The Sin of Ending Exile: Bar Kokhba, Shabbtai Zvi and the Modern Heresiology of Zionism
After the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE and the failed insurrection in 138 CE, Jews determined that the still operative biblical covenant would be lived out in exile until the end-time. This exilic existence became the template of Jewish life and practice. With the advent of Zi...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
|
| In: |
Political theology
Year: 2025, Volume: 26, Issue: 2, Pages: 166-183 |
| Further subjects: | B
Messianism
B Shabbtai Zvi B Zionism B Bar Kokhba B Redemption B Heresiology B Exile |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | After the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE and the failed insurrection in 138 CE, Jews determined that the still operative biblical covenant would be lived out in exile until the end-time. This exilic existence became the template of Jewish life and practice. With the advent of Zionism this exilic covenant was reconsidered and there was a strong impulse to end exile through political sovereignty in the land of Israel. Many traditional Jews rebelled against this attempt to end exile, Perhaps the most vociferous anti-Zionist voice in the postwar period was Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar (1887–1979). In his work Vayoel Moshe (1960) he waged a fierce battle against Zionism as heresy and false messianism. One tack was to view Zionism in the trajectory of the history of heresy from the first century military figure Bar Kokhba through the seventeenth century false messiah Shabbtai Zvi. This essay examines Teitelbaum’s rendering of Bar Kokhba and Shabbtai Zvi as precursors to the heresy of Zionism that either miscalculates messianic time, or attempt to erase the messianic idea altogether. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1743-1719 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Political theology
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/1462317X.2025.2504263 |
