By Ted Belman
In the early seventies, I read Israelis and Jews: The Continuity of an Identity by Simon N. Herman. One didn’t have to read the book, much less write it, to understand that the more religious one is, the more one identifies as a Jew; and the more secular, the more Israeli. At that time, this distinction had little impact on the direction and nature of the Jewish State. But over time this distinction began to tear the country apart.
The distinction manifested itself in existential issues and the society polarized. “The Israelis” gave rise to post-Zionism revisionism, to the making of a state like any other state, to the peace process, to the notion that the occupation is the problem, not the solution, and finally, that the settlers (“the Jews”) are the enemy of “the good.”
The Israelis grew very powerful, starting from their roots in kibbutzim and in the Socialist ethos. They dominate the press, the academia, the courts, the administration of justice and, for the most part, the government.
Unhappily for them, the Jews increased in number faster than the Israelis due to immigration and a much higher procreation rate. Thus, the Israelis could see what they were increasingly up against at the ballot box.
It would be wrong to see this schism as one between the secular and the religious only. There are many religious Jews who support Labour and the peace process, and many secular Israelis who side with the Jews not only because of their Jewish identity, but also because of their negative view of the peace process.
One thing both sides agree on is the desirability of peace. The Israelis believe that a peace deal with the Arabs is possible if only Israel makes enough gestures and concessions; land for peace. The Jews believe that peace is only possible through strength, and strength requires Israel to hold on to land and to strengthen Jewish identity.
The Israelis don’t trust religious people arguing that they cling to G-d’s word as their gospel without thinking. This prevents them from being realistic.
On the other hand, the Jews can’t understand how the Israelis can cling to their gospel – land for peace – no matter how much history proves them wrong or the Arabs call for their destruction. They complain that the Israelis are just not realistic.
For the Israelis, the Lebanon debacle argues for the necessity to negotiate with Syria a land-for-peace deal and to seriously embrace the Saudi peace plan. Whereas, the Jews believe it teaches just the opposite, that land must not be ceded.
The Israelis share the views of the European Socialists and the American Democrats; whereas, the Jews are closer to the views of the Christian Right and the neo-cons ensconced in the Republican Party.
At the moment, the Lebanon debacle has strengthened the Jews, but they must be able to form the next government to solidify their gains. Ehud Olmert is clinging to power for as long as he can, and the protest movement has not coalesced into a mass phenomenon. More is needed to bring down the government.
There are a number of looming issues that must be dealt with while Olmert is still in power. As for Hizbullah and United Nations Resolution 1701, no provocation or watering down has been enough for Olmert to reject either. The Iranian nuclear threat is looming and must be dealt with. The IDF must be revitalized to meet all challenges. Finally, the Arab League announced its intention to relaunch the Saudi peace plan. Fortunately, Olmert is too weak to recommend it.
Once in power, the Jews must make far-reaching changes by adopting a constitution, which will strengthen representative government (constituency elections), the Knesset at the expense of the courts and the government, and the Jewish character of the state. Only then can Israel deal with the Arabs in and out of the territories. Israel must decide if it can maintain the status quo and resist all “peace” initiatives, or whether it is best served by a peace initiative of its own. The one I favour is to expand Jerusalem to include all settlements around it, both Arab and Jewish, and to annex the land. As a second stage, Israel could annex all lands in Area C per Oslo. To justify the annexation, Israel could hold a plebiscite among the inhabitants of the areas to accept or reject the annexation as a matter of self-determination.
@ keelie:
it just popped up on screen, thought you might enjoy it. Lot of drum, fry-bread, jewelry and art at the pow-wow.
@ honeybee:
Not sure what I’m supposed to see on your art.com link. I was one of the first artists to have some stuff on art.com when it started up. Long time ago…
@ honeybee:
Well I do have a good number of lever-action rifles, as well as two single-action revolvers…
@ keelie:
More: http://www.art.com/?rfid=379438&tkid=0e:
@ keelie:
Another favorite I love the way he uses yellow: http://walterufer.net/ TX is dragging me to a Pow Wow and ” daylight is burning”. Adios
@ keelie:
No I am not a member of any societies. I gave up my art classes because of back problems. ” American Art Review” is a good magazine also. western American Art is big right now. People like to look at something besides siggles. I paint also, I like to paint people, Mexican Dancers, I not so good at landscapes. May be you’re a cowboy/engineer/ artist.?
This is breathtaking stuff. Gotta “study” it more. Are you a member of any of the societies? Thanks for sending me this info.
