Ki Siso, Purim, & the Avodo Zoro of Zionism / כי תשא, פּרורים, & עבודה זרה פֿון ציאָניזם

This is a weekly series of parsha dvarim written by a frum, atheist, transsexual anarchist. It's crucial in these times that we resist the narrative that Zionism owns Judaism. Our texts are rich—sometimes opaque, but absolutely teeming with wisdom and fierce debate. It's the work of each generation to extricate meaning from our cultural and religious inheritance. I aim to offer comment which is true to the source material (i.e. doesn't invert or invent meaning to make us more comfortable) and uses Torah like a light to reflect on our modern times. The full dvar is paywalled for four weeks to help me sustain my work as a writer; if you can't afford to subscribe, email me and I'll send you the link for free.

An appeal: It's Ramadan, which means it's a great time to donate to people in Gaza. My friend Madleen needs help to support her children. This fundraiser is run by a friend of a comrade, and I talk to Madleen regularly. Any amount helps, no matter how small.

Content note: Zionism, the Nakba, the Holocaust

Ki Siso is a parsha rich with narrative, but it begins with dry instruction. Hashem talks to Moishe Rebeynu on Mount Sinai, telling him that all men owe the same tax as "expiation for your souls", regardless of whether they are rich or poor; and giving details about how to mix the sacred incense, how to wash the hands and feet of the Kohanim, and a reiteration on the importance of keeping Shabos.

While Moishe is on the mountain, the Jews grow restless. They ask Aron to make them a new god; he tells them to give him all their golden jewelry, which he melts down into a golden calf.

The sin of the golden calf, חטא העגל, is Torah's shtarkest example of Jewish עבודה זרה—avodo zoro, idol worship. Today, there is no parallel more obvious than the avodo zoro of Zionism. We have abandoned Judaism and Hashem in favor of ethnonationalism. We have erased our diverse cultural history to become Israeli. We are loyal not to our own sense of ethics, but to the fascist state of Israel.

Aron, as the Kohan Gadol (High Priest), is the spiritual leader of the Jews second only to Moishe.

The people are misdirecting their worship, and the credit for their redemption out of exile, to the calf. Aron, however, announces that tomorrow will be a festival for Hashem, not the calf. Is Aron conflating the calf and Hashem? Does he have the foresight to see that the people erred and will return to the proper worship of Hashem tomorrow? Is Aron just stalling?

For the last century, American, Anglo, and European Jewry have abandoned Judaism in favor of Zionism.

In Hebrew school they started to teach us this Hebrew. My father had pronounced things a certain way, and I heard that. Then one day, they said we're changing the way we're pronouncing everything. For me that was a real weird message. You know, oh, we say Shabbat, not Shabos. Shabbat. And I thought, something is wrong here, what is this? I mean I was a little kid but I was really turned off by it, it really bugged me. It seemed to me like from that moment on, there was something weird about the synagogue.

—Oral history interview with Hanuka's grandmother, sampled on the forthcoming track "Narishe Tsienistn" by Chaia, New York, 2025.

Zionism has replaced the Jewish culture of Europe and America. There was an active choice to put Israeli flags on the bimah, to change the pronunciation from Ashkenazi to Israeli, to send kids on birthright trips. All the yom tovim became allegories for Zionism rather than lessons in our own history, theology, or ethics.