20th Century Jewish Religious Thought: Original Essays on Critical Concepts, Movements, and Beliefs

Utopia

Utopia Lionel Kochan I n the strict meaning of the term-no place-the concept of utopia has no application in judaism. The characteristic feature of the customary utopia is its remoteness in time and space. It will be inaccessible or perhaps exist in no recognizable area of the world. It may even be located on the moon. It is also frequently set at some future date, or is perhaps a purely intellectual construction. In this sense no jewish utopian schemes seem to exist. Even those that come closest to it-the Zionist utopias discussed below-are unambiguously located in the land of Israel. If, however, utopia is taken to signify the impulse toward some sort of ideal society, then of course it does have its jewish counterpart, if not precise equivalent, in the concept of the messianic age. What belongs to the utopian genre in the gentile world belongs to the messianic in the j ewish . There is certainly no identity but a considerable overlap. It is this that helps to account for the jewish contribution, in the form of a secularized messianism, to radical and liberal movements of varied outlook. But the dominant strain within the jewish context is to emphasize the indispensability of the physical, territorial dimension, although there are occasional 1034 UTOPIA tendencies in later kabbalism and I:Iasidism to spiritualize the messianic ideal and even to spiritualize the land. The ideal society can exist only within the land of Israel (although this, of course, may well be variously defined) and would itself have universal applicability. A second distinctive characteristic of the jewish utopia is the absence of precise description. It seems that the utopian future is to be visualized in terms of a society that embodies a broad framework of values, with their precise implementation in the mechanism of daily life being left an open question. A third feature is the catastrophic nature of the redemption that eschews evolution in favor of upheaval. Thus the prototype of the salvation process is the first Exodus Ger. 16:14-15). The values to be realized in this indeterminate way are, however, comprehensive in that the jewish state will be theocratic and subject to the direct rule of the divine. In the terrestrial era it is the priests who bless Israel; in the future era, "God himself will bless Israel" (Ps. 29: 11). Located in Zion, having its capital in a restored jerusalem, and ruled by the scions of the ideal house of David, the state will be the incorporation of righteousness. Men themselves will possess only good inclinations (BT Suk. 52a). They will be infused with the spirit of the Lord and the spirit of learning ' in contrast to the ignorance and partiality of the present. In social terms, the messianic era will be one of abundance and fertility Ooel 4: 18), marked also by health, human longevity, and the absence of disease. Man will enjoy the fruit of his own labor: "They shall not plant and another eat" (Isa. 65:22). "In that day-declares the Lord of Hosts-you will be inviting each other to the shade of vines and fig trees" (Zech. 3:10). Toward this desirable state of affairs Israel will lead the way, through its cleaving to the Torah. Indeed, the messianic-utopian age can be regarded as the fulfillment of the very aim of the Torah. "All the prophets only prophesied for the days of the Messiah" (BT Sanh. 99a). Indeed, the last days will be incomparably richer than the first, so as to represent a different and altogether unprecedentedly higher order of reality in that''the land shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord as water covers the sea" (Isa. 11:9). But this is not relevant to Israel alone, for the restored and rebuilt holy land will serve as a focus, model, and source of inspiration for the improved life of mankind in general, so that all nations shall share in the blessings of peace, the rule of righteousness, and the overthrow of the wicked and perverted. Rabban Shimeon ben Gamliel said: in the [messianic] future all the nations and all the kingdoms will be gathered in the midst of Jerusalem. For it is said [Jer. 3:17] "all the nations will be collected thither for the name of God"~ elsewhere UTOPIA 1035 [Gen. 1:9] it is said, "Let the waters under the heavens be...