Va-yo'el Moshe: The Most Anti-Zionist and Anti-Israeli Jewish Text in Modern Times

Abstract

Abstract:It is important to remember not only that many Jews rejected Zionism but also that for some it symbolized an abomination, heresy, and the worst collective sin the Jewish people have ever committed. Since it was first published in 1960, Va-yo'el Moshe—a book written by Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, the SatmarRebbe—is considered the most radical anti-Zionist text written by a Jew in modern history. During the ensuing sixty years, the book has reappeared in more than a dozen full editions and been translated into several languages. At least thirty further volumes have offered interpretations, adapted it for children, compiled digests, or reviewed its relevance to various ideological issues or halakhic rulings.The essay presents the history of Jewish anti-Zionist texts published prior to Va-yo'el Moshe and briefly reviews Teitelbaum's biography to explain his motivation for writing the book. It then outlines the book's contents and the religious principles that support its main theses. Last, it reviews the Jewish public's reaction to the book and explains how and why it became a canonical text among Jewish Orthodoxy's most radical wing, which in this article is titled Extreme Orthodoxy.