Rutgers University Press
Messianic Zionism in the Digital Age
About this book
Winner of the 2025 American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion: Analytical-Descriptive Studies
Winner of the 2023 Association for Jewish Studies Jordan Schnitzer First Book Prize
Judaism in the twenty-first century has seen the rise of the messianic Third Temple movement, as religious activists based in Israel have worked to realize biblical prophecies, including the restoration of a Jewish theocracy and the construction of the third and final Temple on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Through groundbreaking ethnographic research, Messianic Zionism in the Digital Age details how Third Temple visions have gained considerable momentum and political support in Israel and abroad .
The role of technology in this movement’s globalization has been critical. Feldman skillfully highlights the ways in which the internet and social media have contributed to the movement's growth beyond the streets of Jerusalem into communities of former Christians around the world who now identify as the Children of Noah (Bnei Noah). She charts a path for future research while documenting the intimate effects of political theologies in motion and the birth of a new transnational Judaic faith.
Author / Editor information
Reviews
"Feldman documents a growing fringe movement to hasten the messiah's coming—and its incendiary geopolitical implications. . . The book presents a comprehensive look at the Temple activist movement."
— Times of Israel“Brilliant anthropologist Rachel Feldman delves into the dynamic and surprising landscape of Judaism in the twenty-first century, unveiling the rise of the messianic Third Temple movement in Israel. This book reveals the movement’s ambitious pursuit of biblical prophecies and explores the transformative influence of the internet and social media in propelling its visions and shaping a new transnational Judaic faith.”
— Nurit Stadler, head of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, IsraelTopics
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Frontmatter
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CONTENTS
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Preface
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1 Introduction: Third Temple Visions and Political Theologies in Motion
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2 Biblical Revival in Contemporary Israel: Temple Builders as Proxy-State Actors
27 -
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3 “Born Again, Again”: The Emergence of Noahidism as a Transnational Judaic Faith
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4 “Righteous among the Nations”: A Case Study of Noahide Communities in the Philippines
98 -
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Conclusion: The Children of Israel, the Children of Noah, and the “End of Judaism”?
133 -
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Acknowledgments
147 -
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Notes
151 -
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Bibliography
175 -
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Index
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