DOCSLIB.ORG

Futurizing the Jews: ALTERNATIVE FUTURES for MEANINGFUL JEWISH EXISTENCE in the 21ST CENTURY

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Futurizing the Jews: ALTERNATIVE FUTURES for MEANINGFUL JEWISH EXISTENCE in the 21ST CENTURY Futurizing the Jews: ALTERNATIVE FUTURES FOR MEANINGFUL JEWISH EXISTENCE IN THE 21ST CENTURY Tsvi Bisk Moshe Dror PRAEGER Futurizing the Jews Futurizing the Jews ALTERNATIVE FUTURES FOR MEANINGFUL JEWISH EXISTENCE IN THE 21ST CENTURY Tsvi Bisk and Moshe Dror Foreword by Gad Yaacobi Former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations and Cabinet Minister Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bisk, Tsvi, 1943– Futurizing the Jews : alternative futures for meaningful Jewish existence in the 21st century / Tsvi Bisk and Moshe Dror ; foreword by Gad Yaacobi. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–275–96908–8 (alk. paper) 1. Judaism—Forecasting. 2. Israel—Forecasting. 3. Twenty-first century—Forecasts. 4. Jews—History. 5. Zionism—History. 6. Arab-Israeli conflict. I. Dror, Moshe, 1934– II. Title. DS102.95.B58 2003 909Ј.04924083—dc21 2003042067 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2003 by Tsvi Bisk and Moshe Dror All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2003042067 ISBN: 0–275–96908–8 First published in 2003 Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.praeger.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10987654321 This Book is Dedicated in Loving Memory to Mordechai Nessyahu “Z’al” Dr. Haim (Haimi) Nessyahu “Z’al” Yehudit Nessyahu “Z’al” Contents Foreword by Gad Yaacobi ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xiii Introduction: The Task of the Jewish Futurist xv Chapter 1 The World We Live In 1 Chapter 2 The Triumph of Zionism 13 Chapter 3 Zionism in the Twenty-First Century 27 Chapter 4 The Special Case of American Jewry 43 Chapter 5 Israeli Grand Strategy: A Historical Critique 53 Chapter 6 Reinventing Israeli Grand Strategy 69 Chapter 7 Reinventing Israel-Diaspora Relations 89 Chapter 8 The Future of Arab-Jewish Relations 103 Chapter 9 The Future of Ethnic Relations and Israeli Culture 115 Chapter 10 The Future of Jewish-Christian Relations 135 Chapter 11 The Future of Jewish Identity 155 Chapter 12 The Cyber World We Live In 169 Chapter 13 The Future of Jewish Spirituality 179 viii Contents Chapter 14 The Future of Jewish Learning 199 Chapter 15 The Jewish Community in Cyberspace 215 Appendix: A Brief Introduction to the Cosmotheistic Hypothesis of Mordechai Nessyahu 231 Glossary 235 Bibliography 245 Index 251 Foreword This ambitious book, Futurizing the Jews, presents a comprehensive critique of where the Jewish People are at the beginning of the twenty-first century, how they got there, and where they should be going if they want to survive. The book is original, iconoclastic, and in some ways revolutionary. Its analysis treats the Jews as an integral part of what the authors call “the global human ecology.” This approach represents a timely and forthright rejection of what they call the “Nation that Dwells Alone Syndrome” based upon a pop- ulist misinterpretation of the biblical injunction to be “a nation dwelling alone...not reckoning itself among the nations” (Numbers 23:9). Timely because it runs counter to present trends of Israeli isolationism that find ideo- logical justification in this biblical passage. It would be absurd to deny that the Jews and especially Israelis live in hos- tile environments and that many international organizations and countries “judge” Israel by a double standard unparalleled in modern times. This is a given, but Israel and its supporters amongst world Jewry must not give in to the temptation to respond with an emotional indignation that assumes that “the entire world is against us.” Indeed, the emotional anxiety with which we respond to our enemies might be a greater danger to us than the hostility of our enemies. Clarity of mind based upon clarity of analysis has to be the Jewish People’s greatest asset. This book offers us a large portion of clear, realistic analysis in the sense that it deals with the global and Jewish reality as we find them and not with ideolog- ical wishful thinking. But it is also an idealistic book that presents a positive, even heroic, vision of what the Jewish future could be if we choose to apply our rational faculties to the new global reality and not give in to defensiveness. x Foreword The book is so wide-ranging in its scope that I would not attempt