The Israeli Basic Laws' (Potentially) Fatal Flaw

Abstract

For generations the question of the political form worthy of its apparentteloshas occupied the best legal, philosophical and rabbinical minds of the Jewish tradition. Resolution of the political question presupposes resolution of the theological question of whether the Jewish people indeed have a uniquetelos, and whether thistelosis linked to a particular political or social form. This ongoing deliberation is one of the defining features of the inter-generational dialogue within the Jewish heritage.When the Zionist movement declared its intention to initiate the founding of a Jewish State in Zion, this decision caused unprecedented turmoil in Jewish communities. For some, the creation of a political entity in the Land of Israel signaled a brash and unwelcome rejection of the Orthodox belief that the return will occur only in the days of the Messiah, until which time political inaction is the appropriate conduct.