BN: . . . Almost all politically active Jews, zionist or not, in the United States vigorously support the separation of religion and state *in the United States.* But the overwhelming majority of politically active zionists in the United States do *not* support the separation of religion and state in Israel. That is, they believe that Israel is and should be a *Jewish state*. . . . >>> Quite right. My point is: this belief has NOTHING to do with Judaism the religion, orthodox or otherwise. It's a matter of group identification, not the content of religious doctrine, faith, or institutions. The best proof of this is the stance of the ancient, backward Jewish orthodox tradition in Europe. Prior to WWII, it was starkly opposed to Zionism. The Israeli state, founded by secularists of the right and left, reconstructed Jewish orthodoxy in Israel. The tradition was re-invented, and not, as we know, for the better. Linkage is not the issue; the direction of causality is. Cheers, mbs