to inven- tory here the many original ideas it contains. My short list of its most salient contributions would include: A stress on the Jewish future replacing our preoccupation with the Jewish past A neo-Zionist ideological analysis of modern Jewish life that serves as an alternative to both post-Zionism and classical Zionism. This is particularly important because post-Zionism is essentially nihilistic and classical Zionism is increasingly irrelevant for growing numbers of Jews in Israel and the Diaspora. The conceptualization of Jewish Grand Strategy and a clear delineation between ide- ology, policy, grand strategy, strategy, and tactics. The confusion of these various frames of reference has caused much mischief in Israeli politics and decision mak- ing since the Six-Day War. Clear and compelling proposals for what an all-Jewish Grand Strategy might consist of. An entirely new concept of Israel-Diaspora relations based upon the principles of an all-Jewish Grand Strategy and the potential of the information technology revo- lution. What I have called a “New Partnership.” A description of a Jewish spiritual renewal that could be as appealing to the secular Jew as to the religious Jew. The book is rich with additional ideas, analyses, and proposals. It chal- lenges inherited assumptions and calls for positive action. I believe we have before us a book that must become a reference point for Jewish policymakers as quickly as possible. Gad Yaacobi, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and cabinet minister Preface Some words about the style and methodology of this book are in order. For the sake of grace of language we have decided to use the first person “I” throughout much of the book instead of the collective “we.” In those places where we have reverted to the collective “we,” we have no scientific explana- tion, we simply went by what seemed most comfortable and appropriate. The first-person emphasis is fitting both because this book is interlaced with objective analyses and individual experience and anecdote and because this is really two books in one. Chapters 1 through 10 were written by Tsvi Bisk and deal mostly with social and political analyses of the Jewish situation with suggestions for future trends. The methodology for this part of the book is critical and historical. It is a critical analysis of where we are, how we got here, the inadequacies/faults of the present situation and approach and some alternative policies we should be following in light of present world trends and Jewish challenges. Tsvi Bisk also wrote chapter 11 with substantial con- tributions by Dr. Moshe Dror. Chapters 12, 13, 14, and 15 were written primarily by Dr. Dror with sub- stantial contributions by Tsvi Bisk. They deal mostly with the spiritual and practical potentialities of cyber-reality vis-à-vis the future spiritual and com- munal development of the Jewish People. It may seem strange at times that a book on the future should dwell so much on historical critique, but it is our firm belief that unless we anchor our presentation in both historical and current reality we run the risk of Jewish “futuristics” degenerating into Jewish “fantastics.” Indeed this has been the fate of much futurist speculation. xii Preface Similarly, because we want this book to be accessible to the widest possible audience, we have dispensed with all references. Both of us are writing this book after long careers of writing for publication and for our own pedagogi- cal use. Some of our writings were research papers, which included all the academically appropriate references. Including these references would have been cumbersome for the reader and would have destroyed the flow of the narrative. The strategy of writing is telescopic: in other words, a theme or idea touched upon in an early chapter is repeated and or expanded upon in later chapters. This will explain the repetition of certain themes or ideas throughout the book. One last word on style and narrative flow: we use a great many terms that most Gentiles and many Jews find unfamiliar. Instead of explaining these terms in the body of the book, a procedure that might distract the reader, we have decided to define them in a glossary. This way, the Jewishly informed reader can read right through, while the less-informed reader can refer to the glossary when need be. Acknowledgments Tsvi Bisk must, first and foremost, acknowledge his unpayable debt to the late Mordechai Nessyahu, a man of deep spirit and discernment whose intellec- tual life work and loving friendship have framed and stimulated Tsvi’s intel- lectual and human development in their entirety throughout his adult life. Little if any of Tsvi’s contribution to this book would have been possible if not for his long partnership and friendship with Mordechai Nessyahu. Tsvi must also pay tribute to the memory of his adopted “little brother” Dr. Haim Nessyahu, a mathematics prodigy whose premature death and only par- tially realized life work has reminded him of the fragility of human life and has driven him to finish this book. Tsvi regrets the lost opportunity to argue over the contents of this book with both Mordechai and Haimi.