An Anti-Zionist Rabbi? There Really Is Such a Thing?

It had never occurred to me that rabbinical schools would be graduating anti-Zionist rabbis until I read the May 29th article in eJewish Philanthropy about the controversy over Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC) admitting anti-Zionist students into their seminary.

According to eJewish Philanthropy, HUC President Andrew Rehfeld hit back against Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch’s condemnation of the Reform seminary’s ordination of anti-Zionist clergy, calling his comments “an attack on the very Enlightenment principles that founded our movement.”

This “public clash” erupted at the May 27^th Re-Charging Reform Judaism conference at the Stephen Wise Synagogue, where Rabbi Hirsch is the senior rabbi.

So, if I am to interpret this correctly, in the interest of liberal education, we have to tell rabbinic students that it’s ok to reject the legitimacy of a Jewish homeland? Truly, I can’t fathom how this could be okay!

Rehfeld admits that he doesn’t “see it as a success if somebody comes out of our institution and says, ‘I’m proudly an anti-Zionist.’ ” He admits that “it’s insensitive right now in the Jewish community.” But, nevertheless, he accepts the outcome as “an unfortunate but necessary risk that comes at the cost of openness that I believe is the only way we’re going to train future Jewish leaders for the challenges of the world today.”

Seriously? I can understand allowing students to wrestle out loud with their discomfort about being a Zionist right now and to disagree with the actions of the Israeli government. But to say it is ok to be a rabbi and an anti-Zionist?

Sure, one can argue that Judaism is so much more than just Zionism. It’s a religion that brings wonderful values and a rich culture into the world. But one of its tenets is to support and appreciate the existence of the Jewish homeland; to endorse Israel’s right to take its place among the family of nations. As the American Jewish Committee states on its website: “Zionism is an essential part of Jewish identity.”

And yet, there are actually in existence anti-Zionist synagogues. How did I not notice that there are anti-Zionist rabbis serving at the helm of Jewish synagogues? Did you know that?

Fortunately, there are only a handful of such synagogues, but if seminaries like HUC continue to graduate anti-Zionist rabbis, it’s inevitable that there will be more! Take, for example, Tzedek Chicago. Its home page advertises itself as “an anti-Zionist Jewish congregation based on core values of justice, equity and solidarity.” Its Rabbi Brant Rosen is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, located in Pennsylvania. Clearly, it’s not just HUC that is graduating anti-Zionist rabbis.

According to a 2025 article in Jewish Currents, it seems that, though the college is a proponent of progressive Zionism, “the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) has become a primary seminary for anti-Zionist rabbinical students.” These very students, the article explains, “are grappling with the possibilities and challenges of working within a major Jewish institution that holds a pro-Israel position.”

It’s so hard for me to imagine a rabbi struggling to fit into the culture of a synagogue because it is Zionistic!

I try to picture a new young rabbi stepping up to the podium to give a Shabbat sermon to the synagogue congregation seated before him. I can easily imagine this rabbi expressing sadness over the deaths in Gaza and anger at all the destruction. I can envision this rabbi expressing disdain for some of the decisions made in our Jewish homeland by those currently in power. But to take that leap to declaring yourself an anti-Zionist? After all, a rabbi is a thoroughly Jewishly educated individual, comprehensively familiar with our history. A rabbi is a leader of the Jewish community to whom his fellow Jews look to for guidance (not to mention clergy of another faith who come to him to understand the complex Middle East dynamics). How does an individual whose responsibility is to be a role model and mentor feel comfortable saying that Israel ought not to exist? I just can’t conceive of a rabbi disavowing the legitimacy of a Jewish homeland in the land of Israel.

I asked a Zionistic colleague of mine what she thought about admitting anti-Zionist students to rabbinic school. She said that, while Zionism and a connection to Israel seem so integral to Jewish identity, it makes her wary to have a “Zionist litmus test” for admittance to rabbinical school or a mandatory pledge to embrace Zionism once admitted. At the same time, forcing someone to leave school if their anti-Zionism surfaces later? That also did not sit right with her.

So where are we headed with this scenario? Of course, rational person that I am, I can objectively see that Jews can selectively embrace the Torah’s teachings and ignore content that strikes them as distasteful. I can see them perhaps turned off by biblical passages, such as “And the Eternal your God will bring you to the land that your ancestors possessed, and you shall possess it” (Deuteronomy 30:5).

I can sort of objectively internalize that they think the existence of a Jewish homeland in Israel is not the best scenario for today’s world – though I vehemently disagree.

And, by the same token, I can see them instead just embracing the Jewish tenet to pursue justice and sharing our wonderful Jewish rituals and traditions with their synagogue communities. But a rabbi rationalizing the decision to become a proponent of anti-Zionism?

Try as I might to be open-minded and accept the concept of a big Jewish tent where all views are welcome, I cannot emotionally make peace with ordaining anti-Zionist rabbis nor giving a pulpit to them. I find it untenable, terribly depressing and, yes, a painful betrayal.

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