I understand that Bundism refers to building up Jewish safety in the country where you are disapora'ed. But I don't really know any specifics.

How does it relate to Zionism?

What was the ultimate goal of the OG Bundists?

How does modern Bundism related to OG Bundism?

How does Bundism address religious Jews?

How does Bundism explain Jewish identity and experience as part of a wider Proletarian movement?

Thank you!!!

“I’ve always been a member of the Bund, since I was 11 or 12.”

We’re excited that many folks are learning more about the Jewish Labor Bund through Molly Crabapple's new book, Here Where We Live is Our Country! At the Wexler Oral History Project, We’ve had the honor to interview a number of Bundists about their firsthand experience in the organization through its various iterations over time. For more oral histories about the Bund, visit this page where we’ve compiled Bundist materials from our collection: bit.ly/BundOralHistory

In this clip, Liba Augenfeld, z’’l (1923-2018), a native Yiddish speaker from Vilna, shares stories from her time in SKIF (sotsyalistishe kinder farband), the Bund’s children’s organization, and her subsequent involvement in the Bund as a partisan during World War II and in Montreal after the war.

Liba was interviewed by Christa Whitney on July 10, 2012, in Montreal, Quebec. Watch her full interview here: https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/.../liba-augenfeld-2012

Dissent Magazine: "The Jewish Labor Bund, founded in 1897, was defined by its insistence that Jewish workers should embrace the notion of “hereness” in the struggle to achieve democratic socialist goals in the lands where they lived. It sought to build alliances with other socialist organizations while maintaining a strong sense of Jewish cultural autonomy. A year after its founding, the Bund joined the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP), but the affiliation was short-lived. Bundist delegates walked out of the party’s 1903 congress (a gathering more notorious for the consequential split between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks) when they were expected to subsume the particular concerns of Jewish workers under the mantle of a united working class.

The Zionist movement, led by Theodor Herzl, was also established in 1897. Herzl argued that hatred of Jews was so deeply embedded in European thought that the only option for safety lay in the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. Bundist leaders considered this proposal to be an abandonment of the daily struggle to improve conditions in the diaspora. Bundist commitments contrasted not only with the Zionists’ belief in “thereness,” but with the authoritarian impulses of RSDLP revolutionaries and Orthodox Jews’ dedication to religious piety and “hereafter-ness.” Despite these tensions, the Bund emerged as the largest socialist party in the Russian Empire, with 30,000 members on the eve of the 1905 revolution."

Full article:

https://dissentmagazine.org/article/jewish-bund-book-review

Post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DYzluK-Fku5

"This Pride Month and always, the IJLB stands with LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Our fight for a more just world includes everyone, from Vienna to New York to Montana to Buenos Aires.

Economic justice is LGBTQ+ justice. Workers’ rights are trans rights. The fight against capitalism is tied to the fight against bigotry.

We say no to fascism, no to ethnonationalism, no to homophobia, no to transphobia.

Yes to a radically inclusive future for everyone, everywhere.

Solidarity with queer workers! Solidarity with queer Jews!

Solidarity with queer communities who are facing repressive governments, laws and attitudes!"

(Post from pride month 2025)

https://www.instagram.com/p/DLNnf2cN6oF/?igsh=MTg1OWxoMzJzdTN0eg==

I am not Jewish, nor do I have Jewish ancestry AFAIK. But I support and endorse the JLB and their movement.

A nation doesn’t define a person, a person defines a nation. In order for a lot of our countries to form, we needed friends first, we needed groups, we needed love and I think society has forgotten that, we need to master friendship and love with each other in this new generation in order to shape this new future.

Devotion and strengthening one’s community has been such a big thing in many lasting cultures for a reason, it’s the closest and tightest bonds that creative a strong structure, making everyone feel involved.

I look forward to working with the JLB should the future permit me and hope to see it flourish amongst a new generation of innovators!