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Talk About the Passion Yehudah Mirsky Yehudah Mirsky Talk About the Passion
    February_shma.qxd:Layout 1 1/22/07 12:48 PM Page 1 37/638 February 2007/Adar 5767 A publication of Inside Haredi Judaism Talk About the Passion Yehudah Mirsky Yehudah Mirsky Talk About the Passion ....... 1 h’ma’s readers, it seems safe to say, share a number of characteristics. University-edu - S cated; economically middle class or better; broadly liberal-minded in outlook and pol - Samuel C. Heilman itics, pluralist with regards to their understandings of Jewish tradition and community; at The Changing Face of Orthodoxy ............................ 2 the very least respectful and regularly outright devoted, passionately, to Jewish tradition and Jewish continuity; spiritually curious and at times adventurous; at home, at least to Nosson Scherman some extent, perhaps conversant with the world of Jewish texts, and the texture of Jewish & Shmuel Goldin rituals; appreciative of the many genuine intellectual, ethical and political benefits of sec - A Conversation on Haredi Life ..................... 4 ular modernity, though not unaware of its fraught relationship with Jewish life; people for whom their Jewish identity is a vital, perhaps the central component in an ongoing process Simon Jacobson of self-creation and expression, by the lights of their understanding of morals, community Divine Sparks ..................... 6 and spirituality, a process they share with other families of humanity, and with concerned Online Diaries ......................... 8 individuals everywhere. This is of course a broadly Sima Zalcberg Who are these people who The Many Shades schematic (though I think roughly ac - of Black ................................ 9 curate) picture. There are, however, choose not to act according some very different pictures of Jewish to the liberal narrative? Asya Vaisman life in our time, deeply at variance Women’s Voice and Song ...........................
    [Show full text]
  • Martin Shichtman Named Director of EMU Jewish Studies
    Washtenaw Jewish News Presort Standard In this issue… c/o Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor U.S. Postage PAID 2939 Birch Hollow Drive Ann Arbor, MI Federation Biking 2010 Ann Arbor, MI 48108 Permit No. 85 Main Event Adventure Election In Israel Results Page 5 Page 7 Page 20 December 2010/January 2011 Kislev/Tevet/Shevat 5771 Volume XXXV: Number 4 FREE Martin Shichtman named director of EMU Jewish Studies Chanukah Wonderland at Geoff Larcom, special to the WJN Briarwood Mall Devorah Goldstein, special to the WJN artin Shichtman, a professor of Shichtman earned his doctorate and mas- English language and literature ter’s degree from the University of Iowa, and What is white, green, blue and eight feet tall? M who has taught at Eastern Michi- his bachelor’s degree from the State Univer- —the menorah to be built at Chanukah Won- gan University for 26 years, has been appointed sity of New York, Binghamton. He has taught derland this year. Chabad of Ann Arbor will director of Jewish Studies for the university. more than a dozen courses at the graduate sponsor its fourth annual Chanukah Wonder- As director, Shichtman will create alliances and undergraduate levels at EMU, including land, returning to the Sears wing of Briarwood with EMU’s Jewish community, coordinate classes on Chaucer, Arthurian literature, and Mall, November 29–December 6, noon–7 p.m. EMU’s Jewish Studies Lecture Series and de- Jewish American literature. Classes focusing New for Chanukkah 2010 will be the building of velop curriculum. The area of Jewish studies on Jewish life include “Imagining the Holy a giant Lego menorah in the children’s play area includes classes for all EMU students inter- Land,” and “Culture and the Holocaust.” (near JCPenny).
