Our friend Elliot had this comment on a post on Christian Zionism the other day. We’re trying to break out comments from time to time.
Many Orthodox Jews are not believers. That’s where Jews are different to Christians. Orthodox Judaism is also a lifestyle.
Commenter Michael W. is right. There is a large contingent of Orthodox Jews who very fervently believe that the exile is over. The hardcore of that group are the ideological settlers of the West Bank.
And as for eee, the fact that the mainstream ultra-Orthodox (commonly known as “black hats” or “black skullcap”) no longer openly oppose the State of Israel does not mean that they believe the exile is over. They still say all the traditional prayers mourning the exile and have added nothing to the liturgy to indicate that anything has changed.
To the extent that there is an ultra-Orthodox dogma, they still believe in the exile. And for the reasons Craig Nielsen gives in the article.
What is mystifying to me is how Zionist secular American Jews are. Even as cultural and family assimilation picks up pace their Zionism remains undimmed. That indicates that the source of their Zionism is not Judaism (or the Judaism that is practised today in America).
Secularized Christian America may have done away with fish on Fridays but they are still good Zionists. American Jews are good Americans too ergo: they are just as Zionist as their Christian neighbors.
Christian Zionism is the reason American Jews support Netanyahu and settlements.
