Minna’s Reviews > #IsraeliJudaism: Portrait of a Cultural Revolution > Status Update

The Religious Zionist community is stronger than ever. It’s also more vulnerable than ever. Is its trademark knitted kippah unraveling into the fabric of Israeli Judaism?

(Gosh I hope not)

I really wish I bought a paper copy of this one.

“Israelis, all in all, do what they please on Shabbat. They rest as they please, spend time as they please, and entertain themselves as they please.”

It is significant because it points to a major difficulty faced by Israeli Judaism: the difficulty of adapting an ancient and chaotic tradition—which developed organically, without anybody in charge—to a modern, civic system with a proprietor (the state), decision-making institutions (the Knesset and the courts), and deliberations that must ultimately produce decisions (in legislation or court rulings).

What is at the heart of the fear of Hadatah? Primarily, it is a fear about demographics—“they” are growing in number, and “they” will soon hold the reins.

On the “Jewraeli:” In simple terms: These are the people who observe both Jewish and Israeli rituals and customs and who espouse beliefs that combine Judaism and Zionism.

Another breakdown—used by the Pew Research Center, among other institutions—uses the terms “Haredi” (ultra-Orthodox), “dati” (religious), “masorti” (traditional) and “hiloni” (secular).

The assumption made the early Zionist leaders, that a secular Hebrew culture could be sustained without connection to the Jewish tradition, was unrealistic. Many of Israel’s early thinkers, such as Martin Buber, Gershom Scholem, and Hayim Nahman Bialik sought to create a compound that would embody both the vitality of the secular pioneers and the depth of Jewish culture. But their efforts were unsuccessful.

“An Israeli Judaism is emerging from the freedom of Israeli Jews to design their public sphere in a way that reflects and preserves their Jewish culture. As for how Judaism should be reflected in the public sphere, there is no consensus—only arguments.”


Ooooh yea.