    [Show full text]
  • The Hebrew-Jewish Disconnection
    Bridgewater State University Virtual Commons - Bridgewater State University Master’s Theses and Projects College of Graduate Studies 5-2016 The eH brew-Jewish Disconnection Jacey Peers Follow this and additional works at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/theses Part of the Reading and Language Commons Recommended Citation Peers, Jacey. (2016). The eH brew-Jewish Disconnection. In BSU Master’s Theses and Projects. Item 32. Available at http://vc.bridgew.edu/theses/32 Copyright © 2016 Jacey Peers This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. THE HEBREW-JEWISH DISCONNECTION Submitted by Jacey Peers Department of Graduate Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Bridgewater State University Spring 2016 Content and Style Approved By: ___________________________________________ _______________ Dr. Joyce Rain Anderson, Chair of Thesis Committee Date ___________________________________________ _______________ Dr. Anne Doyle, Committee Member Date ___________________________________________ _______________ Dr. Julia (Yulia) Stakhnevich, Committee Member Date 1 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my mom for her support throughout all of my academic endeavors; even when she was only half listening, she was always there for me. I truly could not have done any of this without you. To my dad, who converted to Judaism at 56, thank you for showing me that being Jewish is more than having a certain blood that runs through your veins, and that there is hope for me to feel like I belong in the community I was born into, but have always felt next to.
    [Show full text]
  • Orthodox, Diverse Yet Alike Examining Different Sects of Religious Shows Similarities by LAWRENCE H
    Orthodox, Diverse Yet Alike Examining different sects of religious shows similarities By LAWRENCE H. those in the more rightwing groups SCHIFFMAN but who accept the importance of a ne of the things that strikes wider secular education and the me every time I am in resulting interaction with the world OIsrael is the disparity around. The males of this group between the nature of the Orthodox (and this is even true of some to the communities of the United States right of them) mostly do not cover their heads at work, and maybe not even in the street. They eschew tra- PERSPECTIVE ditional hats, except some wear and Israel. There is a general them on Shabbat. assumption by many people that the Day School education through Orthodox in both countries can be high school is considered essential divided into the Modern Orthodox for this group. Virtually all high and the Haredim, usually translated school graduates go off to spend a as Ultra-Orthodox, and that those year or two in Israel before college. labeled by these sobriquets in these This experience is regarded as two very different environments formative in terms of preparing stu- truly must be equivalent. Both of dents for continuing either at these assumptions are false. Yeshiva University or at the various Understanding how and why these colleges with large Orthodox stu- communities are so different is a dent populations. Allegiance to tremendous help in grasping the their Israeli yeshivas continues religious issues that separate Israel throughout life as this time in Israel and the American Jewish commu- is considered a formative experi- nity and that periodically lead to ence.
    [Show full text]
  • The Struggle for Hegemony in Jerusalem Secular and Ultra-Orthodox Urban Politics
    THE FLOERSHEIMER INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES The Struggle for Hegemony in Jerusalem Secular and Ultra-Orthodox Urban Politics Shlomo Hasson Jerusalem, October 2002 Translator: Yoram Navon Principal Editor: Shunamith Carin Preparation for Print: Ruth Lerner Printed by: Ahva Press, Ltd. ISSN 0792-6251 Publication No. 4/12e © 2002, The Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies, Ltd. 9A Diskin Street, Jerusalem 96440 Israel Tel. 972-2-5666243; Fax. 972-2-5666252 [email protected] www.fips.org.il 2 About the Author Shlomo Hasson - Professor of Geography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and deputy director of The Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies. About the Research This book reviews the struggle for hegemony in Jerusalem between secular and ultra-orthodox (haredi) Jews. It examines the democratic deficit in urban politics formed by the rise of the haredi minority to power, and proposes ways to rectify this deficit. The study addresses the following questions: What are the characteristics of the urban democratic deficit? How did the haredi minority become a leading political force in the city? What are the implications of the democratic deficit from the perspective of the various cultural groups? What can be done in view of the fact that the non-haredi population is not only under-represented but also feels threatened and prejudiced by urban politics initiated by the city council? About the Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies In recent years the importance of policy-oriented research has been increasingly acknowledged. Dr. Stephen H. Floersheimer initiated the establishment of a research institute that would concentrate on studies of long- range policy issues.
