What is the difference between Judaism And Zionisim?
Answer:
Judaism is a religion practiced by Jews, which is based on God’s laws and commandments which He revealed to the Chosen Nation through the Bible.
Zionism is a nationalist movement which was derived from the desire of Jews to return to the biblical promised land of Israel and transformed by secular Jews to a political movement which has focused on establishing the State of Israel as a national state for all Jews.
Many today confuse the two. It is true that the concept of a return to Israel is fundamental to Judaism; yet, the Zionism movement, while embracing a Jewish idea, does so by means that are not universally agreed upon, and must therefore be kept distinct from Judaism. To prove the point, although the vast majority of Jews are Zionists, there are a number of Jewish (Orthodox), anti-Zionist groups.
On account of the confusion between the two, anti-Zionism (in a global sense) has become a modern manifestation of classical anti-Semitism.
You give the impression that majority are Zionists?!?!
Most leading Gedolim opposed to Zionism? e.g. Rabbis: Wasserman, Chaim Brisker, Chazon Ish, Shach, Brisker Rov, Kotler, Satmar Rebbe, SR Hirsch, Avigdor Miller, Chofetz Chaim, Sonnenfeld, etc..
The vast majority of the world’s Jews are Zionists, in every sense of the world. It is true that many leading rabbis are not Zionists in the secular sense of the word. Of course, they remain Zionists in the religious sense of desiring the return to Zion. The vast majority of rabbis (even the ones you mention) see the return of many Jews to their biblical homeland as a great achievement, irrespective of their objection to the secular State.
The vast majority of the world’s Jews are Zionists, in every sense of the world
That may be so, but the vast majority of the world’s Jews are also Sabbath desecrators, in every sense of the word. What relevance does that have to the Torah’s position regarding whether or not Zionism is legitimate?
Of course, they remain Zionists in the religious sense of desiring the return to Zion.
Yes, they desire the return to Zion that will be brought about by Hashem at the time that He, in His mercy, gathers in our exiles and sends us the righteous Messiah – not the premature return of the Zionists who were not religious people and didn’t believe in the Messiah at all, and were thus heretics.
The Satmar Rebbe certainly did not see the State of Israel as an achievement in any sense of the word.
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