Judaism, Zionism and Pacifism: Past, Present, Future

Abstract

In this chapter, I attempt to explain aspects of traditional, Jewish-religious understandings of pacifism, as developed in the Talmudic and Jewish commentary literature, and the attitudes toward pacifism expressed in the modern Zionist movement in its early phase in Europe at the end of the nineteenth century. My focus in the section on Judaism is capital punishment specifically concerning the rebellious son. Regarding Zionism, I center on Theodor Herzl’s relationship with Bertha von Suttner (Die Waffen nieder) and his success in winning this Nobel-prize winning author and pacifist for the Zionist cause.