    [Show full text]
  • Judaism and Jewish Philosophy 19 Judaism, Jews and Holocaust Theology
    Please see the Cover and Contents in the last pages of this e-Book Online Study Materials on JUDAISM AND JEWISH PHILOSOPHY 19 JUDAISM, JEWS AND HOLOCAUST THEOLOGY JUDAISM Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people, based on principles and ethics embodied in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the Talmud. According to Jewish tradition, the history of Judaism begins with the Covenant between God and Abraham (ca. 2000 BCE), the patriarch and progenitor of the Jewish people. Judaism is among the oldest religious traditions still in practice today. Jewish history and doctrines have influenced other religions such as Christianity, Islam and the Bahá’í Faith. While Judaism has seldom, if ever, been monolithic in practice, it has always been monotheistic in theology. It differs from many religions in that central authority is not vested in a person or group, but in sacred texts and traditions. Throughout the ages, Judaism has clung to a number of religious principles, the most important of which is the belief in a single, omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent, transcendent God, who created the universe and continues to govern it. According to traditional Jewish belief, the God who created the world established a covenant with the Israelites, and revealed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of the Torah, and the Jewish people are the descendants of the Israelites. The traditional practice of Judaism revolves around study and the observance of God’s laws and commandments as written in the Torah and expounded in the Talmud. With an estimated 14 million adherents in 2006, Judaism is approximately the world’s eleventh-largest religious group.
    [Show full text]
  • Intergenerational Memory, Language and Jewish Identification of the Sarajevo Sephardim
    INTERGENERATIONAL MEMORY, LANGUAGE AND JEWISH IDENTIFICATION OF THE SARAJEVO SEPHARDIM REFLECTIONS ON BELONGING IN BOSNIA- HERZEGOVINA/YUGOSLAVIA, ISRAEL AND SPAIN Jonna Rock Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doctor philosophiae (Dr. phil.) Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Sprach- und literaturwissenschaftliche Fakultät Institut für Slawistik und Hungarologie Gutachter: 1. Prof. Dr. Christian Voß 2. Prof. Dr. David L. Graizbord Datum der Verteidigung: 20.02.2019 Funding This work was supported by ERNST LUDWIG EHRLICH STUDIENWERK Acknowledgements Above all, I would like to thank my interviewees in Sarajevo – Matilda Finci, Erna Kaveson Debevec, Laura Papo Ostojić, Yehuda Kolonomos, Igor Kožemjakin, Tina Tauber, Vladimir Andrle, A.A. and Tea Abinun – for sharing their reflections with me. I moreover express gratitude for the consultation I have had with Jakob Finci, the president of the Sarajevo Jewish Community, Dr Eliezer Papo, its non-residential rabbi, Elma Softić Kaunitz, its secretary general, and Dr Eli Tauber, who is responsible for the Community’s cultural activities. Further, I am most grateful to my first PhD supervisor, Professor Christian Voß, for his patience with the working process and extremely helpful and encouraging feedback and inspiring suggestions. Professor Voß did not only offer constructive comments on my work but also provided a creative and stimulating academic environment within his Lehrstuhl. He introduced me to a number of experts in my field of study (Professor Ivana Vučina Simović, Professor Kateřina Králová, Professor Jolanta Sujecka, among others), and he gave me an opportunity to participate in and/or organize international conferences, workshops and research seminars. Without Professor Voß’ expertise and guidance throughout my doctoral research (2014-2018), this endeavour would not have been possible.
