Parshat Mattot Massei
SERMON Parashat Mattot-Massei July 25, 2025
Rabbi David Edleson Temple Sinai, South Burlington VT
JEWS AND DRUZE
These past few weeks, if you have not been a-snooze, you probably saw that the Druze and the Jews have been in the news, so I thought it might be helpful if I shared some information about who the Druze are and try to explain why there is such a close emotional connection between these two communities in the Middle East.
To start, I want to share some basic information about who the Druze are and about what they believe and for that you need some history of Islam.
You probably know that the biggest division in the Muslim community is between Sunni and Shi’a. For example, Iran is a majority Shi’a country while Saudi Arabia is a majority Sunni country. While over the centuries these two sects of Islam have developed many different practices and beliefs, I only want to look at the part that connects to the Druze.
Sunni’s believe that Mohammed died without leaving a clear successor, or Imam, and that it was up to his council of advisors to choose who would lead this expanding religion and empire. They chose Mohammed’s right-hand-man and trusted assistant, Abu Bakr. The Shi’a believed that Mohammed had named a successor, his son-in-law and cousin, Ali, and that the Sunni were just grabbing power from the true Imam which should be related by blood to the prophet. This group called itself the Party of Ali, of Shi’at Ali, from which we get Shi’a.
In Shi’a Islam, the succession of imams following Mohammed is of profound importance. Most Shi’as believe in a succession of 12 legitimate imams, related to Mohammed. They are known as “twelvers.” Other Shia’s believe that only five imams were legitimate, and are known as ‘fivers.’ Yet another group believes that there were seven, and the final one was Ismael ibn Jaffar. These are known as “Seveners” or “Ismaelism.”
Today, Ismaelis, and Shi’as in general, are more focused on mystical or abstract interpretations of the Quran than Sunnis and it has also given rise to offshoot sects and new religions.
For example, the Alawites of Syria, the group to which the Assad Regime belonged and led, is an offshoot of Ismaeli Islam, one focused on the metaphorical meanings of Islam and less on law and ritual.
The Druze are also an offshoot of Ismaeli Shi’a Islam. They begin in the early 11th century, during the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt, which was a Shi’a dynasty. One of the Caliphs was Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, a powerful and controversial figure who ruled for 25 years starting in 996 CE.
In 1017 CE, a group of his followers began promoting a new religious doctrine that blended Islamic monotheism with elements of Greek philosophy, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Judaism and even Hindu and Persian thought. The movement was led by a Persian mystic and preacher named Hamza ibn Ali, and he is considered the principal founder of the Druze religion. Hamza and his disciples taught that Caliph al-Hakim was a divine manifestation, a belief that quickly declared heretical by orthodox Muslims, so the Druze faith was very early on declared heretical by the broader Islamic world which led to immediate persecution.
Already in 1043, due to persecution, the Druze leadership made a radical decision: they closed the faith to outsiders. From that time onward, conversion into the Druze religion was — and still is — not permitted. Intermarriage is not permitted and extremely rare. Only those born into Druze families with two Druze parents can be considered Druze.
A very early preacher in this movement, still in the 11th century, was Muhammad bin Ismail Nashtakin ad-Darazi. The Druze actually see him as a heretic, but his name stuck as al-Darazi morphed into Druze and stuck to the community.
The Druze call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn, or 'the unitarians’.
The Druze do not identify as Moslem. They do not follow the Five Pillars of Islam. They don’t build mosques. They don’t pray five times a day, and in fact don’t have religious services. They don’t go on the Hajj.
The religious persecution at the hands of mainstream Muslim leaders caused the Druze to convert and those who didn’t retreated and for centuries lived mostly in the mountainous areas of Syria, Lebanon and what is today Northern Israel.
They also decided to make the inner teachings of their religion secret, even to most of the Druze themselves. To this day, only very basic information is known to outsiders about their religion Druze are divided into two groups: those who choose to study the religion and initiate, called uqqal and those who don’t called juhhal. This is a personal choice of each Druze regardless of gender, and women have counted among revered and highly ranked clergy.
