Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

October 1, 2021

Religious Coercion Undermines Judaism

Too many people see the Torah only in terms of its restrictions.

Since the 19th century, religious Zionists have hoped that, in Rabbi David Stav’s words, “the miraculous rebirth of a Jewish nation in our own homeland would serve as a remedy” to denominational and other internecine divisions among the Jewish people. Alas, the state of Israel seems to produce constant social and political tension between the Orthodox and the secular. Stav argues that most inimical to a revival of traditional Judaism in the Land of Israel are attempts to use the power of the state to enforce religious norms:

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