r/JewsOfConscience • u/AutoModerator • Jul 10 '24

AAJ "Ask A Jew" Wednesday

It's everyone's favorite day of the week, "Ask A (Anti-Zionist) Jew" Wednesday! Ask whatever you want to know, within the sub rules, notably that this is not a debate sub and do not import drama from other subreddits. That aside, have fun! We love to dialogue with our non-Jewish siblings.

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u/SpiritualUse121 Non-Jewish Ally Jul 10 '24

I have a really basic question.

What do some of the lesser known terms / labels in the flairs mean & is there a guide to the differences in philopsy, culture & practice?

If someone could point me towards a guide that would be really helpful in understanding this community more.

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u/ezkori Ashkenazi, American, raised in orthodoxy, currently cultural Jul 10 '24

Could you give some examples? I’m happy to explain to my best ability

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u/SpiritualUse121 Non-Jewish Ally Jul 10 '24

Thank you, I appreciate it!

I am unfamiliar with:

Orthodox vs Conservative, Reconstructionist, Hiloni, Mazortim, Beta Israel, Matzpen, Jewish Communist, Post-zionist

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u/ezkori Ashkenazi, American, raised in orthodoxy, currently cultural Jul 10 '24

Jewish communist, at least to me, is just the political alignment of communism held by a Jewish person. Jewish values (whatever that means lol) might inform said communism but it is more just the intersection of the two identities. Post-Zionism (as defined by Wikipedia) is “post-Zionists advocate the evolution of Israel into a non-ideological, secular, liberal democratic state, to be officially neither Jewish nor Arab in character.” As with all things that use the term Zionism, it really doesn’t tell you much about the persons actual political opinions since Zionism has no (universally accepted) definition (and many self proclaimed zionists and antizionists believe in the same thing— gotta love ambiguity 🙃)

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u/ezkori Ashkenazi, American, raised in orthodoxy, currently cultural Jul 10 '24

Reconstructionist Judaism was invented by mordechai Kaplan in America. Its big major tenet is Judaism as a living civilization rather than an inherently “theistic religious” group. His philosophy is where Jewish Community Centers (jccs) come from. Generally reconstructionist communities will vary based on specific community, as communal norms and values are stressed rather than a worldwide religious “Jewish” dogma

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u/ezkori Ashkenazi, American, raised in orthodoxy, currently cultural Jul 10 '24

Hiloni is just the Hebrew word for secular; Masorti is (what can most easily be compared to) conservative Judaism in the rest of the world that isn’t USA and Canada. Beta Israel are an ethnic group of Ethiopian Jews. I don’t know what matzpen is but can look it up and get back to you.

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u/Conscientious_Jew Post-Zionist Jul 10 '24

From Wikipedia:

Matzpen (Hebrew: מצפן, lit. 'Compass') is the name of a revolutionary socialist and anti-Zionist organisation, founded in Israel in 1962 which was active until the 1980s. Its official name was the Socialist Organisation in Israel, but it became better known as Matzpen after its monthly publication.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matzpen

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u/Saul_al-Rakoun Conservadox & Marxist Jul 11 '24

I've found Matzpen is spectacularly useful in understanding Israel from a Marxian and not a Liberal analytical frame.

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u/ezkori Ashkenazi, American, raised in orthodoxy, currently cultural Jul 10 '24

Orthodox Judaism is a wide label that spans many many smaller sects of Judaism with a wide range of practices and beliefs. There are hareidi (ultra orthodox) Orthodox Jews and modern Orthodox Jews and many outside and in between. As such; wr to orthodoxy, it’s often useful to specify what kind of orthodox community. That being said, Orthodox Jews tend to be the most traditional and ritual focused; conservative judaism is an American sect of Judaism that spawned out of the American reform and American orthodox movements pulling away from the Center. The greater movement still values tradition and ritual, though advancements have been made for modern times such as women/nb rabbis, queer (kinda) acceptance (complex issue to discuss but happy to get more into it if you want) and other stuff. The large majority of Conservative Jews in America are not ritually observant and, at least from the perspective of onlookers, may seem like Reform Jews. TBH the line between reform and conservative (and orthodox and conservative) has been getting blurrier and blurrier. Will continue in another comment.

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u/SpiritualUse121 Non-Jewish Ally Jul 10 '24

Thanks for taking the time. It's a really good primer and will re-read and digest more.

The immediate thing that comes to mind is; what little I think I know about Judaism is prolly wrong. I was only really exposed to Haredi who stick to themselves and what I imagine are Zionist non-observants.