Jewish anarchism
Encyclopedia
Jewish anarchism is a general term encompassing various expressions of anarchism
within the Jewish community.
, Alexander Berkman
, Martin Buber
, Murray Bookchin
, Noam Chomsky
, Murray Rothbard
or David D. Friedman
have played a role in the history of anarchism. However, as well as these individual anarchists of Jewish origin, there have also been specifically Jewish anarchist movements, within the Yiddish-speaking communities of Eastern
and Central Europe
, and the Western cities to which they migrated, from the late nineteenth century until the Second World War. All the members of the first anarchist group in the Russian Empire
, which was formed in 1903 in Białystok, were Jews. Yiddish-speaking Jews participated to the International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam
in 1907.
Jewish anarchist movements tended to stress the internationalist
character of the movement, but many of them also supported their national culture and focused on specifically Jewish issues. Yiddish anarchist literature flourished since 1880s till 1950s and, on much smaller scale, till 1980s; the last Yiddish periodical publication, Problemen was published in 1991. In addition to many original books, pamphlets, poems and essays, all the major works of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
, Mikhail Bakunin
, Peter Kropotkin
, Errico Malatesta
, Henry Thoreau, Leo Tolstoy
, Max Stirner
and other anarchists were translated into Yiddish. Rudolf Rocker
, a non-Jewish German anarchist, had studied Yiddish and authored many Yiddish books, pamphlets and articles. Most Jewish anarchists were anarcho-syndicalists
, while a few others were individualist anarchists
.
Different anarchist groups had different views on Zionism
and the Jewish question
. Bernard Lazare
was a key figure in both the French anarchist movement
and early Zionist movement. The later Territorialist movement, especially the Freeland League, under the leadership of Isaac Nachman Steinberg
, was very close to anarchism. Some others, such as Martin Buber
and Gershom Scholem
, advocated non-nationalist forms of Zionism
, and promoted the idea of creating a binational
Jewish-Arab federation in Palestine
. Many contemporary anarchists support the idea of what has been dubbed the "no-state solution". Noam Chomsky
has said that, as an anarchist, he ultimately favours such a no state solution, but in the short term feels a two-state solution is the best way out of the present conflict.
, also noticed remarkable similarity between anarchism and many Kabbalistic
ideas, especially in their Hasidic interpretation. Some Jewish mystical groups were based on anti-authoritarian principles, somewhat similar to the Christian Quakers and Dukhobors. Martin Buber
, a deeply religious philosopher, had frequently referred to the Hasidic tradition.
The Orthodox
Kabbalist rabbi Yehuda Ashlag
believed in a religious version of libertarian communism
, based on principles of Kabbalah, which he called altruist communism. Ashlag supported the Kibbutz
movement and preached to establish a network of self-ruled internationalist
communes, who would eventually 'annul the brute-force regime completely, for “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”', because 'there is nothing more humiliating and degrading for a person than being under the brute-force government'. http://www.kabbalah.info/eng/content/view/full/3811
A British Orthodox rabbi, Yankev-Meyer Zalkind
, was an anarcho-communist and very active anti-militarist. Rabbi Zalkind was a close friend of Rudolf Rocker
, a prolific Yiddish writer and a prominent Torah
scholar. He argued, that the ethics of the Talmud
, if properly understood, is closely related to anarchism.
During biblical times as recorded in Samuel (Shmuel) I 7-9 http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt08a08.htm, God warns the people not to take a king like all the other nations, and therefore to remain in a state of political anarchy.
. In the past decade, the Israeli group known as "Anarchists Against the Wall
" became widely-known in the ongoing struggle around the creation of the variously-called Separation Wall/Fence/Barrier
on the West Bank
.
While most of them are ethnically Jewish, members of the group do not define themselves as being "Jewish anarchists".
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
within the Jewish community.
Secular Jewish Anarchism
Many people of Jewish origin, such as Emma GoldmanEmma Goldman
Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....
, Alexander Berkman
Alexander Berkman
Alexander Berkman was an anarchist known for his political activism and writing. He was a leading member of the anarchist movement in the early 20th century....
, Martin Buber
Martin Buber
Martin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship....