    [Show full text]
  • The Jewish Languages
    THE JEWISH LANGUAGES An analysis of the current Jewish languages: past and present Research project School year 2017 – 2018 CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 2 2 JUDEO-SPANISH .............................................................................................................. 3 2.1 History of the Sephardi Jews .................................................................................... 3 2.2 History of Judeo-Spanish .......................................................................................... 6 2.2.1 Dialects of Judeo-Spanish .................................................................................. 7 2.3 Features of the language ........................................................................................... 9 3 YIDDISH ........................................................................................................................... 11 3.1 History of Yiddish and the Ashkenazi Jews ........................................................... 11 3.1.1 19th and 20th century ........................................................................................ 13 3.1.2 Historical use of Yiddish ................................................................................... 13 3.1.3 Dialects of Yiddish ............................................................................................. 14 3.2. Yiddish and Hasidic Jews. .....................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Univerzita Karlova Diplomová Práce
    Univerzita Karlova Filozofická fakulta Ústav Blízkého východu a Afriky Diplomová práce Bc. Denisa Glacová The Israeli Secular Society in the View of the Haredi Press Izraelská sekulární společnost pohledem ultra- ortodoxního tisku Praha 2018 Vedoucí práce: Ing. Arch. Daniel Ziss Konzultant: Mgr. Aleš Weiss ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would first like to thank all those who helped me gather and organise information and steered me in the right direction whenever they thought I needed it. I am grateful for consultations with Daniel Ziss, Pavel Sládek, Aleš Weiss, and David Peter. I am indebted to them for their very valuable comments on my thesis. I would also like to thank Esther Lang, Jan Nevyjel, and Zuzana Pavlovská who corrected the manuscript. Finally, I acknowledge Shim῾on Breyṭqofef, ᾿Avraham Grinẓayig, ᾿Aryeh ᾿Erlikh, ᾿Eli Pala᾿i, Benyamin Rabinoviẓ, Ya῾aqov Riwlin, Meni Gir᾿e Shwarẓ and other Haredi journalists and editors who helped me to familiarise myself with the Haredi press and answered all my questions. Without their input and participation, my research could not have been successfully conducted. Prague, 18 May 2018 Prohlašuji, že jsem tuto diplomovou práci vypracovala samostatně a výhradně s použitím citovaných pramenů, literatury a dalších odborných zdrojů. V Praze, dne 18. května 2018 Denisa Glacová KEY WORDS (ENGLISH) The Press; The Haredi Press; The Ultra-Orthodox Press; Haredi Jews; The Ultra- Orthodox Jews; Israeli Society; Israel KEY WORDS (CZECH) Tisk; ultra-orthodoxní tisk; ultra-ortodoxní židé; izraelská společnost; Izrael ABSTRAKT Cílem práce je rozbor vývoje a charakteristiky židovského ultra-ortodoxního (ḥaredi) tisku v Izraeli s důrazem na jeho vztah k ostatním skupinám izraelské společnosti.
    [Show full text]
  • E Haredim: a Defense
    e Haredim: A Defense haron ose he Haredim will be the first to admit that their existence today is Tlittle short of miraculous. For centuries, the traditional Jewish way of life suffered one setback after another, each more perilous than the last. First came the Emancipation, which threw open the doors of modern culture to Eastern European Jews; after generations in the confines of ghetto and shtetl, where the Jewish religion was preserved in its traditional forms, many Jews began the journey toward secularism. So, too, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, did the movement known as the Haskala, or Jewish Enlightenment, encourage secular studies and scientific methods to ap- proach the Jewish tradition, leading an even larger number of religious Jews to withdraw from the classical way of life. Traditional Jewish society was still further challenged by successive waves of emigration to the United States and Western Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. To survive economically in a Christian culture, many immigrants abandoned Jewish practice. But it was by far the Holocaust, which annihilated entire Jewish communities and a generation of sages, that brought traditional Judaism to its knees. Within a decade, the once-vibrant culture of Judaism centered on the Tora and its laws—a culture of great spiritual richness and intellectual / • brilliance—was almost entirely wiped out, and the millennia-old chain of Jewish wisdom and tradition nearly came to an end. When the State of Is- rael was established just a few years later, many survivors of the destruction saw it as the ultimate blow: An end to the Diaspora, they believed, should come not at the hands of secular Zionists, but only at those of the messiah.