Religious Druze follow a multi level path of initiation and degrees focused on studying the sacred texts that non-religious Druze agree to leave to the religious ones.
The Druze cannon is centered on the Epistles of Wisdom, which includes letters from respected Druze clergy. Their cannon of religious texts includes the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Quran, as well as writings of Aristotle and Plato.
Once initiated, they wear distinctive robes and a white turbans. The men grow their beards. Initiates must live of religious piety, sobriety, and virtue. They abstain from alcohol and tobacco and attend secret Thursday-evening services at the khilwah, an unadorned house of worship usually located outside the village.
They are further bound by the seven Druze principles of conduct:
· utter honesty under all circumstances but specifically avoidance of theft, murder, and adultery;
· Druze solidarity;
· renunciation of other religions;
· avoidance of unbelievers;
· belief in the oneness of God;
· acceptance of God’s acts;
· and submission to God’s will.
The rest of the community, the juhhal is secular, concerned with wordly matters, taught to focus on a few core principles:
· Tawhid (Oneness of God):
· Reincarnation: They believe the soul is reborn after death in another human body, and that this cycle continues until the soul achieves spiritual purity and reunites with the Cosmic Soul.
· Esotericism: Much of the doctrine is hidden or symbolic, and access to religious texts is restricted.
· Druze solidarity, and
· Universal reason and ethics: The Druze emphasize rationality, self-discipline, loyalty, and living ethically above ritual or law-based religion.
So why is there such a strong connection between Druze and Israelis? Many say it is simply because the Druze believe in supporting the leadership of the country in which they live, so in Israel, they support the government, but that is a gross oversimplification.
Under Moslem rule, both the Druze and the Jews were religious minorities who were legally discriminated against as “dhimmi” which meant under generous rulers, they had to pay special taxes and weren’t eligible for public offices and leadership. More strict leadership often meant violent persecution. This meant they had much in common legally, religiously, and in terms of status and vulnerability with the Mizrachi Jews going back centuries.
Benjamin of Tudela is one of the most important Jews you might never have heard of. Born in Tudela in Northern Spain in the 1100’s, he set off on a long journey in 1165, a journey that took him across southern Europe, on to Greece, Turkey, Israel, Iraq, and then across North Africa and back to Spain. What makes him so important is that he wrote in great detail about the places he visited and particularly about the Jewish communities he encountered in his travels. He got to know people, asked questions, and recorded what he learned and saw in a very realistic way. He shared different customs, occupations, and relations between the Jews and their neighbors. He is one of the main sources we have about the Jews of Israel and the Middle East at this time. While in the area, he records that there is a community called the Druze that has very close and mutually supportive relationship with the Jewish community in Palestine. That means the close connection between the Druze and the Jews in that area go back more than 800 years.
But wait – there’s more! While Druze generally consider themselves Arabs, and speak Arabic, they trace their descent from Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law. This is an important aspect of their solidarity with the Jewish people long before Zionism or the creation of modern Israel. In Israel, they do not consider themselves part of the Arab minority, but as a distinct ethnic group.
Interestingly, it turns out that the Druze are closely related genetically to Ashkenazi Jews, showing an even closer connection in the past, or common ancestry, circling back to the mythology of being descended from Jethro.
It is a principle of the Druze to be loyal to the rulers of the country in which they live, but the Druze allied themselves with the growing Jewish community in Palestine long before statehood. This early connection and support gained them tremendous respect and appreciation among Jewish Israelis.
Since 1948, their integration into Israeli society, the army, and political life has only reinforced a sense of allyship and loyalty between Israeli Jews and Druze.
The Druze are about 1.6% of the Israeli population, numbering around 150,000, but their importance far outsizes their population.
The Druze community decided internally to make itself subject to mandatory military service in 1948 and many fought on the side of Israel and against Arab armies. Since then, they have served valiantly in the IDF, and have held very high ranking positions in the military. None has yet served as Army Chief of Staff.