@ keelie:
Older wonderful stuff: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taos_art_colony
@ honeybee:
Wonderful stuff… I also loved the painting by Willard Nash.
@ keelie:
I am [hopefully] sending you one of my favorite Western [NMex] Landscape artist: http://arturochavez.com/ Have you ever seen ” Southwest Art” magazine, you might enjoy it. This month [June] was very good.
@ honeybee:
No – I’m an engineer and an artist…
Exactly. Which is why I said what I said re Pollock.
@ Bear Klein:
Fantastic, beautiful colors, thank-you
@ Bear Klein & Yamit2: re the kibbutzim, I could write a treatise about them, but having spent 3 years on two different kibbutzim and I’d agree that they were not overwhelmed by religion, but rather self-destructed from the weight of socialism. And one of these was Shomer HaTzair!
Jerusalem – http://www.hadassah-med.com/about/art-at-hadassah/chagall-windows.aspx
@ Bear Klein:
Where’s the Hebrew University????
the phoenix Said:
My feeling also, rules and regulations and I are not combatable. In Texas they would say, “not easy broke and takes the bit in her mouth”.
@ honeybee: Have you seen the 12 Chagall Windows of the Tribes at the Hebrew University?
@ the phoenix:
Or, the fact that one lives in Israel does not necessitate a ‘switch’, as it were?
@ yamit82:
Was your switch ‘coerced’?
Gradual?
Jump into the pool’s deep end ? (Ready or not…)
@Yamit2: There are lots of stories about the giving of the Torah and we can believe whichever one we would like, but I for one am not about to base my support on such stories. And a brief look at the 1400 years of theocracy or pseudo-theocracy does not suggest that any of these governments were what we would want to live under ourselves. I wouldn’t yet call myself a supporter of Feiglin, but his message is quite appealing compared to the obfuscation of Netanyahu. I do believe if the Gov’t of Israel does not speak clearly about Israel’s rights, we will never get out of this international mess.
@ Joseph Rapaport:
Question?? If a democratic legislature passes any law that is in gross violation of the Mitzvot of the Torah should observant Jews obey those laws?
Re: Democracy Vs Theocracy. Consider that Jews lived under some form of theocracy for 1400 years and while not perfect was no worse than what we have today.
Re: Coercion???
According to a story in the Talmud, G-d offered the Torah to all the nations of the earth, and the Jews were the only ones who accepted it. According to another story, the Jews were offered the Torah last, and accepted it only because G-d held a mountain over their heads!( “And they stood at the foot of the mountain” – Said R. Avdimi bar Chama bar Chasa: This teaches us that the Holy One held the mountain over them like an inverted tub and said, “If you accept the Torah, then fine; but if not, I will bury you here.”)
The temperament of the Jew it seems that without coercion the Jew will never accept what is right and best for himself. I don’t believe Feiglin on this point but if he is serious he is wrong and delusional. He may be pandering to the non observant to get their support and above all their money.
@ Bear Klein:
Modigliani is “NICE ALSO”, you have been eating to muches garbage, ””””sugar bear. Modigliani is a genius. I must say, however that Pissarro handles light beautifully. We drove National Jewish Hospital in Denver, the stained glass windows in their Synagogue were designed by Chagall.
@ Joseph Rapaport:
Joe, your post has struck a very sensitive chord within me. Like you, I consider myself a “rabid right-winger”/ ultra nationalist.
I am a non observant Jew, but wholeheartedly side with the religious .
That being said, I feel like an outsider, for while I might look and act secular, my views are 100% kahane. And while I agree with the kahanists, I can not turn on a dime and start performing rituals that for all intents and purposes were never done and it would just feel fake, to try and FORCE myself to do that (akin to a leopard that cannot change his spots if you will).
My question to you, if I may, is HOW did you make this “switch”?
Fwiw, a few years ago, I have stumbled upon feiglin’s 10 point platform for Jewish leadership and was DRAWN to that inclusive message of having Israel be a JEWISH state without being coercive…
In spite of many that comment pointing out how futile his efforts are, I still harbor hopes for feiglin…
Viiit Said:
Deut. 12:32 says, “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Originally however the Torah was given to the Israelites as one whole.
The religion created the nation, obligated every member of that nation, and if anyone publicly transgressed the commandments they were to be punished by the community.
Throughout the Bible God speaks to the nation and about the nation.
The individual (king, prophet, etc) is important in so far as they form part of the nation and are connected to it.
They occupy their positions for the sake of the Hebrew people.
There is a collective responsibility.
