r/JewsOfConscience • u/AutoModerator • Jul 17 '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.

20 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

108 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/PaxSpeaksFacts Anti-Zionist Jul 17 '24

Hey! I’m currently considering converting to Judaism, but the only synagogue close to me is very pro-Israel. Would it be okay to still get converted through them? Can I still keep my anti-Zionist ideals while also attending their synagogue? Do I have any other options?

5

u/ApplesauceFuckface Ashkenazi Jul 18 '24

Can I still keep my anti-Zionist ideals while also attending their synagogue?

Well that probably depends on what keeping your anti-Zionist ideals means to you.

Here's some of what I think you should expect.

It's unlikely that you would be compelled to identify yourself as a Zionist, or publicly renounce your anti-Zionism. You may or may not be asked about your views on "the war" or "the conflict" (they won't call it a genocide), or they may just assume that you are a Zionist. You're more likely to be asked if there's anything about you that would make people think that you have left-wing views generally. If it's a Reform or Conservative congregation then they probably wouldn't say you can't join if your anti-Zionism comes up, but they might. If you start attending services, it's basically guaranteed that you're going to hear references to Israel, though mostly that will mean the biblical land of Israel, not the State of Israel. You may very well hear prayers specifically for the State of Israel, I think those are very common in Zionist synagogues. You're probably going to hear some vicious smears against Palestinians, and a lot of bad hasbara. There will be pro-Israel events.