There are three significant differences between Zionism and Judaism, which are religious beliefs, academic aspect as belief systems, and genetic factors.

From a religious angle, the branch from Europe called Ashkenazim (which includes the Sephardim and is distinct from the Jews) uses the Jewish Apocrypha as part of its manuscripts.

Diffrent aprotch to the Jewish Apocrypha

The Jewish Apocrypha were not accepted as religious manuscripts when the Bible was compiled. Most Christians consider some of these books sacred, like the Ashkenazi branch, and in that sense, Ashkenazim is closer to Christianity. If you go to the roots, Ashkenazim are Kabbalistic or Hasidic, in the vast majority, in the past, in which the word Kabbalah refers to a particular variety of Jewish mysticism. They first appeared in the 12th century AD in Provence and Catalonia.

It is essential to understand the academic logic behind the exclusion of these books. The explanation is simple but reveals a basic value system. The ancient rabbis rejected these manuscripts mainly due to their fantastic elements. Those old rabbis spent a lot of time examining the work in all its parts (sometimes it took a generation or two to decide, yes, they had time, and they liked to discuss) to be sure that there were no aspects that could lead to imaginative interpretation. The rabbis’ concern was to prevent the interpretation of hallucinatory or demonic aspects in the Bible.

Set of beliefs

This reflects a set of core beliefs, like the importance of not getting caught up in fantasies. It is not straightforward because the Bible encourages the use of imagination but not getting caught up in hallucinations, and there is a big difference between them, yet a thin line separates them.

In Jewish culture, utilizing our imagination is encouraged by the stories in the Bible, but without getting entangled in a false perception of objects or events involving our senses. This practice is a crucial element in fostering independent thinking and personal leadership in the Jewish culture. The actual meaning of Jerusalem or the Holy Land as physical places couldn’t come from a Jewish belief.

That’s why the Bible and the Jewish culture are more like literature and refer mainly to metaphors. It is not literal or materialistic. These are mental tools for self-therapy. A core belief in the Jewish culture is in the energy of words, not the actual places. There is nothing comparable to the obsessive materialistic view of Jerusalem or the Holy Land, which are core beliefs in the ideology of the Zionist movement. This is an interpretation that unique to the Ashkenazi branch and the movement. How did they manipulate the Jews into this? Read here soon. How God’s conception is a metaphor in the Jews’ belief and practice for self-care? Read here soon.

In Jewish mythology, Jerusalem or the Holy Land is not associated with a material obsession. In any case, Jews have lived in Africa and the land of Palestine, and in the Middle East for centuries or more. Sometimes they didn’t leave their homes for more than 10 generations alongside their Palestinian neighbors before the Zionists came to the Middle East with their strange claim to own the land and started rewriting history. Want to know more about the life of Jews before and after the arrival of Zionism? Soon.

Zionists and unique genetic factors

Zionism is a branch in this group, the Ashkenazi. This leads to the last aspect. A 2013 study‘s surprising finding shows that Ashkenazi are genetically European and only from one genetic group. “How Ashkenazi Jews just one genetic group? The answer is relatively simple: They do not interbreed appreciably with others outside their group (not even with other Jews). Researchers have shown that Ashkenazi Jews were a population isolated and fertile in Europe for about 1,000 years.” On average, all Ashkenazi Jews are as close to each other genetically as fourth or fifth cousins, said Dr. Harry Osterer, professor of pathology, pediatrics, and genetics. What is more interesting is that the Zionists branch that establish its base in Palestine, kept much of those characteristics in their new place too.

It is not the only cult characteristic associated with this group. Find out more, in my book, which will be launched soon.