This article describes some views of notable
Orthodox Jewish figures who supported anarchism,
as well as various themes within the scope
of the Orthodox Jewish tradition or among
the practicing Orthodox Jews that are generally
considered important from the anarchist worldview.
As is often the case with pro-anarchist movements
and personal anarchist opinions in spiritual
traditions, authoritative organized Orthodox
Jewish bodies may view some of the views described
here as marginal.
Anarchism found a number of notable supporters
among Orthodox Jews in the first half of the
20th century; on the other hand, a number
of notable secular Jewish anti-authoritarians
noticed some anarchic tendencies in traditional
Judaism.
One post-denominational movement in Judaism,
where the views described in this article
are common, is Jewish Renewal or Neo-Hasidism.
While there is no organized Orthodox Jewish
anarchist movement similar to Christian anarchist
movements, a number of pro-anarchistic ideas
are found in the works of some Kabbalists
and Hasidic teachers, as well as in the Jewish
folk religion.
A few Jewish mystical groups in Antiquity
were based on anti-authoritarian or radically
communal principles, somewhat similar to the
Christian Quakers, Dukhobors and other similar
movements.
Some secular Jewish anarchists, such as Abba
Gordin and Walter Benjamin, were interested
in the connections between anarchism and biblical
and Talmudic themes, as well as Jewish mysticism.
Aharon David Gordon and Martin Buber, both
of whose ideas were close to anarchism, were
former Orthodox Jews and greatly influenced
by the Hasidic tradition.
Some Jewish anarchists of the 20th century
explicitly combined contemporary radical thought
with traditional Judaism, insisting that,
in their view, Judaism calls for abolition
of the state, private property and class society.
These Orthodox Jewish anarchists personally
observed the Halacha, but supported the social
system of communist anarchism or anarcho-syndicalism.
== Orthodox Jews and Anti-authoritarian Left
==
British Orthodox Rabbi Yankev-Meyer Zalkind,
was an anarcho-communist, a close friend of
the anarchist thinker Rudolf Rocker, and an
active anti-militarist, who was jailed by
the British authorities for his anti-war activism.
Rabbi Zalkind was also a prolific Yiddish
writer and a prominent Torah scholar, who
authored a few volumes of commentaries on
the Talmud.
He believed that the ethics of the Talmud,
if properly understood, are closely related
to anarchism.The famous Kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda
Ashlag believed in a religious version of
libertarian communism, based on principles
of Kabbalah, which he called altruist communism.
Ashlag supported the Kibbutz movement and
preached to establish a network of self-ruled
internationalist voluntary communes, who would
eventually dismantle the government and the
system of law enforcement.
However, most contemporary followers of the
Ashlagian Kabbalah seem to be unaware of his
anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian political
stance.
Russian revolutionary and Territorialist leader
Isaac Nachman Steinberg, whose ideas were
essentially anarchist, although he defined
himself as a left eser or left narodnik, was
an Orthodox Jew.
Like Martin Buber, Steinberg supported the
idea of binational solution of the Israel-Palestinian
conflict and tried to establish a compact
self-ruled Jewish settlement somewhere else
outside the Middle East.
Rabbi Abraham Yehudah Khein (1878–1957),
a prominent follower of the Hasidic Chabad
tradition, was eloquently committed to pacifism
and non-violence during the days when the
Jewish community in Palestine was battling
the Arabs and the British.
He tried to relate his readings of Leo Tolstoy
and Pyotr Kropotkin to Kabbalah and Hasidism.
Rabbi Khein deeply respected Kropotkin, whom
he called "the Tzadik of the new world", whose
"soul is as pure as crystal"Rabbi Yehudah-Leib
Don-Yakhia from Chernigov, another Chabadnik,
was known as a Tolstoyan and frequently quoted
Leo Tolstoy in his synagogue sermons.Rabbi
Shmuel Alexandrov, also close to Chabad Hasidism,
was an individualist anarchist, whose religious
thought was marked by some degree of antinomianism.
== Historical and legendary communities ==
=== Period of the Judges ===
The Bible indicates, that the pre-monarchic
Israelite society was anarchistic: "In those
days there was no king in Israel; every man
did that which was right in his own eyes."
(Judges, 21:25); The prophet Samuel harshly
criticized the Jews for trying to establish
a monarchy.
Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, referring to the above-mentioned
verse, believed, that the future society will
be libertarian communist.
=== Essenes ===
The Essenes were a monastic Jewish sect that
flourished from the 2nd century BC to the
1st century AD.
