Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

Prayerbook Reform in Europe: The Liturgy of European Liberal and Reform Judaism, by Jakob J. Petuchowski. 1969

The Jewish Concept of An Earthly, Messianic Kingdom: A Readily-Mutable Antecedent of Modern Zionism and Communism (Zydokomuna)

This book gives considerable detail on how early Reformed Judaism, in 19th-century Germany, changed some of the traditional prayers to modernize them. It also provides insights as to how easy it was for Jewish messianism to be secularized and politicized in the forms of Communism and Zionism.

UNLIKE IN CHRISTIANITY, THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM OVERSHADOWS THE MESSIAH HIMSELF

The Jewish concept of the Messiah is clearly one of this world, as long pointed out elsewhere by Christians, and as described by author Petuchowski in his discussion of the Preface to Mayence Prayerbook (1853). He writes, “About the nature of the messianic kingdom there are great differences of opinion already in the Talmud…Yet all agree that the doctrine of the Messiah is an essential truth of faith in Israeldom (ISRAELITENTHUM). Furthermore, there can be no Biblical justification for accepting only the IDEA, and not also the PERSONALITY of a Messiah…But, whereas the PERSON of the Messiah represents the center of the faith in Christianity, in Judaism it is the KINGDOM of the Messiah which constitutes the essence of the promise. Opinions differ as to the nature of that kingdom. In the traditional prayers we encounter everywhere only the twofold desire for the RETURN OF ISRAEL to the land of the forefathers, and for the RESTORATION OF THE SACRIFICES.” (p. 148; Emphasis in original).

ANALYSIS: TRADITIONAL JEWISH MESSIANISM WAS BUT ONE STEP AWAY FROM ZIONISM AND COMMUNISM

From the above statements, it is evident that Jewish messianism was very amenable to secularization. Since the person of the messiah was never central in the first place, the personal Messiah could eventually be dispensed with, and the messianic kingdom could become an end in itself. Taken a little further, it could become an earthly, man-made creation. Thus, for example, secular Zionists thought of the eventual restored State of Israel, and Jewish Communists (Zydokomuna) thought of the hoped-for World Revolution and ensuing utopian society. The latter can be interpreted in two ways: It could be an expression of Jewish idealism, or it could be a drive for Jewish influence and power.