    [Show full text]
  • Wij-Articles-Maghrebi Women by Moshe Ovadia-Final
    Maghrebi Jewish Women During the British Mandate (1918-1948) in Pre-State Israel Maghrebi Jewish Women During the British Mandate (1918-1948) in Pre-State Israel Moshe Ovadia, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel Abstract The article examines the socioeconomic status of Maghrebi (North African) Jewish women in the four holy cities during the British Mandate. Apart from the historiographical research of Michal Ben Ya'akov, who studied the life of these women during the Nineteenth Century, no comprehensive study was conducted. This article sheds light on the socioeconomic circumstances of the Maghrebi Jewish women during the first half of the Twentieth Century when Maghrebi women witnessed the profound growth and advancement in Eretz Yisrael – the transition from the old Yishuv to the new Yishuv. Introduction In recent years, great progress has been made in historiographical research into the subject of Jewish women in traditional and secular society. Particular importance has been attributed to the historiographical research concerning women since they were not generally the focus of any scientific debate. At the present time, when scholars add the narrative of Jewish women to the historiographical findings, new insights are being discovered regarding their world and their socioeconomic role.1 Yael Atzmon writes about the exclusion of women from Jewish historiography. She states that the omission of women’s contributions is more prominent in Jewish historiography than in general historiography, since the exclusion of women as part of Jewish history bears some resemblance to the problem of the history of the Jews as part of general history.2 Indeed, the exclusion of women from public life in the Jewish community stems from the traditional Jewish way of life, in which a woman's role was confined to the home and family while observing rules of modesty, such as non- revealing apparel and head covering.
    [Show full text]
  • Yisrael Beytenu and the Escalation of Demographic Politics in Israel
    Unpromising Demography in a Promised Land: Yisrael Beytenu and the Escalation of Demographic Politics in Israel Richard P. Cincotta 1 and Eric Kaufmann 2 (3495 words) Behind the closed doors of foreign policy workshops, Middle East analysts have tried hard to imagine a future day when Israel’s shifting ethnic and religious demography drives the outcome of Knesset elections and reshuffles the country’s political alignments. They needn’t imagine at all. That day passed on the 10 th of February of 2009, when 12 percent of the Israeli electorate cast their ballots for Yisrael Beytenu (‘Israel Our Home’), an upstart secular nationalist party whose campaign billboards were plastered with the in-your-face campaign slogan “no loyalty, no citizenship”. The vote thrust the party’s list of candidates, headed by Moldovan émigré Avigdor Lieberman, into third place, ahead of the once-powerful Labor Party (led by Ehud Barak) and behind centrist Kadima (led by Tzipi Livni) and rightist Likud (led by Binyamin Netanyahu). Yisrael Beytenu’s 15 seats out of the Knesset’s total of 120 may not seem like much to those of those living in democratic states with two-party systems. But in Israel’s 1 Demographer-in-residence, H.L. Stimson Center, 1111 19 th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA. 2 Reader in Politics and Sociology, Birkbeck College, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX , UK. 1 splintered parliamentary democracy, that proportion gave Lieberman the power to pick Israel’s next prime minister. He chose Binyamin Netanyahu. And to seal the deal, Netanyahu handed Lieberman the high-profile post of foreign minister.
    [Show full text]