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Let’s talk about Zionism ….

In the past few days, Israel’s political and military leadership have informed us that the war in Iran will continue for at least another three weeks, meaning that we’ll be at war throughout Pesach. We were also informed this morning that the fighting in Lebanon will continue at least through Shavu’ot, which falls, of course, seven weeks after Pesach. So we have (at least) several months of war ahead of us, and undoubtedly, days (and nights) that will exhaust us, moments that will surprise us, plus some events that will likely terrify us.

That is why we are using this week to think about some of the fundamental questions surrounding Zionism.

YESTERDAY we heard from Gil Troy, who argued that dropping the term Zionism (which some people are advocating) would be a terrible idea and explained why.

LATER THIS WEEK I hope to be able to share an essay on what I suspect will be the state of the Israeli-Arab conflict decades from now, and what I imagine that might mean for the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora communities.

TODAY we had planned to run our interview with Matti Friedman about his forthcoming (and fabulous!) book, OUT OF THE SKY, but his publisher has asked that we hold off until the actual pub date, which is March 24th. Thus, that podcast will come the week after next.

Today, as part of our week’s discussions of Zionism, we meet Rabbi Leo Dee, who has a thesis about Zionism and Diaspora life which he has presented to numerous audiences abroad, engendering passionate discussion and debate.

When I began to hear from friends about the passionate debates that emerged after Rabbi Dee spoke to congregations on the East Coast, I asked myself, “When was the last time a speaker in an American synagogue left people talking for days and even weeks after s/he’d spoken?” I struggled to think of an example. Enough people had shared with me the rough outlines of what Rabbi Dee had said that I knew that we might disagree here or there, and that I would certainly not have said publicly what he did.

But that, I thought, was precisely the reason to have him speak to us. Maybe it’s about time that we hear someone who just calls it like he sees it. With the Jewish world changing so rapidly, with the assumptions of Jewish safety in both Israel and the United States crumbling, perhaps this really is the moment to hear people who say things that it might not be so comfortable for us to hear. I asked Rabbi Dee to share his thesis and thoughts with us here, and he graciously agreed.

Rabbi Leo Dee is a British-Israeli educator and activist who became a prominent voice for resilience after his wife, Lucy, and daughters, Maia and Rina, were murdered by terrorists in April 2023. Since that tragic day, Rabbi Dee’s speaking and writing have inspired thousands around the world.

Leo Dee is a former director at a private equity fund. He received his orthodox rabbinical ordination in Israel, following which he served as a community rabbi in a British village in South Hertfordshire. He now lives in Efrat, Israel, and was recently remarried to Aliza Teplitsky.

A number of readers who heard Rabbi Dr. Joshua Berman speak on our podcast about his new Haggadah and went to purchase it on Amazon found that Amazon could not guarantee delivery before Passover. The publishers suggested that people use this link to purchase the Haggadah: Echoes of Egypt: A Haggada and thus to get it on time.

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For paid subscribers, the link at the top will take you to the full conversation; below, paid subscribers will also find a transcript for those who prefer to read, as always.

Pulling no punches: "On October 7, Diaspora Jews discovered that they had no purpose."