Jabotinsky valued Jewish monotheism for national pride, not belief

Evidence

It is important to note that while Jabotinsky celebrated the pagan heritage of the Philistines, he did not undermine the importance of monotheism in the development of Jewish identity. In 1935, he included a religious paragraph in the Hatzah’s official platform. This emphasis on the role of monotheism in the development of Jewish identity, however, can be attributed to Jabotinsky’s perception of the notion of racial superiority. As Shlomo Avineri has pointed out, the feeling of racial superiority, which, according to Jabotinsky, is critical in the development of a healthy collective consciousness, is dependent upon the cultivation of those very elements that the group itself developed while rejecting alien values and ideas. Therefore monotheism, which is a Jewish innovation, should be cultivated and cherished by the collective, not for its intrinsic values (Jabotinsky certainly lived his life as a secular Jew) but for its nationalistic attributes, as a cause of national pride. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 1152 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A senior Italian diplomat admired Jabotinsky for lacking Jewish mysticism; Jabotinsky valued monotheism as a marker of racial pride, not religious faith — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 1152

Broader Connections

• Jabotinsky valued monotheism as a marker of racial pride, not religious faith #expands (0.95) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 1152