Judaism 3.0 : Judaism’s Transformation To Zionism

by Gol Kalev

The only raison d’etre for Israel’s establishment in the first place, and for the legitimacy of the Jewish people living in Israel, is acceptance of Zionism’s core assumption: Israel is the national homeland of the Jewish nation.

undercurrents in Israeli society and aggressive outside intervention can lead to a rapid rise of post-Zionism. A post-Zionist philosophy has been developed by Israeli intellectuals and academics, which includes well-developed concepts and doctrines expressed through books, articles and cultural packages. It is deployed and ready to be spread to the broader Israeli population.

Another more extreme version of this is that, granted, the Israelis originated from the Jews, but have since created something new and are now their own distinct entity, separate from the Jews.

The end of Zionism in Israel has broader implications. If an Israeli Jew no longer feels part of the Jewish nation, and given his lack of religiosity, he is likely to experience similar patterns of evaporation that is experienced by American Jews.

External Denationalization threat: Israel-bashing The two internally generated threats – evaporation of American Jewry and post-Zionism – pale in comparison to a looming danger steaming from the outside. Israel-bashing is the current manifestation of centuries-old Jew-hatred.

Israel is merely the vehicle that the Israel-bashing movement uses to direct its frustration against the Jews. On the individual level, the Israel-bashing ideology puts every Jew in danger,

UN, the International Criminal Court, and other multinational organizations and coalitions, makes this threat a tangible one.

As the arsenal of mechanisms, such as international sanctions and binding multinational resolutions are strengthening, the danger of political destruction of the Jewish state becomes more viable.

Demoralization and attrition can be equally lethal. As

The three existential threats to Judaism progress in inverse order: the most immediate threat is the least damaging, and the most far-fetched is the most lethal.

While the three existential threats to Judaism are serious and potent, there is a symbiotic solution to all three: transformation of Judaism to Judaism 3.0. The mere recognition that Judaism has transformed would provide an effective defense against these threats.

JUDAISM 3.0 MITIGATES THE EVAPORATION OF NORTH AMERICAN JEWS

With Judaism 3.0, the non-Jewish spouse has a home.

When visiting Israel, the non-Jewish spouse feels welcomed (unlike in synagogue – the litmus test of inclusion for him/her under Judaism 2.0).

The under-engaged Jew marrying “out” is often some place on the trajectory of evaporation out of Judaism regardless of who he marries. If he marries another under-engaged Jew, such trajectory would still be towards evaporation. But by marrying a non-Jew that can connect through Israel and through Zionism, he increases the chances of staying (and his children staying) in Judaism – in Judaism 3.0 (Zionism).

Judaism 3.0 turns assimilation into an enabler of Jewish survivability

Decades ago, assimilation to Americanism could have meant “the end” because shedding the remaining hint of the Jewish nation and religion would have meant the end of being Jewish. But as discussed earlier, Americanism has changed. Ethnological national identity is not just accepted in today’s American narrative, but highly encouraged.

Assimilation into Americanism means “assimilation” into a Zionism-friendly concept.

With Judaism 3.0, the Jew connects back to his Judaism (Zionism) through his assimilation to Americanism.

The mere acknowledgment that Zionism is the organizing principle of Judaism gives a significant boost to the Zionist ideology and provides a solid defense from the emerging existential threat of post-Zionism.

Now that the threat is ideological, the call to arms needs to be an ideological one.

Recognition that Zionism is the organizing principle of Judaism would

essentially strip them of the ability to pretend that they can be post-Zionist and still be Jewish.

Mostly, recognizing the transformation of Judaism will address the post-Zionism existential threat by ending the debate about Zionism. The debate will shift from a debate about Zionism, to a debate within Zionism.

once the transformation to Judaism 2.0 was fully recognized, it ended the debate about Rabbinic Judaism, so much that Rabbinic Judaism and Judaism became one and the same. Rabbinic Judaism became the “starting point”

Similarly, recognizing the transformation to Judaism 3.0 would leave no room for the rising doubts about the viability of Zionism,

“Zionist” would only be a dirty word if “Jew” is a dirty word.

The lone soldier phenomenon is one of the stronger expressions of the transformation to Judaism 3.0.

Perhaps even more than Aliya, lone soldiers provide to the Israeli the ultimate proof that the Zionist narrative is alive and well.

While there are various flavors of post-Zionism, it boils down to this simple question – Is Israel the homeland of the Jewish nation?

A broadly accepted narrative in Israel’s mainstream is that if Israel fails to achieve a two-state reality, it will transition into a one-state in which Jews will soon become the minority, and hence, lose their state.

Inevitably, a byproduct of the message of a looming end is the early seed of an acceptance that such a possibility exists. End of Israel is on the table again, just like it was in Israel’s first two decades prior to the 1967 war.

Similar dynamics came to bear in the 2018 debate of Israel’s Nation-State Bill, which reaffirmed that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people.

Instead, it was falsely perceived by some, especially those not paying close attention, that the objection to the bill was about opposition to Israel being the nation-state of the Jewish people. Suddenly, the 99% consensus about Israel being the national homeland of the Jewish nation, about Zionism – was dented.

there has been a rapid increase in the small Jewish minority that supports the Arab Joint List, a non-Zionist party.

merely a fraction of a percent, and driven by reasons other than Zionism,

And yet, a line has been crossed.

A non-Zionist party is being mainstreamed, and with it rises the risk of the mainstream of post-Zionism.

The examples given of post-Zionist dangers – through the peace- process, opposition to the Nation-State Bill and the vote for non-Zionist parties – can be dismissed

as too far-fetched. But in a soundbite headline-driven era, with limited attention span, there is a natural risk.

the existential risk of post-Zionism is real and dangerous. Recognizing the transformation to Judaism 3.0 provides the defense from that risk.

The two threats of post-Zionism and Israel-bashing are different, but they feed on one another, and often come from the same source. One is an internal threat that is aided by the outside, and the other is an external threat.