A Clearly Democratic Religious-Zionist Philosophy: The Early Thought of Yeshayahu Leibowitz

Abstract In his early teaching, from the 1920s through the 1950s, Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903–1994) stands out as one of the most fascinating religious Zionist thinkers. He strives to establish a Jewish democratic state whose democratic aspects will be channeled toward the establishment of an exemplary society, one that can express its religious roots within a modern democratic context.Leibowitz thus attaches enormous importance to democracy in terms of both its political components and its modern Orthodox aspirations. In this respect, he is the most radical spokesman of the Neo-Orthodox notion of Torah with Derekh Eretz, as translated into religious-Zionist terms.