In the current climate of global anti-Zionist sentiment, many liberal Diaspora Jews have begun to question the perceived burden of Israel and whether it is possible to express a Jewish identity without any meaningful connection to the modern State of Israel.

A distinction is often made between Zionism and the religious concept of the Land of Israel. The latter is rooted in the Torah, Jewish law, the Talmud and the prophetic expectation of redemption with the coming Messiah. Even Haredi Jews who reject Zionism still regard the Land of Israel as sacred and anticipate its restoration in the messianic age. The question here is therefore more specifically about liberal Diaspora Judaism and whether it could eventually detach itself not only from Zionism but from the Land of Israel itself.

The development of a rather fascinating relatively modern movement suggests how religion could take a different course from where it initially sprung up, by reinterpreting places and events according to the needs of adaptation to a changing geographical, political and social reality. The Mormon faith founded by Joseph Smith in New York........

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