Zionism Is Not Optional for Reform Rabbis
Recent arguments opposing a Zionist requirement for rabbinic ordination at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) miss a fundamental distinction: Zionism is not merely one opinion among many within Judaism. It is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people and an essential component of contemporary Jewish identity.
Some have compared requiring rabbinical students to embrace Zionism with HUC-JIR’s former policy requiring students to marry Jews. The comparison is flawed.
The question of whom one marries is a personal choice. Zionism, however, concerns whether one recognizes the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their ancestral homeland. One is a matter of individual practice. The other is a matter of collective Jewish peoplehood.
A rabbi is not simply a scholar. A rabbi is entrusted with preserving, teaching, and transmitting the Jewish story. That story is inseparable from the Land of Israel.
From Abraham’s journey to Canaan, to the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, to the prophetic vision of return, to the prayers recited daily for nearly two thousand years of exile, Judaism has always maintained a profound and enduring connection to Eretz Yisrael. The longing for Zion is woven into our liturgy, our holidays, our sacred texts, and our collective memory.
To deny Zionism is not merely to reject a modern political movement. It is to reject a central expression of Jewish historical consciousness.
The Reform Movement itself recognized this reality decades ago. While classical Reform Judaism once distanced itself from Jewish nationalism, the movement underwent a profound evolution. Since the Columbus Platform of 1937, Reform Judaism has affirmed the centrality of Jewish peoplehood and the significance of a Jewish homeland. Successive Reform platforms and resolutions have strengthened that commitment.
If Zionism is truly a core Reform value—as even opponents of a Zionist ordination requirement acknowledge—then it is reasonable to ask whether individuals who reject that value should serve as Reform rabbis.
Every institution establishes standards for leadership. Seminaries routinely refuse to ordain candidates whose beliefs fundamentally conflict with the principles of the movements they seek to represent. No one would expect an Orthodox yeshiva to ordain a student who openly rejects halakhah. Nor would anyone expect a Reform seminary to ordain a candidate who opposes egalitarianism or LGBTQ inclusion.
The issue is not ideological purity. It is institutional integrity.
Opponents argue that requiring Zionism would undermine intellectual freedom. We strongly disagree.
Students should absolutely study the full spectrum of Jewish thought. They should read Ahad Ha’am and Jabotinsky. They should engage with Herzl and Kook. They should wrestle with anti-Zionist voices as well. They should examine the complex moral, political, and theological challenges facing Israel today.
But studying an idea and advocating for it are two different things.
We teach students about Christianity, Islam, secularism, and atheism. We do not therefore expect rabbis to be neutral regarding Judaism itself.
Likewise, studying anti-Zionist thought does not require ordaining anti-Zionist rabbis.
Jewish tradition celebrates debate, but debate has always occurred within a framework of shared covenantal commitments. The Talmud preserves minority opinions, yet it also establishes normative conclusions. Judaism values argument for the sake of heaven, not argument for the purpose of dissolving the foundations of Jewish peoplehood.
The events of October 7 and the unprecedented global surge in antisemitism that followed have made this discussion even more urgent. Jewish communities increasingly look to their rabbis for moral clarity, historical context, and spiritual leadership regarding Israel and the Jewish people’s security.
How can a rabbi effectively support Jewish self-determination if they reject the legitimacy of Jewish self-determination?
How can a rabbi teach the centrality of Israel in Jewish history and liturgy while denying the Jewish people’s right to sovereignty in that very land?
How can a rabbi faithfully represent a movement that officially embraces Zionism while personally rejecting it?
These are not abstract questions. They go to the heart of rabbinic leadership.
The purpose of HUC-JIR is not merely to produce intellectuals. It is to train rabbis capable of leading Jewish communities. Reform congregations have every right to expect that their spiritual leaders affirm the Jewish people’s right to exist as a nation among nations.
This does not require blind allegiance to any Israeli government. Zionism is not support for a particular political party or policy. Israelis themselves vigorously debate government decisions every day. One can be a Zionist and oppose settlements. One can be a Zionist and support a two-state solution. One can be a Zionist and sharply criticize Israeli leaders.
But one cannot reject the legitimacy of a Jewish state altogether and still claim to represent a movement whose foundational documents affirm Jewish peoplehood and Jewish national self-determination.
The issue before HUC-JIR is therefore not whether students should be allowed to think critically. Of course they should.
The issue is whether those entrusted with carrying Reform Judaism into the future should embrace one of its core commitments.
The answer is yes.
At a moment when Jewish identity is under assault, Reform Judaism should not retreat from its Zionist convictions. It should reaffirm them. HUC-JIR should continue encouraging rigorous debate, serious scholarship, and intellectual honesty. But it should also make clear that rabbis ordained in its name are expected to affirm the Jewish people’s enduring right to live, thrive, and exercise self-determination in their ancestral homeland.
That is not indoctrination.
It is leadership.
Signed,
RabbisUnited Advisory Board, a division of StandWithUs
Rabbi Steven Rosenberg
Rabbi Matthew Weisbaum
Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham
Rabbi Pini Dunner
Rabbi Geri Newburge
Rabbi Michael Stanger
Rabbi Cantor Alison Wissot
Rabbi Morris Zimbalist
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RabbisUNITED is a division of StandWithUs, dedicated to supporting the educational activities & activism of Rabbis across denominations who care about Israel and want to help fight antisemitism with their peers, as well as in their synagogues and communities.
