Rabbi Morris Samuel Lazaron | |
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| Personal | |
| Born | April 16th, 1888 |
| Died | June 5th, 1979 |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Spouse | Pauline Horkheimer (married from 1914-1933), Hilda Rothschild Rosenblatt |
| Children | Morris Jr., Harold Victor, Clementine |
| Denomination | Reform Judaism |
| Semikhah | Hebrew Union College |
Morris Lazaron was an American Reform rabbi, writer, and vocal advocate of anti-Zionism. [1]
Lazaron was born on April 16, 1888, in Savannah, Georgia. [1] His father Samuel Louis Lazaron was from Americus, Georgia, and his mother Alice Zipporah de Castro was a Sephardi Jew from New Orleans whose ancestors hailed from Curaçao, Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, Morocco, Amsterdam, and Lisbon. [2] [3]
In 1914, Lazaron was ordained by the Hebrew Union College. He served as a rabbi at Congregation Leshem Shomayim in Wheeling, West Virginia, for a year. In 1915, he was appointed as rabbi of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation. Lazaron was a founder and co-president of the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism. Lazaron's anti-Zionism was uncontroversial until after the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel, which lead to the severing of ties between Lazaron and Baltimore Hebrew and his resignation as rabbi emeritus in 1946. [4] Lazaron was forced to resign after refusing to comply with a request from the synagogue's board of directors to refrain from attacking Zionism in his sermons. [5] While opposing Jewish nationalism, political Zionism, and the establishment of a Jewish state, Lazaron did support the existence of a Jewish spiritual and cultural homeland in Palestine / Eretz Yisrael. Although Lazaron had once considered himself a Zionist, he began to critique Zionism after visiting Nazi Germany during the 1930s, concluding that nationalism was a destructive force and could not be used in service of Jewish redemption. Lazaron believed that Zionists had exploited the tragedies in Europe to justify Zionism. Acknowledging that his anti-Zionist views made him deeply unpopular within Jewish circles, Lazaron wrote that Zionists hated him because he "was once a Zionist" but "left the Zionist camp and is now against them" and was therefore considered a traitor to the cause. [6]
In 1934, Lazaron wrote a letter defending the use of Jewish quotas in American universities. He claimed that "Too many of our Jewish students are going into medicine" and felt it necessary to "to divert, if possible, the increasing flow of Jewish students into this profession". He believed that an inundation of Jewish students at medical institutions would lead to an increase in antisemitism. Lazaron canvassed 65 medical schools, asking their deans for their impressions concerning Jewish medical students and their proportions of the student population. Responses from Lazaron's survey are collected and displayed at the "Beyond Chicken Soup" travelling exhibit that was shown at the Jewish Museum of Maryland and other institutions. [7] [8]
Lazaron was also a member of the National Council of the American Friends of the Middle East. He was the author of several books. [1]
Zionism is a nationalist movement that emerged in the 19th century to enable the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine, a region roughly corresponding to the Land of Israel in Jewish tradition. Following the establishment of Israel, Zionism became an ideology that supports "the development and protection of the State of Israel".
The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms established by Rabbi Wise are the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the Central Conference of American Rabbis. The current president of the URJ is Rabbi Rick Jacobs.
Religious Zionism is an ideology that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as Dati Leumi, and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the first part of that term: Datiim. The community is sometimes called 'Knitted kippah', the typical head covering worn by male adherents to Religious Zionism.
Elmer Berger was a Jewish Reform rabbi widely known for his anti-Zionism. He was the executive director of the American Council for Judaism from its founding in 1942 until 1955. After this time, he served as a consultant until he was forced to resign in 1968, when he founded American Jewish Alternatives to Zionism.
Reform Zionism, also known as Progressive Zionism, is the ideology of the Zionist arm of the Reform or Progressive branch of Judaism. The Association of Reform Zionists of America is the American Reform movement's Zionist organization. Their mission “endeavors to make Israel fundamental to the sacred lives and Jewish identity of Reform Jews. As a Zionist organization, the association champions activities that further enhance Israel as a pluralistic, just and democratic Jewish state.” In Israel, Reform Zionism is associated with the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism.
Congregation Beth Elohim, also known as the Garfield Temple and the Eighth Avenue Temple, is a Reform Jewish congregation located at 274 Garfield Place and Eighth Avenue, in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, United States.