There are Druze members of the Knesset, and they are involved in political parties from right and center. Yet, the Druze community was very upset when Israel passed the so-called “nation-state” law declaring Israel as a state for the Jews and have protested laws they find insulting or discriminatory.
To Jewish Israelis, there is a profound bond between Jewish Israelis and the Druze, and a profound trust. Much of this comes from close connections during army service. Because the Druze have been there for the Israelis over and over again, the Israelis feel a strong obligation to be there for the Druze. Whether or not Israel’s decision to fire on Syrian government forces and on their headquarters in Damascus was a good decision, it came from a profound sense that the Jews of Israel have a sacred duty to protect the Druze just as they would if there were a Jewish community there.
That being said, it is important to note that it is far from clear exactly what was going on in Suweida to start this. On social media, there are competing claims of complete blame or complete innocence, but the truth seems more complicated.
Several religious minorities including the Druze have claimed that Al-Sharaa has a play book of asking local Bedouin Sunni Moslems to provoke a given minority to violence, and then use that as a pretext to send in his militia begin massacring that minority.
However, I’ve also read experts on Syria that point out that Druze clans and militia in Suweida have been the chief players in the drug trade in Syria, and that the violence between Bedouin and Druze is often rooted in conflicts related to competition in that trade. This might have started as a very local drug war.
Regardless, the profound belief of the Druze is that the Syrian government was encouraging the torture and massacre of the Druze minority. This caused over 1000 Israeli Druze to break through the fence into Syria to fight on behalf of their Syrian brethren, meaning Israel was responsible for them as Israeli citizens, if they ended up being killed or taken hostage by Hamas or Hezbollah operatives in Syria.
Some Druze in Syria were not happy with Israel since it makes it hard for them to be part of the new Syrian regime. Other Druze are celebrating Israel for protecting them, and strongly believes that the new regime will slaughter them when the world looks away. They fear that if they disarm as the government is demanding, they will be slaughtered as they have been repeatedly in the past.
These days, we and particularly Israelis often wonder where our allies are and why are they so silent. I think that is why the Druze’s devoted allyship is so moving to the Jewish community in Israel. In a hostile world, their friendship has created a visceral sense that “we must protect them.”
It has to do with the value and virtue of loyalty. In American culture, loyalty has gotten a bad name. American culture seems focused only on the here and now, and since loyalty is a result of shared past, it doesn’t always rise to the top. Loyalty has been used to convince people to stay in relationships that are toxic, or religions that are oppressive. I know many women who were told that their feminism was disloyal to their fathers or husbands, and many LGBT folks who were told that loyalty to the family meant staying in the closet.
These days, in our polarized society run by algorithms, in both very conservative and progressive circles, the only virtuous loyalty is loyalty to the principles and ethics of your group and we have all seen how destructive to a democracy, and how dehumanizing of those we disagree with can be.
As Aristotle taught, virtues have to be balanced against one another. Loyalty can be dangerous if it means unquestioning support, but loyalty can also be a tremendous human virtue.
Deep friendships are not just about liking someone or laughing with them. Our deepest relationships also include a sense of shared past, and a commitment to be there for the other person even when it is uncomfortable or difficult. Today, I see a tremendous erosion of loyalty and that sense of commitment to other people as people, not as causes.
These past years, we as Jews have keenly felt the value of loyalty. When we ask a good friend, “would you hide me?” That is asking about loyalty, not political agreement. When old friends or children cut us off because of our connection to Israel, we wonder was that relationship ever really solid.
I think that is why these days, the loyalty of the Druze to the Jews and the Druze to the Jews seems so powerful and moving. It is something we all long for – to have people who are there for us warts and all. I hope that some of what I’ve shared about the Druze is interesting to you, and I hope it will cause you to reflect on the meaning of loyalty, its dangers and its value.
Shabbat shalom.
David
