi Groups,” that an understanding of the differences among Jewish fundamentalists is important to appreciate how they have grown to influence Israeli politics. Whereas the previous chapter is an introduction to Haredi political groups, this section looks at the two categories that form Jewish fundamentalists’ identity: the Ashkenazi and the Oriental (formerly called the Sephardi, a term which is no longer relevant as it referred predominantly to the Jews of Spain, even when they moved to other regions). The authors summarize their history from around 1000 AC to the present time. The development of bitter rivalries between the groups is examined, with numerous examples including the use of curses, subterfuge and vandalism to undermine one another.
They also examine how leaders of the groups devised plans to control the behavior and even migration patterns of their flock. They present an example of the former: “[T]he head of the yeshiva [lit. “sitting,” i.e., institution for higher Talmudic studies] arranges all marriages of yeshiva students. He carefully picks the daughters of rich and pious Jews as wives for students. The better students are matched with daughters of the wealthiest parents. (The head of the yeshiva also matches daughters of rabbis with sons of the wealthiest parents)” (49). Haredi influence is not limited to their own communities, as they shaped the Zionist outlook of the predominantly Ashkenazi government of the 1950s which, for example, “induced Jewish immigration from Iraq bribing the government of Iraq to strip most Iraqi Jews of their citizenship and to confiscate their property” (47).
Chapter 4, “The National Religious Party and the Religious Settlers,” gives the clearest picture of the marriage between Israeli politics and religion. The NRP is allied with the Gush Emunim (lit. “block of faithful,” an ideological and messianic settler movement established in 1974 with a purpose of controlling Greater Israel). Together, the groups have significantly influenced both Labor and Likud policies, as well as the decision-making process of army leaders. The following excerpts are self-explanatory:
· [Shimon] Peres…initiated a new policy which he called “functional compromise” and for which he acquired Gush Emunim support. According to this policy all the land inside the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that was not being used by the inhabitants could be confiscated for the exclusive use of the Jews (57).
· [Gush Emunim rabbis establish policy based on Jewish mystical interpretation, i.e., Cabbala. They believe] non-Jews have satanic souls: ‘Souls of non-Jews come entirely from the female part of the satanic sphere. For this reason souls of non-Jews are called evil, not good, and are created without [divine] knowledge’ (58).
· The similarities between the Jewish political messianic trend and German Nazism are glaring. The Gentiles are for the messianists what the Jews were for the Nazis. The hatred of Western culture with its rational and democratic elements is common to both movements (65).
· [Gush Emunim] members argue that what appears to be confiscation of Arab-owned land for subsequent settlement by Jews is in reality not an act of stealing but one of sanctification. From their perspective the land is redeemed by being transferred from the satanic to the [divine] sphere (67).
· Relying upon the Code of Maimonides [1138 – 1204, considered the greatest philosopher of Judaism] and the Halacha, Rabbi Ariel stated: ‘A Jew who killed a non-Jew is exempt from human judgment and has not violated the [religious] prohibition of murder’ (71).
The nature of Gush Emunim and their symbiotic relationship with the NRP (who admonish their adherents to excel in the military’s combat and elite units) and the army is further explored in the next chapter, “The Nature of Gush Emunim Settlements.” They authors show the bulk of settlers are concentrated around Jerusalem; and the remaining settlements in the occupied territories are almost exclusively inhabited by religious extremists. They also show that religious fundamentalists, who constitute roughly 20% of the Israeli population, vilify secular Jews with negligible retort from politicians (although secular journalists frequently criticize the fundamentalists).
This short chapter sets the tone for the next, “The Real Significance of Baruch Goldstein.” The authors do not dwell on the ‘94 slaughter of Palestinian worshippers in Hebron. Rather, they “focus upon Goldstein’s career prior to the massacre and upon the reactions of the Israeli government and fundamentalist Jews to the massacre a short time after it occurred.” The analysis goes beyond the man to what he, and attitudes toward his kind, represents. He “exemplifies the influence of Jewish fundamentalism in Israel: long before the massacre, Goldstein as an army physician repeatedly breached army discipline by refusing to treat Arabs, even those serving in the Israeli army. He was not punished, either while in active or reserve service, for his refusal because of intervention in his favor” (96).
