Orthodox Conundrum
Orthodox Conundrum

Are Jewish Communities Outside Israel Meant to End? A Conversation with Dr. Malka Simkovich and Rabbanit Atara Eis (290)

May 12, 2026

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5 min read

"Are Jewish Communities Outside Israel Meant to End?"

Dr. Malka Simkovich, editor-in-chief of the Jewish Publication Society, and Rabbanit Atara Eis, dean of Nishmat, both identify as religious Zionists. Yet they arrive at strikingly different answers to the same question: what does it mean to be a fully realized Jew outside the land of Israel when a Jewish state exists and most Jews can move there?

The Authenticity Problem

Simkovich argues that a recent and problematic idea has taken hold: that Jews outside Israel are "mere imitators of authentic Jewish practice" rather than rightful practitioners. She traces this to a theological claim that "the Jewish people can only fulfill their covenantal destiny in the land of Israel." When diaspora Jews internalize this message, she says, they "exclude themselves from their people's future destiny and become active participants in a self-transformation that is meant to culminate in their own erasure."

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (01:31) **Introduction: The Core Tension** - Scott Kahn frames the central question: can one affirm the centrality of Israel without negating the legitimacy of diaspora Jewish life?
  • 2 (06:22) **Simkovich’s Thesis: Authenticity and Self-Negation** - Simkovich argues that the claim that authentic Judaism can only be practiced in Israel produces self-negation for diaspora Jews.
  • 3 (14:11) **Eis’s Response: Ideals vs. Erasure** - Eis distinguishes between affirming Aliyah as a religious ideal and advocating for the destruction of diaspora communities.
  • 4 (24:14) **Simkovich Replies: Humility and the Messianic Age** - Simkovich pushes back on certainty about the current era, arguing for humility in interpreting history.
  • 5 (29:42) **Eis on Galut and the Need for Diaspora Contributions** - Eis agrees that Jews in Israel are also in Galut, but argues that diaspora Jews bring unique strengths that can prevent Israel from repeating historical mistakes.
  • 6 (33:12) **The Dissonance of Nationalist Judaism** - Simkovich highlights a fundamental disconnect: many secular Israeli Jews see nationalism as their Judaism, while diaspora Jews often prioritize Halakhic observance.
  • 7 (39:33) **The Sacrifice Question** - Scott asks Simkovich how she would respond to an Israeli who feels that saying diaspora Judaism is equally valid negates their life project of sacrifice.

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Show Notes

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For generations, religious Jews prayed for a return to Zion. Today, for the first time in nearly two thousand years, there is a sovereign Jewish state, most Jews may soon live there, and millions of Jews around the world have the practical ability to move there if they choose. That reality raises profound questions that previous generations could barely imagine.

What does it mean to be a fully realized Jewish community outside the land of Israel in an age of Jewish sovereignty? Is Jewish life in the diaspora inherently incomplete, or can it possess its own enduring religious integrity? Does affirming the centrality of Israel require seeing Jewish communities abroad as temporary, marginal, or even destined to disappear? Or is there a way to embrace a deep Zionism without negating the legitimacy of Jewish life outside Israel? Perhaps all of the above can be true: diaspora communities may be seen as temporary without losing their religious legitimacy.

These questions have become increasingly urgent since October 7th, as Jews around the world have wrestled with issues of solidarity, responsibility, sacrifice, destiny, and identity. They also touch on larger questions about messianism, exile, religious authenticity, and the relationship between ideals and lived reality.

To explore these issues, I'm joined by two thoughtful and deeply committed Zionist thinkers who approach these questions from different perspectives: Dr. Malka Z. Simkovich, Editor-in-Chief of the Jewish Publication Society and author of Letters From Home: The Creation of Diaspora in Jewish Antiquity, and Rabbanit Atara Eis, Dean of Nishmat and a leading educator in the Religious Zionist world.

This is a conversation about Israel, the diaspora, and the future of the Jewish people - but also about how Orthodoxy speaks about aspiration, belonging, sacrifice, and the tensions that serious religious life sometimes demands.

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