Healing the World: Jewish Traditions and Justice.

by Ari (they/them)

Kia ora, and Shalom aleichem. I’m a PhD candidate here at Te Herenga Waka and I am of Ashkenazi (Jewish people whose ancestors primarily lived in Central and Eastern Europe) descent. I am part of an organisation of anti-Zionist Jews in Aotearoa New Zealand called Dayenu. But first, the area of land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is Palestine, and it always will be. 

Here I set out why Jewish principles and values inform an anti- Zionist Jewish perspective. This represents my own views - Jews are a diverse group and there are many perspectives even among anti-Zionist Jews. However, where I use “we” I am referring broadly to other anti-Zionist Jews. 

Justice in the Torah:

From its inception in the Torah (the Jewish bible), Jewish tradition provides a powerful framework for opposing oppression. Justice is foundational to Judaism; our teachings place unconditional emphasis on justice. Our holy texts do not permit oppression, regardless of the victim’s religion. These form the basis for a pacifist Jewish worldview, and a critique of the expansionist Zionist project. 

Below are some excerpts on justice from the Torah.

"Justice, Justice You Shall Pursue" (Deuteronomy 16:20).

"Do not oppress the stranger, for you were strangers in Egypt" (Exodus 23:9)

"Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24)

"Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression." (Isaiah 1:17)

"What does God require of you but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)

For us, as Jewish anti-occupation activists, these verses are not abstract ideals but direct challenges to ongoing state violence. Biblical prophets, and Hashem (God) themself taught us to seek justice for all. The policies of expansionist Zionism, particularly its military occupation of Palestine, have long been contested within Jewish thought. Many Jewish prophets, scholars, rabbis, and activists have drawn from a range of texts and philosophy and articulated a moral and theological opposition to Zionism, militarism, and the oppression of Palestinians.

Early Jewish Anti-Zionism:

Before 1948, many Jewish thinkers rejected the notion of political Zionism on ethical grounds, fearing it would corrupt Jewish values. Many rabbis believed that Jews must wait for the Messiah to restore them to Israel and that human-led efforts were heretical, a sentiment argued as early as the 1845 Rabbinical conference. This opinion was shared by Reform Jews, who saw Judaism as purely a religious, not ethnic or political, identity, Liberal Jews who feared Zionism would fuel antisemitism by reinforcing the idea that Jews were "foreigners” and finally, Karl Marx (of Jewish descent) and other Socialist authors dismissed Jewish nationalism as reactionary.

The Jewish Labor Bund, or ‘The Bund’, founded in Vilnius (then part of the Russian Empire) in 1897—the same year as the First Zionist Congress—was a revolutionary socialist movement that sought Jewish cultural autonomy through Yiddish language and secular education, class struggle alongside non-Jewish workers, and resistance to assimilation, nationalism, and religious orthodoxy.

Influential Rabbi and pacifist, Aaron Samuel Tamares, taught that Judaism rejects political domination, insisting that Jewish ethics prioritize spiritual and moral power over statehood. He argued that “The Torah was not given to the Jewish people so that they might become a nation of conquerors." He warned of Zionism as a betrayal of Jewish values, replacing divine justice with militarism. Rabbi Tamares correctly anticipated that nationalism would corrupt Jewish ethics, leading to oppression. 

Anti- Zionist Jews opposed a Jewish nation state before its inception. For them, and for us, it’s inconsistent with Jewish values to take land and political power from others. They rejected the Zionist concept of “a land without people for a people without land”, recognising that the land belonged to Palestinians and that creating a Jewish state meant denying the political autonomy of Palestinians. 

"Here-ness" and “Exile” in the Diaspora:

The Bundist principle of Doikayt ("Here-ness") argues that Jews must fight for justice where they are. This is a call to fight for liberation in your diaspora home, not via nationalism elsewhere. Doikayt situates Jews, globally, as solidarity partners with the oppressed, and proves that Jewish culture thrives without territorial sovereignty. We owe Palestinians liberation, and in an Aotearoa and Pacific context, we owe it to Māori and Pasifika folk too.

Additionally, in Judaism Galut refers to the exile of the Jewish diaspora after the destruction of the Temple (70 CE). For many Jewish critics of Zionism, galut represents a moral and political context that informed the evolution of our religion, not a punishment on an aberration to be overcome. Early Jewish philosophers and modern thinkers alike argue that Jewish survival in galut proves adaptability without state power and is a form of spiritual resistance. Diaspora is our strength. Galut teaches that justice must be sought where Jews live, not deferred to “a homeland”. Galut undermines the Zionist claim that Jews must dominate land to be safe, and instead obligates Jews to stand with the oppressed everywhere, including Palestinians.

