When Prophecy Fails? The Theology of the Oslo Process—Rabbinical Responses to a Crisis of Faith

The Oslo process began with secret negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and led to the signing of a declaration of principles by the two sides in Washington, DC in 1993. Israel agreed to withdraw from territories in the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria, and to establish a Palestinian autonomous authority in the area for an interim period, with a view to reaching a permanent settlement between the sides. This process, and particularly the territorial compromise it entailed, created a profound crisis within those religious Zionist circles that have identified Israeli reality as part of a process of redemption. The political concessions threatened to disrupt their messianic expectations and required a response adapted to the new reality. Accordingly, the Oslo process provides a test case for the way in which the religious Zionist public as a whole faced this crisis of faith, and, more specifically, the manner in which the Halachic guides of this public—those responsible for shaping its religious behavior—responded to this crisis. This article examines the attitude of the rabbinical leadership of the settlers toward the Oslo Accords, and will present the distinct responses of two rabbis—Yehuda Amital and Zvi Tau. The case studies demonstrate how messianic believers face their prophetic failure and the modalities they apply in order to cope with it. Thus, the article shades a new light on what happens when prophecy fails

Messianic Movements and Failed Prophecies in Israel: Five Case Studies

This article examines several examples of messianic individuals and movements in Israel that have had to confront the failure of their predictions of imminent collective Redemption. These case studies suggest that individuals who expect Messiah's immediate coming, but who do not share this conviction with others, may experience greater freedom to reinterpret their prophecy and then proselytize a new vision of Redemption. When a small group's predictions are publicized widely and then fail, its members may find themselves facing a particularly sharp crisis of faith because of social pressure and may decide to abandon both the prophecy and group membership. Participants in large and diffuse messianic movements may become anxious when events begin to indicate that their predicted Redemption will fail, thus they are likely to adjust the prophecy and take steps to actualize it

The Outstretched Hand

My family and I celebrated Passover in Lumberton, North Carolina. We are the only Israelis in town and, as far as I know, the only Jews. But it’s not as lonely as it might sound, thanks to our Evangelical Christian neighbors

Messianic Activism in the Works of Chaim Elazar Shapira, the Munkacz Rebbe, between Two World Wars

The article discusses messianic tension that developed in the Hasidic court of Rabbi Chaim Elazar Shapira (1871 – 1937), the Munkaczer Rebbe. In his lifetime, Shapira was the leader of radical ultra-Orthodoxy, and he completely rejected modernity, especially modern Jewish politics. Therefore, the Rebbe was one of the greatest opponents to Zionism within Orthodox circles. He also opposed the modernization of Jewish education. The messianic tension that started in the period following the First World War and remained for the rest of his life, included eschatological calculations; sermons of a supernatural nature intended to expedite the End of Days; a visit to the Land of Israel during which Shapira hoped to crown the King Messiah (and which ended in failure and disgrace); and a fierce and public dispute with the Gerrer Rebbe, Avraham Mordechai Alter, which I believe can also be attributed to tension regarding the identification of the messiah. Analyzing messianic tension in the Munkacz Hasidic court can shade light into a wider phenomenon of messianic expectations in Jewish Orthodoxy prior to the Second World War

The eschatological worldview of Hungarian Jewish ultra-orthodoxy as possible background of influnce on Leopold Cohn

This paper explains the eschatological concepts that were held by Hungarian Jewish ultra-Orthodox rabbis in the late 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th century. Understanding this messianic worldview might offer an intellectual background to comprehend the Hungarian-born Leopold Cohn, founder of Chosen People Ministries, an evangelistic mission to the Jewish people. At the end of the paper I would argue that there is commonality between the ideology of Hungarian ultra-Orthodoxy and pre-millennial dispensationalism, the ideology Cohn adopted after his conversion. Thus, there might have been some intellectual continuity between the different phases of his life

Prophetic Disappointment and Ideological Change among Israeli Settlers’ Rabbis: The Case of Rabbis Yehuda Amital and Shmuel Tal

In this article, I examine the role of prophetic disappointment in creating ideological change. I discuss the response of two Orthodox rabbis, Rabbi Yehuda Amital (1924–2010) and Rabbi Shmuel Tal (b. 1962), to the crisis of faith they encountered regarding the role of Zionism in the messianic drama. This research describes the process of religious switching they have gone through due to failure of prophetic faith. This work argues that their transformation was an attempt to cope with the tension that results from cognitive dissonance in two different instances while blaming a third party for misunderstanding the true will of God. Their religious switching was an act of theodicy, justifying God’s justice, while renouncing their previous held beliefs

Religious Zionism and the Temple Mount Dilemma—Key Trends

The article describes the internal debate within Religious Zionist circles over the question of Jews entering the Temple Mount and presents the internal religious dynamics that permitted Jews to enter. It presents the positions of the Mercaz Harav yeshiva, one of the most important Halachic centers of modern-day religious Zionism, whose leaders reject the idea of Jews entering the Temple Mount in the current era. The article further describes the debate on the question of entering the Temple Mount within the Chief Rabbinate, whose plenum strongly negated such a possibility, although some leading members of the rabbinate permitted entry and prayer in an individual capacity. This is followed by a discussion of the decision by the Council of Yesha Rabbis (a group of Orthodox rabbis from the settlements in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip) permitting Jews to enter the Temple Mount, under certain Halachic restrictions, and of the debate their decision evoked among Religious Zionist rabbis. The article presents the clear phenomenon of the erosion and weakening of the prohibition against Jews entering the Temple Mount. It is difficult to ignore the growing support for this approach among ever wider circles

Fundamentalism in Crisis—The Response of the Gush Emunim Rabbinical Authorities to the Theological Dilemmas

In August 2005, Israel vacated the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip—mainly in Gush Katif—as well as four settlements in northern Samaria. This action, known as the “Disengagement,” constituted a profound crisis for a significant section of the Israeli population that is most closely identified with religious Zionism and with the settlement movement in the Territories. The crisis was not only on the national level, as the state destroyed communities that it had established and nurtured for decades, but also on the community level, as thousands of people were removed from their homes. The Disengagement also caused a religious crisis, testing the very foundation of the beliefs guiding the political and religious behavior for the population. Accordingly, the Disengagement provides a test case for the way in which the religious Zionist public as a whole faced this crisis of faith, and, more specifically, the manner in which the Halachic guides of this public—those responsible for shaping its religious behavior—responded to the crisis. This article examines the attitude of the rabbinical leadership of Gush Emunim (“Bloc of the Faithful”) toward the Disengagement and whether the political process led to any change in attitudes among these circles regarding the status and religious significance of the State of Israel as a secular Zionist nation