The Community was obliged to enforce the Keeping of the Sabbath.
One could be put to death for desecrating the Sabbath!
I think real Jews should consider Excommunication of some who call themselves Jews but in fact are not. For example one of the most infamous heretics who underwent excommunication by the Jewish community was Spinoza.
We have the writ of excommunication, which speaks of “wrong opinions,” “horrible heresies,” and “monstrous actions.”
Scholars have speculated that some of the more controversial doctrines taught in his Theological-Political Treatise, written years after the event, may have been responsible. They include the denial of the Mosaic origin of the Torah, the naturalistic interpretation of miracles, and the claim that scripture is not a repository of philosophical wisdom.
I would add those who by their actions and un-Jewish beliefs
are not in fact Jews and should be thrown out of the communal Jewish tent and to be declared as non Jews which includes a ban on the entering into any synagogue, having any social or business intercourse with Jews. Any Jew who by word or deed acts to harm or injure another Jew or the state of Israel should be excommunicated and considered as not Jewish by all other Jews and gentiles.
Being born into a Jewish family is certainly not sufficient to be considered a Jew, if there is not Jewish content in his beliefs, lifestyle and actions.
The Torah the source of our definitions of who is or is not Jewish explains that a Jew is anyone who accepts and observes the commandments and accepts the divinity of the Torah and it’s obligations that a Jews must take upon themselves.
All ethnic claims however valid without Jewish content and context is pure racism.
The claim by some of retaining Jewish genes does not make one a Jew but is strictly a racial trait and there could be hundreds of millions of people around the world with some genetic Jewish DNA… Again that does not make them Jews.
Being a Zionist and viewing Jews positively could be applied to millions of non Jews as well. The torah is very specific about what is expected of a Jew and what he is required to believe. The Talmud explains how we are to enact and observe those beliefs
There is no doubt that a balance must be struck along the Israeli-Jewish continuum. From my point of view reading from left (Israeli) to right (Jewish) that point should be much closer to the Right. This comes from being raised as a “Red Diaper Baby” and living 49 years as an atheist but never negating my Jewish Identity. In 1990 I finally undertook my Jewish education which until then had been
totally lacking. I am still far an orthodox observant jew but I attend shul regularly and am increasing my mitzvot. I have also become a “true believer” and a rabid right-winger. I am very supportive of Moshe Feiglin and the Jewish Leadership movement. I believe if he becomes the PM Israel will go a long way toward healing the dangerous rift between each side of the divide. Feiglin is not trying to impose his religious values on the country but merely provide a template for people to consider. There is no chance that Israel would be a theocracy, it would still be democratic, but there would be no question that it is the Jewish State.
@viiit: Moishe Feiglin is promising just what you suggest–a Jewish state without coercion. Sort of libertarian! Giving Arabs of Judea and Samaria permanent residency after annexation. Sounds like a pretty good policy to me.
@ yamit82:Socialism does not work very well. People making restrictions for others life styles does not work. People want choice in where they are going to work. These are the main reason of the collapse of kibbutzim. Plus when the subsidies were pulled and they had to pay their debts those that did not have solid earnings businesses died or morphed into something else. Triumph of religion ???? Very questionable theory.
@ honeybee:I much prefer Chagall and Pissaro to Pollock. Modigliani is pretty good also.
Even in the best of times, the “Israelis” were ostracized by the European socialist and by the non-aligned besides being rejected by the Muslims. They have nothing to offer. Like the US administration, they want peace even if it weakens IL. The pal and the Arab League have recently brought back their NO position to a Jewish state. That says everything on their long term goal..
My whole family is strongly Zionist, totally atheist and 100% identifying themselves as Jewish.
I am JEWISH because I was born Jewish.
This is a property of mine just like my genes, though my nationality is much more than just genes.
Israeli leftist degenerated for two reasons:
one is that they identify themselves with the European and American leftist. They want to be a part of this “cool young crowd”. Unfortunately the cool young crowd in the West in deeply anti-Israeli.
Secondly they are afraid that the religious Jews will impose their religious limitations on them.
If the religious Jews stood for their freedom to live according with their principles without trying to impose them on others, the leftist would not be against them.
Healing the rift between the religious and secular Jews is necessary for survival of our nation.
@ NormanF:
A Manifestation of the war between Jews: MORE TO FOLLOW!!!!
Soldiers in New Protest Vow ‘We Won’t Expel Jews’
Soldiers photograph themselves with signs vowing to refuse orders to expel Jews; IDF to launch investigation into ‘unacceptable’ behavior.