Although the Essenic society was divided into
four strictly hierarchic orders, they rebelled
against the establishment, lived a radically
communal life, kept a vegetarian diet and
supported themselves by manual labor, usually
agricultural.
New initiates to Essenism took some vows,
including an oath not to force personal views
or authority on others.
=== The Account of Eldad ha-Dani ===
Eldad ha-Dani was a merchant and traveler
of the ninth century, who professed to have
been a citizen of an "independent Jewish state"
in eastern Africa, inhabited by people claiming
descent from the tribes of Dan (hence his
name, "ha-Dani" = "the Danite"), Asher, Gad,
and Naphtali.
According to his travel narratives, there
is somewhere in the world a large land, encircled
by the mysterious river Sambation, inhabited
by descendants of Moses.
The inhabitants of this land have beautiful
houses and live happy, wealthy and extremely
long lives; they are all equal and farm their
land by themselves, because they don't have
servants; no one of them locks their doors
at night, because they would consider it a
shame; unlike the other tribes described in
the story, no king or authority is mentioned.Eldad
ha-Dani's fanciful travel narratives were
accepted by his contemporaries as true and
were very popular in the Jewish world until
recent times.
Even today, there are a few people, who believe
that this mysterious land exists, perhaps
somewhere in a parallel dimension.
Regardless of the factual truth of Eldad ha-Dani's
account, it indicates that many medieval Jews
believed that such a utopian society is possible
and has been actually implemented.
=== Mystical communities in Eastern Europe
===
According to Eastern European Jewish legends,
before the establishment of the Hasidic movement
by the Baal Shem Tov, there existed a secret
society of Kabbalists, who hid their mystical
knowledge and refrained from public positions
and honors.
Some of these mystics, according to the legends,
had establishing self-ruled agricultural settlements,
which emphasized individual autonomy, solidarity
and compassion, closeness to nature and living
by their own labor.
The sixth Lubavitcher rebbe, Yosef Yitzchok
Schneersohn, said that the village of Lyubavichi
took its origin from such a settlement, established
by a mystic, named Reb Meyer, whose love to
his fellows, both Jews and non-Jews, was boundless,
and who also showed great compassion to all
living beings.
According to the legend, the village was originally
named "Luba", meaning "love" both in Russian
and Polish.
=== Hasidim ===
Some Hasidic rebbes had proposed social structures
that emphasize equality and anti-authoritarian
principles.
Kalonymus Kalman Shapira of Piasetzno had
organized a mystical circle of Hasidim, focused
on spiritual development and meditation.
Rabbi Shapiro had insisted that his organization
should refrain from choosing the chairman,
vice chairman etc., as it was a custom in
many organizations, because in a place, where
holiness is revealed, there is no rulership
and honors.Another example of Hasidic anti-authoritarianism
are some sectors of the Breslov community,
who refuse to obey any contemporary authorities
and follow only the teaching of Rebbe Nachman
and his disciple, Reb Noson.
The Breslov community in general is very decentralized
and includes followers of diametrically opposite
political opinions, such as far-right settlers
of the West Bank, as well as universalistic
thinkers and apolitical contemplatives.
Some Hasidic masters, including Simcha Bunim
of Peshischa, Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica
and Zadok of Lublin, emphasize individual
choice, freedom, spontaneity and dynamism
of thought and action.
== Related themes in Judaism ==
=== God ===
According to the Hasidic panentheistic view,
God is the true nature of all reality and
the true self of the human soul ("the soul
of the souls").
All duality and multiplicity is an illusion,
resulting from the Tzimtzum.
The contemporary Hasidic researcher Immanuel
Schochet had described this view as monistic
acosmism.
Everything in the world is ever-changing and
lacks intrinsic reality, while the only true
reality – God – is beyond all definitions
and boundaries, including time, space, personality
and even substantial existence.
Such views of reality are common in the Chassidic
literature, although many contemporary Chassidim
are unaware of these teachings and might consider
them too esoteric.
The appearance of God as a personal being
in the world of Atzilut is also a result of
the Tzimtzum and, according to the teachings
of the Lubavitcher rabbi, is a reflection
of the to-be-created human personality, though
some other Chassidim might consider such views
bordering on heresy.
In Kabbalistic and Hasidic literature, God
is commonly called Ein Sof (the Infinite)
or, sometimes, Ayin (Nothingness).
