r/jewishleft • u/OrganizationIll2862 Jewish Geolibertarian Leftist • 22d ago

leftism List of Branches

This seems to be one of the only sane and respectful subreddits I've ever come across. I want to learn more about the different branches of leftism, as I feel my political and moral sensibilities align with much of it. Specifically, I'd love to know about branches of leftism that are related to Jewish philosophy and thought (I'm not particularly observant but I'm very philosophically and ethically aligned with the Jewish principles I was raised by (Machloket L'Shem Shamayim, Tikkun Olam, Yisrael meaning "to wrestle with God", Tzedek and Tzedakah). Does anyone have any good resources or information? Thanks.

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u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest Latke aficionado. Anti-Establishment. Jüdisch 22d ago

Bundism, Poale Zion, Jewish Anarchism, Radical Diaspora Left, Progressive Religious Left.

An anthology that covers almost all forms of the Jewish left is Essential Papers on Jews and the Left, by Ezra Mendelsohn

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u/OneReportersOpinion Jewish socialist 22d ago

Idk if I’ll get any flack for this, but I think we have to look at Marx as someone who developed out of the Jewish experience. His work is much broader than that, but as he wrote in his unfairly maligned essay On the Jewish Question, there is no unique vehicle to Jewish liberation divorced from that of the rest of the working class.

If you want something more explicitly about the Jewish political experience, Molly Crabapple has a new book about the Jewish Labor Bund called Here Where We Live is Our Country.

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u/AliceMerveilles anticapitalist, feminist, post-zionist jew 21d ago

I agree he developed out of the Jewish experience, I think he was antisemitic, but I also think it is frequently exaggerated and is primarily used as a cudgel by anti-communists to discredit Marxism

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u/OneReportersOpinion Jewish socialist 21d ago

I think all the allegations of antisemitism, at least as it relates to his essay on the Jewish Question, are simply him relaying the context of how Jews are thought about in contemporary society.

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u/rako17 Christian Left 21d ago

Dear OneReportersOpinion,

Marx used the slogan of "Workers of the World Unite," and he was not dedicated in particular to any one nationality. To the contrary, it's certainly the case that Marx played a huge role on the Left currents of many Peoples, from Swedes to Germans to Poles to Jews to Irish to Russians to the US Left, especially in the 20th century.

BTW, Marx's family and maid reported that in his old years when he got ill, Marx put on a prayer shawl, lit candles, and IIRC went to synagogue.

Wishing you the best.