Last Purim, a few blocks from where I was living in Jerusalem, a huge billboard proudly displayed an image of Israeli soldiers emblazoned with words from megillah: “Then the opposite happened” (“ve-nahafoch hu”), the phrase that sets off the Jews of the Purim story’s vengeance upon their enemies.
Excellent piece. I've never heard of R Amiel and appreciate your careful reading and analysis. As it happened when I Googled him, one of the top results was a laudatory biography from Mizrachi, of which he was a prominent member (https://mizrachi.org/hamizrachi/a-prophet-of-truth-rabbi-moshe-avigdor-amiel/). Obviously the Mizrachi focus on different aspects of R Amiel's voluminous writings. But what struck me from that article is R Amiel's firm belief that Religious Zionism would reinvigorate traditional Judaism from the fetters of the Old World, to enable Torah and mitzvot to flourish.
I am reminded too of a recent article about Henrietta Szold (https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2025/03/13/henrietta-szold-and-the-return-to-zion/) that highlights that, despite her misgivings about the impact of Jewish settlement on the Arab population, she fervently believed that Zionism was necessary to breathe new life in Judaism, especially compared to her background of sclerotic and cold American Reform Judaism. (She too died before 1948.)
The Zionism of Szold and R Amiel point to a core dilemma facing Jewish critics of Zionism today (myself included): the fact that in key respects Israel has indeed led to a flourishing of Jewish observance and culture. No matter the axis of one's Jewish identity, it is impossible to be an engaged Jew today and ignore the thriving Jewish life in Israel, with its immense contributions to Jewish life and letters around the world.
I don't know a way around this issue. This makes it challenging for any Jew to completely divest from Israeli Jewish life, but of course makes the impetus for criticism and pushing for change from within all the more urgent.
Excellent piece. I've never heard of R Amiel and appreciate your careful reading and analysis. As it happened when I Googled him, one of the top results was a laudatory biography from Mizrachi, of which he was a prominent member (https://mizrachi.org/hamizrachi/a-prophet-of-truth-rabbi-moshe-avigdor-amiel/). Obviously the Mizrachi focus on different aspects of R Amiel's voluminous writings. But what struck me from that article is R Amiel's firm belief that Religious Zionism would reinvigorate traditional Judaism from the fetters of the Old World, to enable Torah and mitzvot to flourish.
I am reminded too of a recent article about Henrietta Szold (https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2025/03/13/henrietta-szold-and-the-return-to-zion/) that highlights that, despite her misgivings about the impact of Jewish settlement on the Arab population, she fervently believed that Zionism was necessary to breathe new life in Judaism, especially compared to her background of sclerotic and cold American Reform Judaism. (She too died before 1948.)
The Zionism of Szold and R Amiel point to a core dilemma facing Jewish critics of Zionism today (myself included): the fact that in key respects Israel has indeed led to a flourishing of Jewish observance and culture. No matter the axis of one's Jewish identity, it is impossible to be an engaged Jew today and ignore the thriving Jewish life in Israel, with its immense contributions to Jewish life and letters around the world.
I don't know a way around this issue. This makes it challenging for any Jew to completely divest from Israeli Jewish life, but of course makes the impetus for criticism and pushing for change from within all the more urgent.