, Murray Bookchin
Murray Bookchin
Murray Bookchin was an American libertarian socialist author, orator, and philosopher. A pioneer in the ecology movement, Bookchin was the founder of the social ecology movement within anarchist, libertarian socialist and ecological thought. He was the author of two dozen books on politics,...
, Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
, Murray Rothbard
Murray Rothbard
Murray Newton Rothbard was an American author and economist of the Austrian School who helped define capitalist libertarianism and popularized a form of free-market anarchism he termed "anarcho-capitalism." Rothbard wrote over twenty books and is considered a centrally important figure in the...
or David D. Friedman
David D. Friedman
David Director Friedman is an American economist, author, and Right-libertarian theorist. He is known as a leader in anarcho-capitalist political theory, which is the subject of his most popular book, The Machinery of Freedom...
have played a role in the history of anarchism. However, as well as these individual anarchists of Jewish origin, there have also been specifically Jewish anarchist movements, within the Yiddish-speaking communities of Eastern
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
and Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
, and the Western cities to which they migrated, from the late nineteenth century until the Second World War. All the members of the first anarchist group in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, which was formed in 1903 in Białystok, were Jews. Yiddish-speaking Jews participated to the International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam
International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam
The International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam took place from 24 August to 31 August 1907. It gathered delegates from 14 different countries, among which important figures of the anarchist movement, including Errico Malatesta, Luigi Fabbri, Benoît Broutchoux, Pierre Monatte, Amédée Dunois, Emma...
in 1907.
Jewish anarchist movements tended to stress the internationalist
Internationalism (politics)
Internationalism is a political movement which advocates a greater economic and political cooperation among nations for the theoretical benefit of all...
character of the movement, but many of them also supported their national culture and focused on specifically Jewish issues. Yiddish anarchist literature flourished since 1880s till 1950s and, on much smaller scale, till 1980s; the last Yiddish periodical publication, Problemen was published in 1991. In addition to many original books, pamphlets, poems and essays, all the major works of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was a French politician, mutualist philosopher and socialist. He was a member of the French Parliament, and he was the first person to call himself an "anarchist". He is considered among the most influential theorists and organisers of anarchism...
, Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin was a well-known Russian revolutionary and theorist of collectivist anarchism. He has also often been called the father of anarchist theory in general. Bakunin grew up near Moscow, where he moved to study philosophy and began to read the French Encyclopedists,...
, Peter Kropotkin
Peter Kropotkin
Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin was a Russian zoologist, evolutionary theorist, philosopher, economist, geographer, author and one of the world's foremost anarcho-communists. Kropotkin advocated a communist society free from central government and based on voluntary associations between...
, Errico Malatesta
Errico Malatesta
Errico Malatesta was an Italian anarcho-communist. He was an insurrectionary anarchist early in his life. He spent much of his life exiled from his homeland of Italy and in total spent more than ten years in prison. He wrote and edited a number of radical newspapers and was also a friend of...
, Henry Thoreau, Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, Max Stirner
Max Stirner
Johann Kaspar Schmidt , better known as Max Stirner , was a German philosopher, who ranks as one of the literary fathers of nihilism, existentialism, post-modernism and anarchism, especially of individualist anarchism...
and other anarchists were translated into Yiddish. Rudolf Rocker
Rudolf Rocker
Johann Rudolf Rocker was an anarcho-syndicalist writer and activist. A self-professed anarchist without adjectives, Rocker believed that anarchist schools of thought represented "only different methods of economy" and that the first objective for anarchists was "to secure the personal and social...
, a non-Jewish German anarchist, had studied Yiddish and authored many Yiddish books, pamphlets and articles. Most Jewish anarchists were anarcho-syndicalists
Anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. The word syndicalism comes from the French word syndicat which means trade union , from the Latin word syndicus which in turn comes from the Greek word σύνδικος which means caretaker of an issue...
, while a few others were individualist anarchists
Individualist anarchism
Individualist anarchism refers to several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasize the individual and his or her will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions, and ideological systems. Individualist anarchism is not a single philosophy but refers to a...
.
Different anarchist groups had different views on Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
and the Jewish question
Jewish Question
The Jewish question encompasses the issues and resolutions surrounding the historically unequal civil, legal and national statuses between minority Ashkenazi Jews and non-Jews, particularly in Europe. The first issues discussed and debated by societies, politicians and writers in western and...