The purpose of "worshiping" God is the realization
of the Absolute Reality and unification with
it.Such esoteric views of God differ radically
from conventional monotheism and resemble
the Eastern concepts of Nirguna Brahman, Suchness
and Dharmakaya.
Thus, Mikhail Bakunin's and Daniel Guérin's
critique of religion can be only partly applied
to such a theology.
=== Law ===
According to the Hasidic esoteric philosophy,
the Halacha is not a set of laws, imposed
by an external authority (since in panentheistic
view God is never "external"), but a framework
of means for spiritual self-development, somewhat
similar to the Eastern concept of Dharma.
The reward of fulfilling the commandments
is the inner development itself; the punishment
for the sin is the destructive spiritual impact
of certain actions.
Thus, the religious laws are seen as natural
(and, at same time, divine and supernatural),
as the laws of physical nature.
Halacha itself is open to inquiry, though
actual change or violation of halachic norms,
according to traditional Hasidism, usually
requires extensive expertise and mystical
knowledge, and should be taken with great
caution.
According to some Kabbalists, in the Messianic
world the standardized Halacha will be abolished,
because everyone will realize his/her personal
spiritual path by personal intuition.
Such views are very common in the classic
Chassidic literature, although many contemporary
Chassidim might consider these teachings too
esoteric and view the Halacha primarily as
"law".
=== Mutual Aid and International Solidarity
===
There are two clearly anti-authoritarian passages
in the Mishnaic tractate Pirkei Avot: "Love
labor, hate mastery over others, and avoid
a close relationship with the government"
(Avot, 1:10); "Be careful with the government,
for they befriend a person only for their
own needs.
They appear to be friends when it is beneficial
to them, but they do not stand by a person
at the time of his distress" (Avot 2:3).
Another passage in Pirkei Avot lists four
possible social relationship schemes: "He
who says, 'What's mine is mine and what's
yours is yours', is the median type, though
some say that this is the quality of Sodom.
He who says, 'What's mine is yours and what's
yours is mine', is a simple (or, according
to other readings, an ignorant) man.
He who says, 'What's mine is yours and what's
yours is yours', is a pious man ('Hasid').
And he who says, 'What's yours is mine, and
what's mine is mine', is wicked.'"
(Avot, 5:13).
According to Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, consistent
application of this ethical rule by all members
of the society leads to voluntary communism.During
the Middle Ages, some Jews practiced usury
against the non-Jews, while condemning it
within the Jewish community.
Most medieval rabbis approved of such practice,
which helped the Jews to survive in antisemitic
states, where they were excluded from most
professions.
However, a number of prominent rabbis explain
that usury is unethical in nature, and is
not allowed against people, who treat Jews
well.
Emphasis on cooperative productive word and
criticism of wage labor and of profit from
financial operations is found in some Judaic
ethical treatises, including Sefer HaBrit
by Rabbi Pinchas Eliyahu of Vilna, Tiferet
Israel by Israel Lipschitz, and Memoirs of
Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, the sixth Lubavicher
Rebbe.Traditional Judaism is often viewed
as a national religion, concerned mostly with
internal affairs.
However, many well known Torah scholars called
for international solidarity, cooperation
and compassion.
For example, the Lithuanian-born Rabbi Pinchas
Elijah Horovitz, the author of Sefer haBrit,
who lived in 18th century Galicia, had insisted
that the Jews are obligated to love their
neighbors, Jews and non-Jews alike, like themselves.
He called for compassionate international
solidarity, mutual aid and cooperative labor.Rabbi
Elijah Benamozegh, an Italian Orthodox Kabbalist,
strongly supported religious universalism
and political internationalism.
=== Nonviolence ===
Contemporary Judaism rejects capital punishment
and, at least in theory, almost never advocates
physical coercion, except for some rare cases,
such as forcing a husband who refuses to give
a get to his wife, who wants to be divorced.
However, historically Judaism (as laid down
in the Torah) did mandate, at least in theory,
the death sentence for certain crimes, provided
that certain requirements are met, namely
two eyewitnesses and the perpetrator being
warned of (and acknowledging) the punishment
if they were to carry out the crime.
This however requires participation of active
Sanhedrin (the supreme court of Jewish law)
which is presently non existent.
The only exception to that rule is the case
of the "moyser" ("informer") who threatens
the life of others by informing the authorities;
such a person could be killed, in principle,
even today.
While Tanakh contains many violent stories
of military conquest, capital and collective
punishment for various sins, the Talmud and
the later commentators tend to interpret these
stories not literally or reduce them to unique
one-time contexts.
