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To: yelostar
A fair look at the modern history of Israel, including the Hamas war, can't overlook the vital role of Christian Zionism. Rabbinic Judaism has never embraced Zionism and has in fact, vocally opposed it.
There are mutliple types of Christian Zionism and most Christians support Israel for reasons other than theology.
Speaking of theology, you know nothing of Rabbinic Judaism. With the exception of a few hundred Karaites, all Jews are Rabbinic Jews at this point. The vast majority of Jews, including Orthodox Jews, support Israel and are Zionists. Not all of these Orthodox Jewish Zionists are Religious Zionists*, but that doesn't make your assertion less silly.

* Jewish Religious Zionism holds that the creation of a modern state of Israel hastens the Messiah.
187 posted on 04/12/2024 3:40:39 PM PDT by rmlew ("Mosques are our barracks, minarets our bayonets, domes our helmets, the believers our soldiers." )
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To: rmlew
There are multiple types of Christian Zionism and most Christians support Israel for reasons other than theology.

That’s interesting - most people don't realize there are multiple types of Christian Zionism. I wonder how they differ.

As for Christian support of Israel, my conclusions are based on the threads and comments here on FR, which in too-numerous-to-count instances declare a religious underpinning for the belief in, and the righteousness of - supporting Israel.

Speaking of theology, you know nothing of Rabbinic Judaism. With the exception of a few hundred Karaites, all Jews are Rabbinic Jews at this point.

My use of the term Rabbinic Judaism was inaccurate, since it is used as a way of referring collectively to main denominations of Judaism - Reform, Conservative, Orthodox/Ultra-Orthodox.

The vast majority of Jews, including Orthodox Jews, support Israel and are Zionists.

15,000 rabbis say otherwise.

Link to a YT video posted last November (04:07). Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro, an outspoken critic of Zionism, discusses the June 3, 2018 convention attended by 15,000 rabbis: Torah Jewry against Zionism / The Incompatibility of Judaism and Zionism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5T_Qu12ACs

“Many Jews believe, wrongly, that Zionism is either part of Judaism or is compatible with Judaism, or is even the main part of Judaism. All of those are actually false. Zionism was created to negate Judaism; Zionism was created to replace Judaism. The differences between Zionism and Judaism are vast, they’re vast and profound. The propaganda that the Zionists have churned out for the past hundred years have confused and conflated Zionism and Judaism - such that when the average person walks down the street he thinks that the state of Israel is the Jewish state, he thinks that Zionism is Judaism, and he doesn’t know the difference.”

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Most people, especially those who identify as Christian Zionists, would be surprised to learn of the substantial and growing population of secular Israeli Jews who don’t acknowledge “faith in a god.”

https://www.timesofisrael.com/religion-has-outsized-role-in-israel-yet-most-of-its-jews-arent-really-observant/

Israel is a nation perennially swept up in religious fervor and conflict. And yet, strikingly, a large portion of its population is secular, and even its insular ultra-Orthodox community loses a steady stream of members who tire of its strict religious rules.

The country is home to about 7 million Jews, almost half of the global Jewish population. But Jewish identity is a complex blend of religious and ethnonational identity; most Israeli Jews are not diligent observers of Judaism.

An Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics survey published in 2021 found that among Israeli Jews over the age of 20, about 45 percent identified as secular or not religious, while 33% said they practiced “traditional” religious worship. Ultra-Orthodox Jews, known as Haredim in Hebrew, made up 10%.

For Naor Narkis and many other secular Israelis, their Jewish identity is culturaldefined by the Hebrew tongue and historical experience — rather than governed by traditional religious worship.

Narkis, a Tel Aviv native, founded Enlightened Israel after last year’s parliamentary elections when ultra-Orthodox and religious ultranationalists helped bring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu back into office. Narkis says the organization aims to champion liberal values and educate ultra-Orthodox Israelis about them, and advocates for a clear separation of religion and state, including allowing public transit on the Sabbath.

“I don’t think there’s a big difference between a secular Jew living in Tel Aviv and a person living in New York whose parents are Christian but isn’t religious,” Narkis said. “What defines us is our language, and our heritage, but doesn’t involve faith in a god.”

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From what I read daily on FR, Christian support of Israel’s military action presupposes a deep and abiding affinity with the Jewish people, based on faith in God, and the belief that Christians and Jews are fellow travelers.

Ironically, the same Jewish people of Israel who, in these modern times, seem to be turning more and more away from God.

Steadfast support for an increasingly secular Israel is an unusual undertaking for devout Christians.

190 posted on 04/12/2024 8:30:26 PM PDT by yelostar (Spook codes 33 and 13. See them often in headlines and news stories. )
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