. Bernard Lazare
Bernard Lazare
Bernard Lazare was a French Jewish literary critic, political journalist, polemicist, and anarchist. He was also among the first Dreyfusards.-Youth:...
was a key figure in both the French anarchist movement
Anarchism in France
Thinker Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, who grew up during the Restoration was the first self-described anarchist. French anarchists fought in the Spanish Civil War as volunteers in the International Brigades. French anarchism reached its height in the late 19th century...
and early Zionist movement. The later Territorialist movement, especially the Freeland League, under the leadership of Isaac Nachman Steinberg
Isaac Nachman Steinberg
Isaac Nachman Steinberg was a lawyer, revolutionary, politician, a leader of the Jewish Territorialist movement and writer in Soviet Russia and in exile.-Early life and first exile:...
, was very close to anarchism. Some others, such as Martin Buber
Martin Buber
Martin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship....
and Gershom Scholem
Gershom Scholem
Gerhard Scholem who, after his immigration from Germany to Palestine, changed his name to Gershom Scholem , was a German-born Israeli Jewish philosopher and historian, born and raised in Germany...
, advocated non-nationalist forms of Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
, and promoted the idea of creating a binational
Binational solution
The one-state solution and the similar binational solution are proposed approaches to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Proponents of a binational solution to the conflict advocate either a single state in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, or a single state in Israel and the West...
Jewish-Arab federation in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. Many contemporary anarchists support the idea of what has been dubbed the "no-state solution". Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
has said that, as an anarchist, he ultimately favours such a no state solution, but in the short term feels a two-state solution is the best way out of the present conflict.
Religious Jewish Anarchism
While many Jewish anarchists were irreligious or sometimes vehemently anti-religious, there were also a few religious anarchists and pro-anarchist thinkers, who combined contemporary radical ideas with traditional Judaism. Some secular anti-authoritarians, such as Abba Gordin and Erich FrommErich Fromm
Erich Seligmann Fromm was a Jewish German-American social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was associated with what became known as the Frankfurt School of critical theory.-Life:Erich Fromm was born on March 23, 1900, at Frankfurt am...
, also noticed remarkable similarity between anarchism and many Kabbalistic
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
ideas, especially in their Hasidic interpretation. Some Jewish mystical groups were based on anti-authoritarian principles, somewhat similar to the Christian Quakers and Dukhobors. Martin Buber
Martin Buber
Martin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship....
, a deeply religious philosopher, had frequently referred to the Hasidic tradition.
The Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
Kabbalist rabbi Yehuda Ashlag
Yehuda Ashlag
Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag or Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag also known as the Baal Ha-Sulam in reference to his magnum opus, was an orthodox rabbi and kabbalist born in Łódź, Congress Poland, Russian Empire, to a family of scholars connected to the Hasidic courts of Porisov and Belz...
believed in a religious version of libertarian communism
Libertarian communism
Libertarian communism is a theory of libertarianism which advocates the abolition of the state and private property, and capitalism in favor of common ownership of the means of production, a direct democracy and self-governance....
, based on principles of Kabbalah, which he called altruist communism. Ashlag supported the Kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
movement and preached to establish a network of self-ruled internationalist
Internationalism (politics)
Internationalism is a political movement which advocates a greater economic and political cooperation among nations for the theoretical benefit of all...
communes, who would eventually 'annul the brute-force regime completely, for “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”', because 'there is nothing more humiliating and degrading for a person than being under the brute-force government'. http://www.kabbalah.info/eng/content/view/full/3811
A British Orthodox rabbi, Yankev-Meyer Zalkind
Yankev-Meyer Zalkind
Yankev-Meyer Zalkind was a British Orthodox rabbi, an anarcho-communist, a close friend of Rudolf Rocker, and a very active anti-militarist. Rabbi Zalkind was also a prolific Yiddish writer and a prominent Torah scholar, who authored a few volumes of commentaries on the Talmud...
