Israel's Jewish Identity Crisis

Description:

"An important and topical contribution to the field of Middle East Studies, this innovative, provocative, and timely study tackles head-on the main assumptions of the foundation of Israel as a Jewish state. Theoretically sophisticated and empirically rich, this study provides a novel analysis of the interplay between Israeli nationalism and Jewish tradition, arriving at a fresh understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through its focus on internal questions about Israeli identity. By critiquing and transcending the current discourse on religion and politics in Israel, this study brings to an international audience debates within Israel that have previously been inaccessible to non-Hebrew-speaking academics. Featuring discussions on Israeli jurisprudence, the nation-state law, and rabbinic courts, Israel's Jewish Identity Crisis will have far-reaching implications, not only within the state of Israel but on politics, society, and culture beyond its borders." -- Jacket flap "The book argues that the state of Israel's political and intellectual elites have failed to formulate a coherent concept of what it means for the state to be "Jewish." As a result, Israel is conceived primarily in demographic terms - as a state the majority of whose population is Jewish. The definition of who is Jewish, however, is left entirely up to Orthodox authorities. Although most observers of Israel attribute the disproportionate power of these authorities to coalition politics, Yadgar claims that the state needs to outsource the determination of Jewishness to them because the state has developed no alternative definition. Yadgar illustrates this dilemma through in-depth examination of controversies over conversion, the recently-passed Nation State law, school programs for the strengthening of "Jewish identity," and claims to an "Israeli" as opposed to "Jewish" nationality. Yadgar's elegant presentation of the intertwining of halakhic and ethnic conceptions of Jewishness, and the inability to separate "being Israeli" from "being Jewish," nicely illustrates the fallacy of clear distinctions between the realms of the religious and the secular in modern societies"--

subjects: Jews, middle east,  Nationalism, israel,  Religion and politics,  Judaism and state,  Israel, politics and government,  Asia, history,  Jews,  Identity,  Zionism,  Nationalism,  Judaism and politics,  Judaism and secularism,  Gruppenidentität,  Judentum