The Unbroken Chain:
From the First Zionist Congress in 1897 to the present — the chronology of Torah leaders who rejected the project, in their own time, from within their own tradition.
1897
The First Zionist Congress, Basel
Orthodox rabbis across Europe — Galicia, Hungary, Lithuania — publicly reject the political program from its first day.
1917
The Balfour Declaration
Britain promises a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine — but not a Jewish state.
1924
The Eidah Chareidis is founded
Established to unite the Orthodox Jews of the Holy Land against the Zionists and their Chief Rabbinate.
1937
The Peel Commission proposes a Jewish state
At the Agudath Israel convention, Rabbi Aaron Kotler and Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman declare that any such state would be a denial of the Jewish belief in the messiah.
Agudath Israel convention
1946
The Anglo-American Committee reports
Recommending that Palestine be neither a Jewish nor an Arab state, Rabbi Michael Ber Weissmandl urges Zionists to accept the compromise.
R’ Michael Ber Weissmandl
1947
The UN votes for partition
As the conflict escalates, the Brisker Rav works to prevent the declaration of a state.
R’ Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav
1948
Zionists declare independence
The declaration triggers a war in which thousands of Jews and Arabs lose their lives.
1959
Vayoel Moshe is published
The Satmar Rebbe’s three-treatise work becomes the classic text on the Torah approach to Zionism.
R’ Yoel Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe
1967
After the Six-Day War
The Satmar Rebbe answers claims of divine redemption with his book Al HaGeulah V’Al HaTemurah.
R’ Yoel Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe
1977
The state offers its support
Under Menachem Begin, the Israeli government begins offering tempting funding to religious schools — even non-Zionist ones that teach only Torah.
1979
Keren Hatzoloh is founded
Anti-Zionist communities establish a rescue fund to sustain the schools that refuse government money.
2003
Torah Jews is established
The Satmar community asks Rabbi Moshe Dovid Katz to carry the Rebbe’s voice into the age of mass media.
Natruna · Torah Jews
We said this before the state existed. We are saying it today: Not in our name — not now, not ever.
