pigeonkite:

bringmemyrocks:

tamamita:

Is there even an anti-zionist/non-zionist congregation in the US? Because good Lord, the list of such congregations are abysmal

There are several altho many are not very loud about it or don’t meet every week. (Tzedek Chicago being one of the exceptions, being vocally anti-Zionist and having multiple services a week.)

Rabbinical schools have prevented anti-Zionists from enrolling for several generations, and even today students have to keep quiet about it/only leave Zionism after ordination, so you end up with very few anti-Zionist rabbis for the number of anti-Zionist Jews there are in the USA.

Technically one can receive smicha (ordination) from another rabbi without attending a particular institution, but as with the liberal church in the states, liberal Jewish denominations have become intensely bureaucratic in their ordination processes.

The congregations fitting the bill that I’m familiar with are with are Tzedek Chicago (top recommendation, I have attended MANY Tzedek events so I’m biased), Hinenu in Baltimore, Kadima Reconstructionist in Seattle, Kolot Chayeinu in Brooklyn, and T'chiyah in Detroit. As well as Kol Tzedek in Philadelphia, which I do not endorse due to some inclusion concerns.

And those are the ones whose rabbis are pretty “out,” so to speak. I know that Rabbis for Ceasefire and JVP maintain lists of congregations that may not be openly anti-Zionist but are welcoming to anti-Zionists and non-Zionists, do not have flags on the bimah, and do not do state prayers.

Currently, the tide is turning somewhat for rabbis: the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College’s students are heavily anti-Zionist, which remains controversial even among Reconstructionists. Reform and Conservative rabbinical colleges are also experiencing an influx of more anti-Zionist rabbinical students.