Wrestling in the Daylight is an insightful conversation on Zionism initiated by Rabbi Brant Rosen, a prominent Jewish activist from Chicago, on his social-justice blog Shalom Rav. After Israel’s brutal military attack on Gaza in 2008–2009, Rosen began to question his lifelong Zionist beliefs. Unlike the biblical Jacob, who wrestled with his conscience in the dark of night, Rosen chose to “wrestle in the daylight” with this issue through many thoughtful essays on his blog. In this selection of content from Shalom Rav, Rosen includes both his own posts and those of his online commenters, granting readers unique insight into the largest controversy facing the American Jewish community today. In the new introduction he has written for this second edition, Rosen updates the story of the “wrestling” that both he and the American Jewish community have undertaken in recent years.
What People Are Saying
“It’s hard enough to wrestle with Zionism as a secular Jew, but far more anguishing to do so as a rabbi. Wrestling in the Daylight is a must read. It offers a unique opportunity for Jews and non-Jews alike to follow the evolution in thinking of a deeply spiritual Jewish rabbi as he breaks with long-cherished beliefs about Zionism and embraces the liberation of the Palestinians. As a secular Jew, I find solace in Rosen’s writing. It shows me that Jews who hold truly sacred, compassionate values must, sooner or later, reject the Zionist dream. Brant’s construction of a new dream, one in which no ethnic group holds privilege over another, is indeed a dream worth wrestling for.” Medea Benjamin, author and cofounder of CODEPINK for Peace
“Deeply grounded in the Jewish tradition of questioning one’s own and one’s community’s conscience, Wrestling in the Daylight is a work of extraordinary moral reckoning from America’s bravest rabbi. With great compassion, rigorous intellectual engagement, and an unfailing sense of justice, Brant Rosen documents his own struggles with the most urgent issue facing American Jews today. Rosen writes as he acts: with clarity, courage, and conviction.” Ben Ehrenreich, author of The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine
“In Wrestling in the Daylight, Rosen patiently challenges the ways so many in the Jewish community seek to bend Judaism’s liberationist themes to the goal of justifying Israeli repression. His intervention is a revolutionary and prophetic act.” Adam Horowitz
About the Author
Brant Rosen is a rabbi, blogger, and social activist based in Chicago, Illinois, where he currently serves as the Midwest Regional Director for the American Friends Service Committee. In 2014, Rosen cofounded a social justice focused Jewish congregation called Tzedek Chicago after many years serving as a congregational rabbi in Evanston, IL.