From the founding of political Zionism in the 1890s, Haredi Jewish leaders voiced objections to its secular orientation, and before the establishment of the State of Israel, the vast majority of Haredi Jews were opposed to Zionism, like early Reform Judaism, but with distinct reasoning. This was chiefly due to the concern that secular nationalism would redefine the Jewish nation from a religious community based in their alliance to God for whom adherence to religious laws were “the essence of the nation’s task, purpose, and right to exists,” to an ethnic group like any other as well as the view that it was forbidden for the Jews to re-constitute Jewish rule in the Land of Israel before the arrival of the Messiah. Those rabbis who did support Jewish resettlement in Palestine in the late 19th century had no intention to conquer Palestine and declare its independence from the rule of the Ottoman Turks, and some preferred that only observant Jews be allowed to settle there.
Henry Pereira Mendes, was an American rabbi who was born in Birmingham, England and died in New York City. He was also known as Haim Pereira Mendes.
Rabbi Aharon Feldman is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, Maryland. He has held this position since 2001. He is also a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah.
Congregation Beth Israel Judea is a Reform synagogue located at 625 Brotherhood Way in San Francisco, California. It is the result of the merger of the Conservative Congregation Beth Israel and the Reform Temple Judea.
Isaac Landman was an American Reform rabbi, author and anti-Zionist activist. He was editor of the ten volume Universal Jewish Encyclopedia.
The American Council for Judaism (ACJ) is an organization of American Jews committed to the proposition that Jews are not a national but a religious group, adhering to the original stated principles of Reform Judaism, as articulated in the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform. In particular, it is notable for its historical opposition to Zionism. Although it has since moderated its stance on the issue, it still advocates that American Jews distance themselves from Israel politically, and does not view Israel as a universal Jewish homeland. The ACJ has also championed women's rights, including the right for women to serve as rabbis, and has supported Reform Jewish congregations and contributed to the publication of new editions of prayer books for religious services predominately in the English language for Jews in English-speaking countries.
Proto-Zionism is a term attributed to the ideas of a group of men deeply affected by the idea of modern nationalism spread in Europe in the 19th century as they sought to establish a Jewish homeland in the Land of Israel. The central activity of these men was between the years 1860 to 1874, before the Zionist movement established practical (1881) and political Zionism (1896). It is for this reason that they are called precursors of Zionism, or proto-Zionists.
Few Jews arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, in its early years. As an immigrant port of entry and border town between North and South and as a manufacturing center in its own right, Baltimore has been well-positioned to reflect developments in American Jewish life. Yet, the Jewish community of Baltimore has maintained its own distinctive character as well.
Temple B'nai Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation located in Oklahoma City, and is the oldest active Jewish synagogue in Oklahoma.
Racism in Jewish communities is a source of concern for people of color, particularly for Jews of color. Black Jews, Indigenous Jews, and other Jews of color report that they experience racism from white Jews in many countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Kenya, South Africa, and New Zealand. Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews also report experiences with racism by Ashkenazi Jews. The centering of Ashkenazi Jews is sometimes known as Ashkenormativity. In historically white-dominated countries with a legacy of anti-Black racism, such as the United States and South Africa, racism within the Jewish community often manifests itself as anti-Blackness. In Israel, racism among Israeli Jews often manifests itself as discrimination and prejudice against Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, Ethiopian Jews, African immigrants, and Palestinians. Controversially, some critics describe Zionism as racist or settler colonial in nature.
The city of Frederick, Maryland is home to a small but growing Jewish community. With roots dating to the colonial era, Frederick's Jewish community is home to three synagogues, a Hebrew school, and a Jewish community center.
Tzedek Chicago is a progressive synagogue in Chicago. It is one of the first synagogues in the United States to officially declare itself anti-Zionist.
Maximilian Heller was a Czech-born American rabbi.
The relationship between Reconstructionist Judaism and Zionism dates to the founding of the Reconstructionist movement by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan. Kaplan was a strong supporter of the Zionist movement and subsequently the Reconstructionist movement has historically supported Zionism. In recent years, due to the political liberalism of the Reconstructionist movement, some people affiliated or formerly affiliated with the movement have begun to be more critical of Zionism. Unlike Orthodox and Reform Judaism, the Reconstructionist movement has never historically had a significant anti-Zionist faction. According to Reconstructionist Rabbi David Teutsch, the movement has displayed a "striking uniformity" of loyalty to Zionist principles throughout its history.
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