For example, the Talmudic requirements for
corporal punishments are so complicated and
unrealistic, that render them virtually impossible
even in the biblical times and certainly impossible
today.
The Talmud says, that a Sanhedrin, who would
put someone to death even once (or, according
to another version, more than once) in 70
years, deserves to be called a "bloody Sanhedrin".
According to Kabbalah, the purpose of these
rare punishments was the spiritual "correction"
of the sinner's soul, in order to liberate
it from the Klipot.
Rabbi Abraham Yehudah Khein, a supporter of
communist anarchism, noticed that Rabbi Akiva,
one of the most prominent Talmudical sages,
rejected capital punishment altogether.
Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon said that if
they and their pupils were to participate
in a Sanhedrin, they would make sure that
no one is ever killed.The Talmud teaches:
"Who is mighty?
One who controls his passions" (Pirkei Avot
4:1); "Who is the mightiest of heroes?
He who makes an enemy into his friend" (Pirkei
Avot, 5:11); "Be of the persecuted rather
than the persecutor" (Bava Kama 93a).
However, a number of anti-Zionist rabbis,
especially, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, the late
Satmar rebbe, condemned the violence of the
Israel Defense Forces, including the Six-Day
War, although many observers considered this
war an act of "preemptive self-defence".
While Judaism fully recognizes the right of
military defense, many Orthodox Jews only
consider it legitimate in cases of clear and
unavoidable danger.
Even in such cases, some anti-Zionist Jews
deny the right of the State to execute such
power.A few Orthodox Jewish anti-Zionist groups,
especially Neturei Karta, don't support any
Israel's military actions, interpret the Arab
aggression as a result of the Zionist politics
and reject the State of Israel altogether,
because they view its existence as a heretical
contradiction with the belief in the future
Messianic redemption, which they usually don't
see as the restoration of the Jewish statehood,
but as a spiritual 'kingdom' of universal
harmony and peace.
=== Critical approach to organized religion
===
Though in ancient times the Jewish religious
practice centered on the Great Sanhedrin,
which acted as a rabbinical legislative authority
controlling the whole of ancient Judea, Modern
Judaism is a principally decentralized religion
that lacks a central clerical body.
Often today, Rabbis are considered to be just
more knowledgeable people, who serve as advisors
and analyze how the Halacha applies to different
situations, although some rabbinical figures
and organizations impose their authority though
coercive means.
Some rabbis have secular jobs and refrain
from being supported by the community.
Nevertheless, in ultra-orthodox Haredi circles,
the concept of Da'as Torah still mandates
near-complete obedience to the authority of
gedolim (a special cadre of especially esteemed
rabbinic scholars) in every area of everyday
life.
This authority structure exists both in the
Haredi Litvish camp and among Hasidic groups,
where the Admor or Rebbe is consulted for
Da'as Torah.
One notable exception are the Breslov Hasidim,
who tend to be decentralized and individualistic.
Despite this, even in the most authoritarian
Jewish communities it's very common to disobey
the rabbis for various reasons, and to organize
new independent groups, who would choose their
own rabbis, or, sometimes, would refuse to
obey any living authority.
For example, some Satmar Hasidim refuse to
recognize their current leadership and rely
solely on the teachings of the late Rabbi
Joel Teitelbaum; most Satmar Hasidim do not
recognize and harshly criticise all Zionist
and pro-Zionist rabbinical institutions, especially
the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
Some educated Orthodox Jews do not affiliate
with any particular rabbi or group, and choose
halachic opinions on their own, by researching
rabbinical literature and comparing opinions
of different rabbis.
The tradition of decentralization and somewhat
critical approach to authoritarian structures
is common among Orthodox Jews, especially
among the Hasidim, who are divided into over
100 independent sects.
=== Relativity of power structures ===
The Kabbalistic and Hasidic literature often
views hierarchies, dichotomies and casual
relationships as relative and overturnable,
based on the ontological principle of Sefer
Yetzirah, that the beginning is wedged in
the end, and the end is wedged in the beginning,
and the monistic concepts of unity and interrelated
nature of all things.
For example, Malkhut, which usually represents
the feminine aspects of Reality in Kabbalah,
is the lowest and, at the same time, the highest
of the Sephirot, because in its root it's
identical with Keter; according to the teachings
of Chassidus, Moses had lost some "sparks"
of his spirituality due to the misdeeds of
the Jews in the desert, because the leader
is in some aspect lower the led, "like the
head, that can not go without the feet, in
which aspect the feet become the head"; the
empty part of a book or a Torah scroll is
considered more ontologically significant,
because it enables the very existence of the
text; repentance can elevate a sin to the
level higher than a Mitzvah; destruction can
be a creative force, like the seed, that must
be destroyed in the soil, in order to grow
into a new plant.
