Israel’s direction poses ‘existential threat’ to Judaism, UK’s leading progressive rabbis warn | Judaism

The UK’s top progressive rabbis have warned that Israel’s current political direction risks being “incompatible with Jewish values”, while insisting that criticism of the country’s government is a “Jewish obligation” rather than an act of disloyalty.

Rabbi Charley Baginsky and Rabbi Josh Levy, co-chairs of Progressive Judaism, a newly formed movement representing around a third of synagogues in the UK, said Israel’s course could pose an “existential threat” not only to the country but to Judaism itself.

Speaking ahead of the launch of the movement’s first book, Progressive Judaism, Zionism and the State of Israel, the leaders also expressed their hope that change will continue to be possible.

“We have often talked about Israel’s trajectory toward posing an existential threat not to Jews but to Judaism,” Baginsky said. “What happens if the direction of the government within Israel takes Israel down a path that makes it incompatible with our Jewish values? That’s a huge concern.”

This question is at the heart of the book that Baginsky co-edited with Levy, which brings together 40 essays from Jewish clergy and community leaders and reflects a wide range of perspectives on the fraught debates surrounding Jewish identity, Zionism, and Israel.

Levy argued that exploring these difficult questions is not a sign of disloyalty to Israel or the Jewish community. “It is being part of a millennial conversation about Jewish values ​​and what God wants from us in the world and our relationship with the land.”

He added: “What the Israeli government does reflects on us as Jews and on our Judaism. So it is the obligation of Jews to be in some kind of dialogue with that.”

While Progressive Judaism is a Zionist movement committed to a Jewish, pluralistic, and democratic state in Israel, the essay collection also includes contributions from voices who do not identify as Zionists.

The book forms part of a broader examination of Progressive Judaism’s relationship with Israel and Zionism.

“One of the things we see in the Jewish community around the world is the view that diversity of voices has somehow weakened,” Levy said. “But underlying the book is the idea that embracing differences makes us stronger.”

The mission of Progressive Judaism is to insist on living in this complexity, Baginsky said. “Saying you’re a Zionist, saying you’re critical of the Israeli government, and at the same time talking about antisemitism means that there are very few areas where you can’t be criticized,” he said.

Both were keen to emphasize that any guidelines that emerge from the review will not impose a top-down view of what congregations should think or feel.

“Just as there is no theological position you have to subscribe to in order to be a part of our communities and engage with the rest of Judaism, similarly, there is no political position you have to have on Israel in order to be a part of our communities,” Levy said.

Articles include political perspectives, personal opinions, and religious mediation. The latter was particularly important for the co-chairs, who said they were willing to assert their point of view as religious Zionists and challenge the narrative put forward by far-right Israeli leaders such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.

“We have a responsibility to show that our religious Zionism is not the religious Zionism that we sometimes see coming out of the West Bank,” Baginsky said. “My Zionism is also the recognition of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination.”

Levy added: “This is not that kind of propertied Zionism. This is a different kind of Zionism expressed through our religious life. It’s textual, it’s deep, it’s rich.”

This position has at times brought them into tension with some sections of the British Jewish community. Speaking at a rally for Israeli hostages organized by Hamas in Gaza last year, Baginsky and Levy were booed off the stage after calling for an end to the war and the creation of a Palestinian state.

“That moment was painful. It was almost a year ago and I still feel it deep down,” Baginsky said. But this did not stop him from calling for justice and peace for everyone in the Middle East.

Levy agreed, but also wanted to focus on the aftermath of this controversy. “This was a result of the backlash from the Jewish community and the broader faith community who wanted to show their support.”