The Jewish People and the Kingdom of Heaven: A Study of Jewish Theocracy

Abstract

This chapter examines one aspect of the Jewish political tradition, namely, the dimension of metaphysical sanctity within the political system. Through a structural review of Jewish history, it demonstrates the continued interaction between the heavenly and the earthly in the Jewish political conception. The chapter briefly defines the nature of three trends such as conflict; unity; and priority, and presents them chronologically in a historical survey. Jewish history can be divided into three broad units: the generation of the wilderness and the First and Second Temple periods; the diaspora and messianism; and Zionism and the State of Israel. The biblical account of the generation of the wilderness—with its conflicting interpretations—also reflects the dialectic attitude of the Jewish tradition towards political kratos. In establishing the academy of Jabneh following the destruction of the political center in Jerusalem, Johanan ben Zakkai established a refuge for the Jewish spirit, which succeeded in protecting it for almost two thousand years.