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The Crisis of Jewish Identity: Antecedents and Antidotes
Panim and its partner organizations see the crisis of Jewish identity among the secular population of Israel as an existential and strategic threat to Israeli society as well as the major underlying problem they are addressing. But why does such a crisis exist in the Jewish state? And what is being done to encourage people to deal more positively with the Jewish component of their identity? Antecedents: What went wrong? The leaders of the burgeoning Zionist movement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and those who shaped and laid the foundations of the State of Israel, were fired by idealism and strong convictions. For the most part, they were also imbued with Jewish learning and a strong Jewish identity, but they had shed the yoke of Torah and commandments in the spirit of the movements sweeping across Europe and America at that time: Haskalah (Enlightenment), humanism, socialism, and nationalism. The concern of these “founding fathers,” and of the Zionist movement in general was: 1. the continued existence of the Jewish people as a nation; and 2. changing the image of the Jew and Judaism, which they viewed as a culture and nationality, not just a religion, and adapting it to modern times and the needs of the Jewish people. Within the Zionist movement, those with an Orthodox, nationalist orientation were in the minority, whereas most of the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox, as well as other religious oriented groups, opposed the Zionist idea. So the driving force behind this movement and its amazing achievements stemmed from the strong Jewish identity and vision of a group composed mainly of secular (and some observant) Jews. But something went wrong. A process of alienation from Judaism has affected the consciousness of the secular public and led to the serious crisis of identity and direction we are facing. Judaism has come to be identified almost exclusively with Orthodoxy, even though its adherents make up only 20 percent of Israel’s population. A strong attachment to Judaism and the Jewish people, taken for granted by the founding generation, is no longer a given. The continued entrenchment of this alienation from Jewish identity among the majority of Jews in Israel is an existential and strategic threat to Israeli society. But they themselves have not yet realized the importance of a positive and strong Jewish identity to the continued growth and prosperity of the State of Israel. The Antidote Since the beginning of the 1970s, a broad, nationwide grassroots movement, encompassing religious as well as secular Jews, who do not accept the halakhic principles of normative Orthodox Judaism, but are very committed to the classic Zionist vision, has been giving voice to the idea of building Jewish identity through positive action. This movement has given birth to scores of non-profit organizations that share a deep ideological commitment to two fundamental and inseparable principles: Commitment to the centrality of our Jewish identity and to the values of humanism, democracy and pluralism. The pluralistic Jewish identity developing in Israeli society seeks to achieve an optimal model for the realization of Jewish life that combines three essential, interactive components that blend our past and our present; are not dependent on religious observance; and can readily be part of secular life: 1. Jewish studies – for spiritual not material advancement, for purposes of self-edification, including Hebrew language, “the Jewish bookshelf,” classic texts, modern Israeli works, international literature. 2. The consecration of time – using the Hebrew, national, cultural, religious calendar: marking the Sabbath, holidays, festivals; creating connectedness through the use of tradition, symbols, values, and rites that give a dimension of meaning, purpose and direction to our lives, and a “common language” that can be handed down from one generation to the next. 3. Solidarity, Tikkun Olam, community, social justice – a man is not an island unto himself: commitment and action in the areas of social justice and tikkun olam; sharing achievements and becoming involved in society in general, with those closest to us – family, community, and nation – and beyond. What is happening in the field? Scores of non-profit and other organizations, in addition to hundreds of communities and groups, are working in the field, creating a wide variety of educational, communal, and social activities, which may be divided into six basic categories: 1. Activities in the formal educational system – starting from early childhood education: enriching knowledge in the area of Jewish studies in the state school system, focusing on values and experiential learning, education toward identity and world outlook, and school atmosphere. 2. Community-based batei midrash (adult education) – hundreds operate around the country. Identified with the secularists’ “discovery” of the “Jewish bookshelf,” they view the classical sacred texts of the Jewish people as their cultural heritage and a valuable resource. Study and interpretation are conducted in a critical and experiential manner and based on joint, informal study, usually with a group leader. 3. Life cycle ceremonies – circumcisions, ceremonies for the birth of girls, bar and bat mitzvahs, marriages, and burials: Jewish ceremonies that draw on a variety of secular and liberal religious approaches. Run by dozens of ceremony leaders and ordinary people who have undergone appropriate training, these ceremonies meet the needs of people seeking meaningful life-cycle ceremonies, as an alternative to the standard ones dictated by law – particularly with respect to marriage and burial – which they find alienating. 4. Ceremonies connected to the Hebrew calendar – consecrating time. The Hebrew calendar abounds with festivals, most with a religious connection and some with additional national and universal characteristics. But over the years, normative holiday observance in the secular public has became separated from, and less and less connected to the Jewish-cultural-national context. In recent decades, interest in learning about holidays and relevant texts has been renewed; Shabbat, Kabbalat Shabbat, Havdalah, Jewish holidays are being observed by thousands of families and hundreds of congregations of different types; and organizations in the area of Jewish renaissance and liberal religious movements are providing a wide variety of appropriate programming. 5. Prayer communities – In recent years, people from what Israeli sociologists define as the normative secular population have formed prayer communities. They meet once a week, on Shabbat or sometimes just on holidays. Although these houses of prayer are not affiliated with any particular religious or secular group, they express a universal need for public prayer of some type. Men and women participate on an equal basis; there is no dominant rabbinic presence; prayers are led by the congregants; and the format integrates traditional materials and readings chosen by the group. 6. Social justice and tikkun olam – Jewish renaissance, which began by stressing Jewish studies, is now turning its attention to the positive commandments (mitzvot) and making a commitment to social activism. Interest in social justice is expressed both in social and philanthropic activities in civil society, and the promotion of legislation, and government budgeting and enforcement. What sets the Jewish renaissance organizations apart from others involved in social justice activities is the fact that they view Judaism and their Jewish identity as the basis for their involvement, because it demands participation in the struggle for a more just society. The entire gamut of independent activity described here meshes into a whole, which may be defined as a full and comprehensive Jewish way of life for individuals, communities, the nation, and the state, an alternative to other normative Jewish ways of life – whether secular or Orthodox – that exist in contemporary Israeli society. Strengthening this alternative will help us formulate a Jewish-Zionist narrative that allows us to sustain the vitality and prosperity of the Zionist enterprise and the State of Israel. Panim’s goal is to make this alternative the dominant narrative in Israeli society. The role of Panim is to make sure that this topic does not remain on the level of civil society alone. Panim, through its advocacy activities, is the only organization in this field striving to ensure government support and reinforcement of the developments described above, on the budgetary and policy levels.
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