When Loyalty to a State Becomes a Substitute for Loyalty to God

There is a dangerous confusion today between Judaism and Zionism, and it must be addressed clearly and courageously.

Judaism is a covenant with God, rooted in Torah, truth, and justice. Zionism is a modern political movement, rooted in nationalism. While they may overlap historically, they are not the same — and conflating them distorts both.

Many today have made the State of Israel into a kind of sacred cow. Criticizing its actions — even in cases of moral outrage — is treated as if it were heresy. The political has become theological. The state is beyond critique. This is not loyalty to Torah — it’s a form of idolatry.

Some have even joked that Zionism today is like a new Trinity:

God the Father, the Jewish Mother, and the Holy Land.

When religious identity becomes wrapped around nationalism, moral clarity is lost. Crimes committed in the name of Jews are excused, minimized, or even celebrated — simply because they are carried out by a government that calls itself Jewish. And anyone who calls for accountability is dismissed as a “self-hating Jew” or worse.

This is not Torah.

Judaism does not say, “We’re always right because we’re Jews.” It says:

“God chose us to be holy — and holds us to a higher standard.”

When injustice is done in the name of the Jewish people, the proper response is not silence, and certainly not celebration. The proper response is grief, protest, and return to Torah.

Our loyalty is to the truth, not the tribe. To the Torah, not to nationalism. To God, not to the government.

We must never forget:

Judaism existed for thousands of years before the State of Israel —
and it will continue long after every government rises and falls.