Jewish Anti-Zionism as Political Theology

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.

Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar, one of the most celebrated Hasidic masters of the twentieth century, is known not only for founding the world’s largest Hasidic dynasty, but also for his strongly held anti-Zionist views. His work articulates a Jewish political theology against Zionism built on the foundations of traditional Jewish sources, and its influence remains strong within the ultra-Orthodox Satmar community and beyond. Dense with references to rabbinic, medieval, and modern sources, Teitelbaum’s writing is notoriously challenging even for scholars of Torah to parse. In this volume, Shaul Magid provides a richly annotated translation of selections from the books Vayoel Moshe and ‘Al Ha-Geulah ve 'al Ha-Temurah, making Teitelbaum’s major political writings accessible to English-speaking readers for the first time.