In general, the dialectic of Kabbalah often
closely resembles deconstructivist philosophy.
=== Truth ===
Judaism accepts that truth is relative to
some extent and that the opposite Halachic
opinions can both be right, although this
idea is usually not generalized beyond some
traditional contexts.
Rabbi Menachem Nachum Twerski of Chernobyl
had stated, that even contradicting descriptions
of historical reality can both be, and sometimes
are, true.
According to Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, the
true knowledge is denial of any final knowledge;
when a person reaches the "peak" of one spiritual
world, all his/her previous knowledge is nullified
by the new knowledge, that he discovers in
the next world.
However, one must seek and follow his or her
personal truth, in order to keep "climbing"
to the higher worlds and new levels of the
knowledge, which have no end.
=== Question of Messianic 'Kingdom' ===
The belief in the future restoration of the
Messiah's kingdom on earth is considered one
of the fundamental tenets of traditional Judaism.
Some classic rabbinical commentaries, especially
the Rambam, supported monarchy and viewed
the future Messiah as a king in literal sense
and the future Messianic redemption as restoration
of the Jewish state.
According to other classic interpretations,
the Torah only tells what limitations are
supposed to be put on the king's power and
possessions, if the Jews decide to choose
monarchy as an option.
According to Isaac Abrabanel, the "king" Moshiach
will be a universally accepted spiritual teacher
and a judge, but not a monarch; the state
will be abolished and humanity will eventually
return to the original Edenic harmony.
Though Abarbanel's commentary is complex and
may be interpreted in a number of different
ways, his view of the ideal society in not
statist.
Rabbi Jonathan Sachs considers Abarbanel an
'utopian anarchist' A number of Hasidic teachers
consistently rejected or spiritualized the
idea of a future Messianic "kingdom", and
viewed Messiah as a compassionate teacher
and advisor, but not a coercive ruler.
According to such Hasidic interpretation,
the Messiah will "fight" God's eschatological
"wars" by providing a role model of a great
Tzadik.
Some Jewish mystics emphasize the concept
of 'Messianic spark' or the 'inner Messiah'
within every righteous individual or every
human soul.
According to such view, the whole humanity
will attain collectively redemptive Messianic
consciousness in the future.
There is a seemingly monarchist passage in
the Talmud: Pray for the stability of the
kingdom, for were it not for the fear of its
authority, a man would swallow his neighbor
alive (Avot 3:2).
However, Isaac Abarbanel, Israel Lipschutz
and a number of other classic commentators
hold that this passage only stresses the need
for social order ("kingdom"), which might
be organized by the people, and not necessarily
by the king.
Some mystical commentators interpret this
passage in non-literal fashion, as referring
to the spiritual Divine kingdom inside every
human individual, not unlike Leo Tolstoy.
== Quotes ==
Talmud
Love labor, hate mastery, and avoid relationship
with the government (Avot, 1:10)He who says,
"What's mine is mine and what's yours is yours",
is the median type, though some say that this
is the quality of Sodom.
He who says, "What's mine is yours and what's
yours is mine", is a simple man.
He who says, "What's mine is yours and what's
yours is yours", is a pious man ("Hasid").
And he who says, "What's yours is mine, and
what's mine is mine", is wicked.
(Avot, 5:10)Simcha Bunim of Peshischa
In worship of God there are no rules – and
this statement is also not a rule.Mordechai
Yosef Leiner
Someone whose spiritual root is good does
not have to restrict himself.
Whatever he does is good in God's eyes.Kalonymus
Kalman Shapira of Piasetzno
In a place where holiness is revealed, there
is no rulership and honors.Yehuda Ashlag
Altruistic Communism will finally annul the
brute-force regime completely, for “every
man did that which was right in his own eyes.”
.. Indeed, there is nothing more humiliating
and degrading for a person than being under
the brute-force government [4].
== Orthodox Jewish anarchists ==
Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag
Isaac Nachman Steinberg
Rabbi Yankev-Meyer Zalkind
Abraham Yehudah Khein
Shmuel Alexandrov
== See also ==
Anarchism and religion
Christian anarchism
Hasidism
History of anarchism
Islam and anarchism
Jewish anarchism
Jewish left
Judaism
Kabbalah
== References ==
