Instituciones E Identidades En Los Judaísmos Contemporáneos. Un Estudio Sociológico De Jabad Lubavitch1

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Instituciones E Identidades En Los Judaísmos Contemporáneos. Un Estudio Sociológico De Jabad Lubavitch1 Instituciones e identidades en los judaísmos contemporáneos. Estudio sociológico de Jabad Lubavitch. Damián Setton Instituciones e identidades en los judaísmos contemporáneos. Un estudio sociológico de Jabad Lubavitch1 Damián Setton 1 El siguiente documento es una adaptación de la tesis de maestría presentada en el marco de la Maestría en Investigación en Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, defendida el 13 de marzo de 2007. La misma fue dirigida por Fortunato Mallimaci y co dirigida por Verónica Gimenez Béliveau por la UBA. Su concreción fue posible gracias al aporte del CONICET, bajo la modalidad de beca de postgrado tipo I, dirigida por Aldo Ameigeiras. 1 Instituciones e identidades en los judaísmos contemporáneos. Estudio sociológico de Jabad Lubavitch. Damián Setton Índice Parte I Introducción Inicio de la investigación Capítulo 1. Jabad Lubavitch 1.1. Mesianismo 1.2. Modos de funcionamiento institucional 1.3. El converso y el militante como figuras jabadianas 1.4. La experiencia del Lubavitch 1.4.1.Una débil identificación nacional 1.4.2.El Estado de Israel 1.5. Efecto de esencialización en la síntesis discursiva jabadiana 1.6. Efecto de homologación en la síntesis discursiva jabadiana Capitulo 2. La modernidad judía 2.1. Diversificación del mundo judío 2.2. Nacimiento del jasidismo 2.3. Los primeros años 2.4. Shneur Zalman de Liadi y la corriente Jabad 2.5. Abandono de Rusia Parte II Capítulo 1. La dinámica de las clases 1.1. El contenido 1.2. Separar. Operaciones sobre el cuerpo y el espacio 1.3. Cuerpos legítimos e ilegítimos. Disputas Capítulo 2. La presentación de Jabad Lubavitch a través de sus militantes 2.1. Ustedes no son religiosos 2.2. No somos atrasados 2.3. El dominio del saber secular como objeto de disputa 2.4. No somos fanáticos 2.5. Sabemos ser seculares 2.6. Una generación de inimputables 2.7. Actualización de los estigmas Capítulo 3. Motivos introducidos en la relación 3.1. El fanático 3.2. El rebelde 3.3. El pionero Capítulo 4. La experiencia de los seculares 4.1. Un espacio plural 4.2. El futuro incierto 4.3. Jabad Lubavitch visto por los seculares 4.4. La vinculación desde el conocer 2 Instituciones e identidades en los judaísmos contemporáneos. Estudio sociológico de Jabad Lubavitch. Damián Setton Capítulo 5. Periferia y legitimidad Conclusión Glosario Bibliografía Parte I Introducción A fines de los años ‘80 nos encontramos con un campo judaico reestructurado donde emerge la figura del judío del retorno2, el baalei teschuvá, devenido en militante. A la vez, las fronteras que separan lo religioso de lo secular se muestran fluctuantes y difusas, dando lugar a espacios de consumo y tránsito tanto de personas como de símbolos y significados. El campo judaico presenta la emergencia de procesos de retorno y crecimiento de lo religioso, donde la misma lógica militante se articula 1) a la problemática, común a la comunidad judía, de la asimilación, lo que le otorga un fundamento ligado a la reproducción de una identidad colectiva que supera los márgenes de lo religioso, 2) a la circulación de dinero que permite la reproducción del sistema de ofertas al tiempo que hace del rabino, o del sheliaj, una suerte de administrador con la tarea de direccionalizar el flujo de bienes hacia su propio espacio. A la vez, la misma lógica, por el esfuerzo “proselitista”3, multiplica los espacios donde los judíos no afiliados pueden transitar y consumir, formando parte y reproduciendo las periferias de las instituciones oferentes. Ambos procesos, contrapuestos y conjugados, del militantismo y la relativización de las identidades fuertes, dan lugar a modos de interrelación que dan cuenta de uno de los aspectos de la construcción de identidades y de una de las caras del retorno de lo religioso que, quizás, escaparía a una observación restringida a los grupos en sí mismos. Nos preguntamos por las condiciones de posibilidad de la relación entre judíos ortodoxos4 y seculares, entre quienes se consideran a sí mismos viviendo de acuerdo a los preceptos emanados de las fuentes sagradas y quienes consideran dichos preceptos, en algunos casos, como propios de un tiempo ya superado, en otros como objeto de elección antes que de imposición. Nos preguntamos por la formación de espacios de intersección entre lo religioso y lo secular, rechazando pensar ambas instancias como polos contrapuestos y excluyentes. El crecimiento de la ortodoxia ha sido señalado por quienes se han abocado al estudio del campo judaico y de las conversiones internas, o procesos de retorno5, llevados a cabo por judíos socializados en ambientes seculares o tradicionalistas que deciden, rechazando el modo a través del cual sus padres se vinculan con lo judaico, adoptar un modo de vida religioso e integrar una comunidad de fieles. En este contexto, la vitalidad del movimiento Jabad 2 El concepto de retorno es polifacético, adquiriendo significados particulares en el interior de constelaciones ideológicas determinadas. Por ejemplo, los discursos provenientes del campo sionista consideran como “retorno al judaísmo” el hecho de comprometerse con la militancia sionista. En este trabajo, la palabra “retorno” hace referencia a lo que el discurso religioso- ortodoxo considera como tal, es decir, la adopción de un estilo de vida basado en el cumplimiento meticuloso de las mitzvot. 