Judaism is a religion, a set of values we carry with us wherever we go, a rulebook to leading a just and moral life. As anti-Zionist Jews, we grieve the enormous harm that Zionism has done to the moral, ethical and spiritual basis of our religion. When a militarised state replaces ethical principles of working to heal the world, we feel our fellow Jews are denying the very best and truest parts of who we are. 

Ethical Principles of Judaism:

Tikkun olam - healing the world, a moral responsibility for Jews to undertake, attending to healing in both the physical and social definitions.

Tzedek – justice, observing the rules of the covenant; beyond the laws of the state.

Tzedakah – charity, spontaneous act of goodwill and a marker of generosity; tzedakah is an ethical obligation, and it is not properly "charity"

Lo Tirtzach - thou Shalt Not Murder, Exodus 20:13 - “Do not vandalize [God’s] creation by spilling human blood, for [God] created human beings to honour and acknowledge [God] in all these ways...”

Pikuach Nefesh the preservation of human life overrides any other religious rule of Judaism.

Ahavat Ger - Love the Stranger.

Mitzvah - an individual act of human kindness in keeping with the law, including a sense of heartfelt sentiment beyond mere legal duty. According to Jewish tradition there are 613 mitzvot (plural) included in the Torah.

Our teachings require us to strive for peace, and surely, we know this in our hearts. Our teachings say that every single soul in this world is created pure, everyone is created in the image of God, B’Tselem Elohim. Our teachings tell us “You shall not harm a stranger or oppress them, for you were strangers in Egypt.” So, we choose to stick to our teachings and live a pacifist Jewish life. We honour the history of Jewish resistance to violence and oppression. Judaism teaches community above all else, and we are in the business of building that here in Aotearoa.

Modern Anti-Zionist Jewish Movements:

To many of us, this may just sound like common sense: religion calls for justice and inclusion, not genocide and occupation. But the Zionist movement demands loyalty. Many Jews have been caught in systematic indoctrination to justify anything Israel does, no matter how far removed it is from Jewish values. Many feel a desperate urge to flee antisemitism and secure their physical safety through oppressive expansion of Israel’s borders. For some, including survivors of the Holocaust and their descendants, this is an understandable trauma response - but it cannot justify the ongoing traumatisation of others.  

Here in Wellington, we have a Temple that touts itself as ‘Wellington's Progressive Jewish Community’, but in which anti-Zionism is swiftly shouted down. Many Dayenu members decide not to affiliate with synagogues because of their institutional support for Zionism. Our mainstream institutions do not speak for all Jews. We are adamant that upholding Jewish values requires actively working to end the oppression of the Palestinian people and create a lasting and just peace based on full redress and upholding human rights.

For those of you reading this who are feeling conflicted in your Judaism, interested in learning more, or wanting to get involved in the movement, I recommend learning about the following organisations. We are not alone.

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) - the world's largest Jewish organization standing in solidarity with Palestine. They’re organizing grassroots, multiracial, cross-class, intergenerational movement of U.S. Jews.

IfNotNow - a movement of American Jews organizing our community to end U.S. support for Israel's apartheid system and demand equality, justice, and a thriving future for all Palestinians and Israelis.

Standing Together: a progressive grassroots movement organizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel against the occupation and for peace, equality, and social justice.

Neturei Karta - ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement that is opposed to Zionism and the existence of the State of Israel. This group’s stance on LGBTQIA+ and Women’s issues is conservative at best, and I don’t promote them as an organisation. But their stance on Palestine is worth observing.

Sh'ma Koleinu | Alternative Jewish Voices (NZ) - blog and activist organisation run by a collective of Jews whose views are not represented in the current public discourse on Jewish affairs. The purpose of this collective is to publicly air Jewish voices and views on issues that are important to Jews. 

Dayenu (NZ) - a Jewish organisation that stands for peace, justice and equality for all peoples, Israeli and Palestinian, between the river and the sea. Dayenu means ‘it would have been enough’, in reference to our exodus from slavery in Egypt.  Our Kaupapa is simple: no one is free until we are all free.

If you want to promote solidarity with Palestine through our local queer culture here in Wellington, whether you're Jewish or not, consider attending Drag for Palestine at Ivy Bar on July 11. This event is hosted by one of our Dayenu members, King Markiss, and will raise funds for medical aid in Palestine.