, was an anarcho-communist and very active anti-militarist. Rabbi Zalkind was a close friend of Rudolf Rocker
Rudolf Rocker
Johann Rudolf Rocker was an anarcho-syndicalist writer and activist. A self-professed anarchist without adjectives, Rocker believed that anarchist schools of thought represented "only different methods of economy" and that the first objective for anarchists was "to secure the personal and social...
, a prolific Yiddish writer and a prominent Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
scholar. He argued, that the ethics of the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, if properly understood, is closely related to anarchism.
During biblical times as recorded in Samuel (Shmuel) I 7-9 http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt08a08.htm, God warns the people not to take a king like all the other nations, and therefore to remain in a state of political anarchy.
Anarchists in contemporary Israel
There are a number of anarchist groups in IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. In the past decade, the Israeli group known as "Anarchists Against the Wall
Anarchists Against the Wall
Anarchists Against the Wall , sometimes called "Anarchists Against Fences" or "Jews Against Ghettos", is a direct action group composed of Israeli anarchists and anti-authoritarians who oppose the construction of the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier and Israeli West Bank barrier. The AAtW calls the West...
" became widely-known in the ongoing struggle around the creation of the variously-called Separation Wall/Fence/Barrier
Israeli West Bank barrier
The Israeli West Bank barrier is a separation barrier being constructed by the State of Israel along and within the West Bank. Upon completion, the barrier’s total length will be approximately...
on the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
.
While most of them are ethnically Jewish, members of the group do not define themselves as being "Jewish anarchists".
Jewish anarchist newspapers
- Anarhija
- Anarhist
- Arbeter Fraynd
- Chernoe Znamja (Black Flag)
- Die Freie Gesellschaft
- Fraye Arbeter Shtime
- Kagenna MagazineKagenna MagazineAn alternative magazine from South Africa. Started life as an underground zine published shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and grew into an irregular, irreverent and entertaining read at the newsstand. Published in Cape Town, the magazine carried articles by activists, anarchists,...
- V Pomoštš’ – Der Hilf-Ruf
- Problemen
- Zsherminal
See also
- Anarchism and religionAnarchism and religionAnarchists have traditionally been skeptical of and opposed to organized religion. Nevertheless some anarchists provided religious interpretations and approaches to anarchism.-Anarchist clashes with religion:...
- Bavarian Soviet RepublicBavarian Soviet RepublicThe Bavarian Soviet Republic, also known as the Munich Soviet Republic was, as part of the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the short-lived attempt to establish a socialist state in form of a council republic in the Free State of Bavaria. It sought independence from the also recently proclaimed...
- Black RepartitionBlack RepartitionBlack Repartition , Party of Socialists-Federalists, a revolutionary populist organization in Russia in the early 1880s....
- Chernoe ZnamiaChernoe ZnamiaChernoe Znamia , known as the Chernoznamentsy, was a Russian anarchist communist organisation. It emerged in 1903 as a federation of cadres...
("The Black Banner") - Christian anarchismChristian anarchismChristian anarchism is a movement in political theology that combines anarchism and Christianity. It is the belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answerable, the authority of God as embodied in the teachings of Jesus...
- History of anarchismHistory of anarchismAnarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
- Jewish leftJewish leftThe term "Jewish left" describes Jews who identify with or support left wing, occasionally liberal causes, consciously as Jews, either as individuals or through organizations. There is no one organization or movement which constitutes the "Jewish left," however...
- New Jewish AgendaNew Jewish AgendaNew Jewish Agenda was a multi-issue membership organization active in the United States between 1980 and 1992 and made up of about 50 local chapters...
- Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of UkraineRevolutionary Insurrectionary Army of UkraineThe Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine , popularly called Makhnovshchina, less correctly Makhnovchina, and also known as the Black Army, was an anarchist army formed largely of Ukrainian and Crimean peasants and workers under the command of the famous anarchist Nestor Makhno during the...
Further reading
- Horrox, James. A Living Revolution: Anarchism in the Kibbutz Movement. Oakland: AK Press, 2009
External links
- Yiddish Anarchist Bibliography at the Kate Sharpley LibraryKate Sharpley LibraryThe Kate Sharpley Library is a library dedicated to anarchist texts and history. Started in 1979 and reorganized in 1991, it currently holds around ten thousand English language volumes, pamphlets and periodicals...