r/JewsOfConscience • u/Jche98 Jewish Anti-Zionist • 3d ago

Discussion - Flaired Users Only What book to give a Zionist?

My cousin is a Zionist. He made Aliyah and has served in the IDF in Gaza and Lebanon. He was in the brigade that responded to Oct 7 and lost one of his best friends to a Hamas bullet that day. I've spoken with him and he's open to learning more. I'm looking for a book to give him which is a very GENTLE introduction to an alternative viewpoint from Zionism, something that won't scare him. Can anyone recommend something.

184 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

73 comments sorted by

View all comments

90

u/Adept_Thanks_6993 Orthodox 3d ago

The No-State Solution: Rabbi Daniel Boyarin.

25

u/Thisisme8719 Arab Jew 3d ago

He's one of the world's leading scholars on the Talmud and he studied under Saul Lieberman, but afaik he doesn't have rabbinic ordination

10

u/loselyconscious Traditionally Radical 3d ago

Yeah he got his PhD from JTS, maybe that's way they thought he did. 

9

u/Adept_Thanks_6993 Orthodox 2d ago

whoops

Still, read the book. It helped me figure out there was still a path for me in this community beyond Zionism

3

u/20263181 Jewish Anti-Zionist 2d ago

I struggled with this book so much đŸ¥´

7

u/Adept_Thanks_6993 Orthodox 2d ago

So did I! I struggled with gemara too, but I figured it out. That's the whole point of being Jewish: Do mitzvot and figure shit out

4

u/20263181 Jewish Anti-Zionist 2d ago

You make it sound sooooo simple! Imagine treating others as you would want to be treated…