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JEWISH IDENTITY in ISRAEL Contact from the EDITOR SUMMER 2012/AV 5772 VOLUME 14 NUMBER 3 JEWISH IDENTITY in ISRAEL

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JEWISH IDENTITY in ISRAEL Contact from the EDITOR SUMMER 2012/AV 5772 VOLUME 14 NUMBER 3 JEWISH IDENTITY in ISRAEL THE STEINHARDT CONTACT FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH LIFE SUMMER 2012/AV 5772 VOLUME 14 NUMBER 3 THE JOURNAL OF THE STEINHARDT FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH LIFE JEWISH IDENTITY IN ISRAEL contact FROM THE EDITOR SUMMER 2012/AV 5772 VOLUME 14 NUMBER 3 JEWISH IDENTITY IN ISRAEL Eli Valley he concept of Jewish identity in Israel would seem to be as self-evident as Editor European identity in Belgium. Modern Israel was conceived as a beacon Erica Coleman for the world’s Jews, inspired by Jewish philosophy and informed by a Copy Editor T desire to chart the next stage in Jewish consciousness. One would expect Jewishness to be its lifeblood. Yakov Wisniewski Design Director Things turned out differently. In fact, it was partly the desire to forge a “New Jew” that left Jewish identity in a sort of limbo in the nascent state. The negation of the THE STEINHARDT Diaspora, central to classical Zionist thought, allowed little room for an identity FOUNDATION perceived as antiquated and destined for disappearance. In the religious sphere, the FOR JEWISH LIFE ceding of authority to an ultra-Orthodox rabbinate fostered negative attitudes towards the religion among Israel’s non-Orthodox majority, as well as an assumption that one Michael H. Steinhardt cannot express Jewish religious identity outside of Orthodox strictures. Chairman To be sure, a new Jewish cultural archetype has emerged in Israel. But it is Israeli Robert P. Aronson President first and foremost. For most Israelis, it has not embodied uniquely Jewish forms of expressions and religious possibility. Many Israelis feel ambivalent to this day about Rabbi David Gedzelman the Jewish aspects of their national identity — their relationship to Jewish wisdom, Executive Vice President history, tradition and philosophy. Rabbi Irving Greenberg Recently, there have been promising signs of change. New generations have begun to Founding President explore expressions of Jewish identity that reject the longstanding religious-secular Jonathan J. Greenberg z”l divide. They are discovering different ways of being Jewish — in some cases inspired by Founding Director global Jewish communal trends, and in others informed by uniquely Israeli sensibilities. CONTACT is produced and The articles in this issue of CONTACT explore these new vistas of Jewish identity in distributed by The Steinhardt Foundation Israel. Taken together, they paint a picture of an evolving spiritual, intellectual and for Jewish Life, 6 East 39th Street, cultural landscape that is giving new energy to Jewish life in Israel and beyond. 10th floor, New York, NY 10016. All issues of Contact are available for download at www.steinhardtfoundation.org/journal.html Eli Valley Individual subscriptions are free of charge and are provided as a service to the community. To subscribe, please send your name and IN THIS ISSUE mailing address to [email protected]. THE NEW ISRAELI JEWS Phone: (212) 279-2288 3 Rabbi Donniel Hartman Fax: (212) 279-1155 Email: [email protected] THE BE’ERI PROGRAM OF SHALOM HARTMAN INSTITUTE Website: www.steinhardtfoundation.org 4 Ruth Salzman For media inquiries about The Steinhardt THE FORMULATION OF CONTEMPORARY TRADITION: Foundation for Jewish Life, please contact 5 JEWISH RENEWAL IN ISRAEL’S SECULAR SECTOR Dan Gerstein at [email protected]. Naama Azulay and Ephraim Tabory Copyright © 2012 by The Steinhardt Foundation 6 FROM CRISIS TO OPPORTUNITY: for Jewish Life. REGAINING A HOLD ON MEANING IN JUDAISM Zohar Raviv The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life is SOUL BUILDING AND STRATEGY SEARCHING dedicated to strengthening and transform ing 7 Lee Perlman Ameri can Jewish Life to ensure a flourishing, sustainable community in a fully integrated SIFRIYAT PIJAMA: SNUGGLING UP WITH JEWISH IDENTITY free society. We seek to revitalize Jewish 9 Galina Vromen and Joanna S. Ballantine identity through educa tional and cultural initiatives that are designed to reach out to JEWISH RENEWAL IN ISRAEL: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE all Jews, with an emphasis on those who 10 Hagit Hacohen Wolf are on the margins of Jewish life, as well as to advocate for and support Hebrew and Jewish JEWISH PEOPLEHOOD: THE ISRAELI CHALLENGE literacy among the general population. 12 Shlomi Ravid 14 JEWISH IDENTITY IN ISRAEL: Photographs in this issue appear courtesy of CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES contributors and Bigstock.com. Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman 2 CONTACT THE NEW ISRAELI JEWS by RABBI DONNIEL HARTMAN he conventional wisdom about ing and enriching the Jewish identity of and lifecycle events. Shabbat and holidays Jewish identity in Israel has it secular Israelis. are distinguished by festive meals, ritual T dichotomized between two Over the last decade, we have wit- and, depending on observance, some syna- sectors, religious and secular, with religious nessed a dramatic transformation within gogue attendance, where they generally feel analogous to Orthodox and secular often Israeli society which requires new and both comfortable and competent. These replaceable with non-religious. This more nuanced categories to understand the two denominations believe in God, do not depiction places Jewish identity in Israel in complexity of Israeli Jewish identity. The want Israel to be a secular state, and stark contrast to Jewish life in North non-religious segment of Israeli Jewish together with the Orthodox create a major- America, with its multiplicity of society, which today accounts for 80 per- ity within Israeli society comfortable with denominations and nuances of Jewish cent of Israel’s Jewish population, is most the control of Orthodoxy over the religious expression. accurately subdivided into five distinct establishment. The conventional wisdom is now approaches to Judaism and Jewish identity: The Jewish secular, who also constitute wrong. traditional religious, traditional non-reli- 30-35 percent of Israeli society, generally First and foremost, the dichotomous gious, Jewish secular, Israeli secular and believe in God and mark to varying degrees perception was established by the Ashke- Jewish non-Jews. most Jewish holidays and lifecycle events. nazi elite who founded Israel and who saw The traditional religious and non-reli- Their primary distinction lies in the fact the religious identity of Sephardim as cul- gious, 30-35 percent of the Israeli Jewish that worship of God and Jewish ritual, par- turally primitive and destined to be recti- ticularly prayer — and specifically prayer fied by the passage of time and by the which is mediated by synagogues and the national secular public-school system, to If Israel is to be religious establishment — is alien to them. which the Sephardim had to send their They do not want to be Orthodox, nor do children. This cultural “enlightenment” Jewish and democratic, they ascribe to the primacy of Orthodoxy. never occurred, and the Jewish identity of As a result of their assimilation into Sep- one-third of Israeli society has not fit into its religious establishment hardic culture, however, and their exposure such overly simplified categories since the to the plethora of Jewish educational pro- 1950s. must be open to multiple grams and media messages, their alienation Starting with the rise of Menachem Begin from Orthodoxy no longer leads to alien- in the mid-1970s on the back of the Sep- expressions of Jewishness. ation from Judaism. They see themselves as hardi vote, this overlooked segment of Israeli Jews and no longer subscribe to the Israeli society has steadily risen in power notion that they are Israeli and not Jewish. and influence to become in many ways the population, define authentic Judaism in While their level of traditional ritual per- mainstream, if not dominant, dimension of Orthodox terms and perform ritual acts formance and skills is less than that of tra- Israeli cultural life. Today, the Ashkenazi- under Orthodox guidelines and leadership. ditional Jews, they view their Jewish Sephardi divide is largely meaningless, with However, they do not live in accordance identity as anchored in culture, which nary a family that is not blended. As a with these guidelines on a daily basis, with includes Jewish calendar and values, lan- result, Sephardic Judaism has penetrated the distinction between the two groups guage, living in Israel and commitment to into the heart of the erstwhile secular camp. being the extent to which they stray. For the Jewish people — in particular, those The disintegration of the dichotomy was example, while most will eat only kosher who live in Israel and those at risk around buttressed from the outside by a massive food in Israel, most will not when outside the world. influx of funds from North America, which of Israel. Their synagogues are exclusively The Israeli secular, a dramatically led to the creation of educational organiza- Orthodox, but they vary significantly declining segment of Israeli society, today tions and programs geared towards chang- regarding attendance. While lacking a con- constitutes less than 10 percent of Israel’s ceptual framework to guide what they Jewish population. For them, Israeli Rabbi Donniel Hartman, Ph.D., is President of the choose to observe, as is offered by North national identity either defines or has Shalom Hartman Institute. He has a doctorate in Jewish America’s liberal Jewish denominations, essentially replaced their Jewish identity. If philosophy from Hebrew University, a Master of Arts in political philosophy from New York University, a Mas- there is a commonsensical if not folk wis- they see themselves as Jewish, and most ter of Arts in religion from Temple University, and Rab- dom which guides them as they build a do, it is because they live in Israel. Jewish binic ordination from the Shalom Hartman Institute. rich Jewish life around Jewish holidays tradition, including most of its calendar, is SUMMER 2012 3 seen as a vestige of Diaspora Judaism, ical predispositions of each non-Orthodox Third, the plurality of Jewishness preva- which to them is no longer necessary or group, threatens the longevity of multiple lent in the privacy of peoples’ homes needs meaningful.
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