It is telling that a shrine was built in Goldstein’s memory; and that extremist rabbis effusively eulogized him. Rabbi Dov Lior, for example, stated that Goldstein “took action for no other reason than to sanctify the holy name of God.” Interestingly, the Israeli press had on previous occasions criticized Lior, who spoke of the Goldstein’s humanity, for “recommending that medical experiments be performed on the live bodies of Arab terrorists” (104). (It is important to note here that the authors, on several occasions in the book, emphasize that when fundamentalist refer positively to “humanity,” “men,” “human beings,” and so on, it is exclusively about Jews as non-Jews are deemed inherently satanic).
The next and final chapter looks beyond the extremes of Jew against non-Jew; and analyzes “The Religious Background of Rabin’s Assassination.” Secular Jews and the world were shocked by the first high-profile internecine act of murder; yet it was one with centuries of precedent. As with the Goldstein saga, the authors do not dwell on the murderer but on his frame of reference. In fact, chapter 7 is the most replete with historic notes, including events at Masada, which many in Judeo-Christian circles erroneously believe to have been a mass suicide to avoid persecution by Romans:
The defenders of Masada were…a band of assassins called Sikarikin, a name taken from the word for a short sword that group members hid under their robes and used to kill their Jewish opponents in crowds of people…. The Sikarikin escaped to Masada not from the Romans but from their Jewish brethren. Shortly after the rebellion against the Romans began [AC 66 – 73], the Roman army that was advancing to Jerusalem was initially defeated and had to withdraw. The Sikarikin attempted forcefully to establish their leader, Menahem, as absolute king. The Jews of Jerusalem then attacked and defeated the Sikarikin in the temple itself, killing most them including Menahim. The remaining Sikarikin escaped to Masada where they stayed during the rebellion; they did not fight the Romans but instead robbed neighboring Jewish villages…. On Passover eve in the year AD 70, another rebel leader, Yohanan of Gush Halav…dressed his soldiers as pious pilgrims…. After being admitted to the temple by the gullible Eliezer [leader of the Sikarikin] without a body search, they…pulled out their swords and slaughtered all their opponents (114/5).
This historical anecdote is followed by others through the ages to underscore the permissibility of killing Jews deemed apostates, including Yitzhak Rabin. Fundamentalist rabbis have defined a heretic as “a Jew who was disrespectful of another Jew in the presence of a rabbi” and “a Jew who called a rabbi by his name without using the honorific title” (124). Justification for the assassination is further explored via two halachic laws, din rodef (law of the pursuer) and din moser (law of the informer), which stipulate:
The first law commands every Jew to kill or to wound severely any Jew who is perceived as intending to kill another Jew…. The second law commands every Jew to kill or wound severely any Jew who, without a decision of a competent rabbinical authority, has informed non-Jews, especially non-Jewish authorities, about Jewish affairs or who has given them information about Jewish property [i.e., Greater Israel] or who has delivered Jewish persons or property to their rule or authority (136).
The authors’ main aim in this section is to highlight the risks of giving rabbinical authorities a say in Israeli politics. Drawing upon lessons of the past, they warn of:
two lessons for contemporary Jews who do not wish to submit to the tyranny often prevalent in Jewish orthodoxy: 1) An intellectual compromise with Jewish orthodoxy is no more possible than is an intellectual compromise with any other totalitarian system. 2) An apologetic approach to the Jewish past, which is in reality false beautification and falsification of one part of Jewish history and is intended to remove the horrors and persecutions that Jews suffered at the hands of their own authorities and rabbis, only increases the dangers of a developing Jewish “Khomeinism (132).
And it is on this thought that the book comes to an end. The entire work is a marvel of research and represents a unique insight into the murky world of Jewish fundamentalism. The authors undertook this impressive effort to deliver a simple message about the dangers of a theocracy. Their final words summarize their goal: “Our firm belief is that a fundamentalist Jewish regime, if it came to power in Israel, would treat Israeli Jews who did not accept its tenets worse than it would treat Palestinians. This book is an attempt to provide wider understanding of Jewish fundamentalism and hopefully help avert the danger from becoming a reality” (149).
[i] http://www.wrmea.com/archives/october01/0110071.html
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