[2] Tzedek Chicago was founded in 2015 in Lincoln Square by the former Reconstructionist Rabbi Brant Rosen as a non-Zionist synagogue.
[1] While recognizing the importance of the Land of Israel to Jewish liturgy, tradition, and identity, the synagogue objects to the "fusing of Judaism with political nationalism," "openly acknowledging that the creation of an ethnic Jewish nation state in historic Palestine resulted in an injustice against its indigenous people – an injustice that continues to this day."
The decision to become anti-Zionist was highly controversial amongst pro-Israel activists, who have harshly criticized Tzedek on social media.
They are not listed on the directory of synagogues maintained by Chicago's Jewish United Fund, a historically Zionist organization.
[5] The Zionist Organization of America's Morton Klein and Elizabeth A. Berney claimed that Tzedek Chicago is "an offshoot of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) that distorts and omits the essence of Judaism.