3 El término “proselitismo” no es aceptado por los propios actores sociales, quienes se refieren a sus actividades de difusión apelando al término Mivtzoim (campañas). 4 Utilizamos el término “ortodoxo” ya que es a través del mismo como son designados, dentro del campo judaico, quienes pertenencen a determinada instancia del campo. Otro término empleado es jaredi, que refiere a los que tiemblan frente a la divinidad. A la vez, debido al énfasis que el discurso de estos sectores coloca en el cumplimiento de preceptos que organizan los detalles de la acción en la vida cotidiana, el término “ortopraxis” sería más adecuado que “ortodoxia”, pero es este último el que se utiliza en el lenguaje cotidiano. 5El paralelismo entre la situación del retornado y la del converso ha sido señalada por Podselver (2002) 3 Instituciones e identidades en los judaísmos contemporáneos. Estudio sociológico de Jabad Lubavitch. Damián Setton Lubavitch parece ser el ejemplo más representativo de una tendencia hacia la ortodoxización del campo, un retorno de lo religioso. De ser una de las ramas jasídicas sobrevivientes del nazismo y el estalinismo, Jabad se ha convertido en uno de los centros de atención tanto de quienes investigan sobre la comunidad judía como de quienes activan en ella, si bien, como señalan las investigaciones, sigue siendo un grupo minoritario frente a la gran mayoría de judíos no afiliados a ninguna institución (Azria; 2003). En los últimos años se han visto las transformaciones en el paisaje religioso, con templos y escuelas que adjuntaron a su antiguo nombre el de Jabad, con las celebraciones de fiestas judías en el espacio público o las apariciones de los jasidim en puestos levantados en las calles de la ciudad. La firma MC Donalds ha colocado, en el Abasto Shopping, ubicado en el barrio de Balvanera, de amplia presencia judía, un puesto de comidas kosher, donde vende sus típicos productos pero judaizados, a la vez que la heladería Pérsico ha incluido entre sus ofertas algunos helados casherizados. Estas situaciones dan cuenta de vinculaciones entre la ortodoxia judía y el mundo exterior, habilitando, en un espacio física y simbólicamente no judío, un campo de circulación de los ortodoxos. En frente del shopping puede verse el supermercado Coto donde hombres con sombrero y mujeres con peluca compran los productos kosher. Si la separación no se produce sobre el terreno físico, sí se manifiesta en el simbólico. La compra de productos kosher, y la evitación de los que no lo son, separa al judío del que no lo es. Pero se trata de una separación que a la vez supone una integración simbólica con ese mundo que se pretende evitar. El consumo de hamburguesas kosher implica la vinculación con un modo de alimentación propio del mundo exterior, que es apropiado y judaizado, mostrando cómo las relaciones con ese mundo no son de absoluta negación sino de resignificación, y cómo las estrategias de diferenciación se producen sobre un fondo de integración. Varias personas se han acercado a los centros de Jabad Lubavitch, sea para aprovechar su bolsa de trabajo, participar en clases de religión, asistir a conferencias sobre temas tanto religiosos como seculares, o para satisfacer necesidades religiosas momentáneas, sin que eso suponga la permanencia en el grupo ni una identificación con la ortodoxia religiosa6. En este trabajo nos concentraremos en los jóvenes de entre 18 y 25 años que participan del programa de educación no formal Morashá Universitarios, dirigido por Jabad Lubavitch. ¿Se trata de personas que se acercan al grupo religioso en busca de contenidos identitarios, que aspiran a volverse ortodoxos? ¿Son “víctimas” de la propaganda de Jabad? ¿Están confundidos? ¿Qué tipo de relación establecen con los miembros del movimiento? ¿Debemos concebirlos como receptores pasivos de un discurso religioso? Los programas Morashá tienen su origen en una llamada telefónica realizada por un poderoso empresario al rabino Tzví Grunblatt, Director General de Jabad Lubavitch en Argentina, en la que le informaba que deseaba realizar una donación. Al instante el líder religioso pensó en la educación. Corría el año 2001, la crisis económica estaba a punto de provocar la salida de estudiantes de las escuelas de la comunidad, lo que crearía una población judía “sin conocimientos sobre sus orígenes”. Se formó así el programa Morashá (Legado), que en tanto programa de educación no formal, estaba destinado a niños de entre 6 y 18 años que no pertenecieran a la red educativa judía. La extensión hacia jóvenes en “edad universitaria”, es decir, de entre 18 a 25 años, se llevó a cabo poco tiempo después, integrando, junto a Sucath David, Líderes del Mañana e Hilel Torá Center, una red de instituciones oferentes de estudios judaicos para universitarios.
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