@ yamit82:
It makes me wonder if Netanyahu is brilliant, a half-wit or diabolically confused. Abu Bluff did have a point: “I don’t care what you call yourselves, its your affair.” More or less, then the Jewish State is absurd if you’re really an Israeli. Why insist on recognition on something that according to part of you, is going to disappear anyway in a few generations? And the Israelis among you do not think there should even be a Jewish State. Now if that is the case, why did Netanyahu raise with the Arabs an impossible demand? Israel could have had a peace agreement by relinquishing its Jewishness. As Meir Kahane wrote several decades ago, why be Jewish? There is no reason on earth to insult the Arabs about the nature of a country on which Israelis cannot even agree what it ought to be. Only if being Jewish has real meaning, it is legitimate to insist upon a Jewish State. If not, then Kahane would have rightly said, Israel’s demand amounts to racism and the Arabs are correct that Jews are denying Israelis self-determination and blocking peace! So why did Netanyahu put it forward and is he a Jew or an Israeli or is there more to it than that we don’t know? What does Israel really want? When the country cannot even agree on a common understanding of self, here is the conundrum at the heart of the so-called peace process. Peace with the Arabs is impossible when the Israelis and the Jews cannot agree on what their country should be called: an Israeli state or a Jewish State.
@ jerrylaury:
jerrylaury Said:
Modigliani, Pissarro, Kandinsky, Chagall and Klaussner were also shown.
honeybee Said:
@ keelie:
Are you a Cowboy??? Art reflects society and culture. Now apply that to modernism.
@ honeybee:
I suggest that Pollock’s works signaled the start of the general decline of modern art.
Bear Klein Said:
I am up to my ears in cerulean blue and cad red, why? Went Denver to see the D.A.M.’s latest show on Modernism in Art. I enjoyed it, TX said it was a waste of canvass. He liked the Charles Russell show.
@ honeybee: Are you into fine art? Jackson Pollack?
yamit82 Said:
Insensitive?????????? Didn’t realize you knew the meaning of the word. Got back from Denver, viewing Pollock’s, “Convergence”. To bad you weren’t there to hear my deconstruction of the painting. Very sensitivity given!!!
Ted My comment was blocked for some unknown reason by your stupid insensitive spam filter.
@ Bear Klein:
The Kibbutz movement could never answer the spiritual needs of many young people who began to experience different intellectual inputs when they went to the army and traveled the world as our youngsters often do after the Army. Some went off on Buddhist and Hindu spiritual trips and others turned inward to Judaism.
The power of the Kibbutz movement was largely due to their structure. All Kibbutzim sent from 10-20% of their members to work as representatives in Leftist political parties, The Histradut (labor Unions) (JNF) (Mekorot) (Solel Bonei- Large construction company) and many other quasi Histradut owned and managed companies; at one time 60-70% of the GDP of Israel. Those Kibbutz members working for these companies and institutions became a powerful lobby for Kibbutzim and socialist principles. They also blocked many attempts of competitive private capital investments in Israel. In many ways they were as powerful as the elected government and in some ways more powerful.
More than half of all Kibbutzim have disbanded and have become what amounts to a Moshav Shitufi. Some have given up 100% agriculture and most of the residents live on their Kibbutzim with certain property rights and rights to communal assets (for a fee), just like any suburban community in Israel. The Kibbutzim could not keep many of second generation on the Kibbutz and fewer third and fourth generation who left the Kibbutzim and even the country for the bright lights and materialism of the cities. In the end materialism and greater personal opportunities beat ideology. When I was on the Kibbutz and many members who had joined or married into the Kibbutz began to bring their elderly parents onto the Kibbutz instead of placing them in expensive senior citizen care facilities. Many of these parents of members were religious and traditional Jews and the Kibbutzim began to allow them to celebrate Shabbat and festivals in the Kibbutz dinning room. As more of these outsiders were brought onto the Kibbutzim many relented and allowed having small synagogues to service them…. These are not the only reasons but was the beginning of Jewish religious influence on what were totally anti religious secular socialist Kibbutzim…. Another way of looking at the current situation Judaism defeated atheist socialism in practice and in fact in the heart of the anti Jewish bastion of the state of Israel.
A while ago I visited a real good friend on a Kibbutz I used to live on. He was born on this kibbutz. He proudly showed me around my old home and one of the new highlights was the temple they had now built.
One of his daughters had married a Chabnick and moved to Gush Etzion.
He always had a strong Jewish identity and so did others who lived this “secular kibbutz”.