Jewish Radical Ultra-Orthodoxy Confronts Modernity, Zionism, and Women's Equality by Motti Inbari

Contemporary Judaism finds itself in a period of considerable turmoil due in large part to the relatively recent upsurge of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) population and influence in North America, but even more so in Israel, where Haredi influence in the political as well as the religious sphere has been keenly felt. This trend would have greatly surprised many sociologists of religion of the mid-twentieth century, who could not foresee any substantial future for Orthodox Judaism in the postwar world.

It is the resurgence of Haredi Judaism, particularly in Israel, that Motti Inbari explores in the present volume. He comes to this subject having already written two books on the subject of militant Orthodox Judaism in Israel. His 2009 book, Jewish Fundamentalism and the Temple Mount: Who Will Build the Third Temple brought to our attention contemporary fundamentalist Jewish groups who are working toward the restoration of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. His second book, Messianic Religious Zionism Confronts Israeli Territorial Compromises (2012), set its sights on Israeli Orthodox Jews whose religious interpretation of Zionism caused them to oppose Israeli governments whose strategy for peace with Israel's neighbors included territorial concessions. In a logical extension of his research program, his present book, Jewish Radical Ultra-Orthodoxy Confronts Modernity, Zionism, and Women's Equality, seeks to bring to the attention of the scholarly world Ḥaredi fundamentalist groups that share an acute messianic tension with religious Zionists in Israel while maintaining a non- or even anti-Zionist orientation.

Inbari begins his book with three chapters on Neturei Karta (Guardians of the City), an interesting group of radical anti-Zionist Haredim, centered in Jerusalem, whose influence on Orthodox society in Israel was far greater than their relatively small numbers would indicate. The first of these chapters discusses the origins of Neturei Karta against the background of the assassination of Haredi spokesman Jacob de Haan in the 1920s. The other two deal with the acknowledged leader of the group, Amram Blau. The next three chapters examine anti-Zionist activist rabbis who lived mostly outside of Israel, including Chaim Elazar Shapira, Yoel Teitelbaum, Akiva Yosef Schlesinger, and Yeshayah Asher Zelig Margaliot. Of particular note is Inbari's analysis of messianic tension in the thought of these Haredi leaders, which he believes to be a far more important factor in their thought than previous scholars had realized. The final chapter examines the concept of "zealotry" in Jewish history and thought from the earliest biblical sources to the present.

The book's strength is in the breadth of its vision, encompassing several significant developments in Haredi Judaism over the past century. The book's weakness is related to its strength: it deals with a number of broad issues, but it cannot substitute for a comprehensive history of Haredi Judaism as a whole, which is undoubtedly a scholarly desideratum.

Of the seven chapters in the book, three are adaptations of articles that have appeared previously, which means that there is a bit of overlap between some of the chapters. There are also occasional errors that have crept in, e.g., the First Zionist Congress was in 1897, not 1900 (9). However, these are small errors and do not detract from the authority of the work as a whole. In general, the book is a useful study of an important phenomenon and could be readily adopted by course instructors wishing to include accessible material on an important contemporary phenomenon in Judaism.