READING ASSIGNMENTS for The Jewishness of the Jewish State
There are currently many debates about the legitimacy of a Jewish state and of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. However, to assess the strength of these arguments one need to start by understanding what this Jewishness of Israel means. In this course we shall investigate various senses of the Jewishness of Israel and their justifications, and how these aspects of the Jewish identity of Israel may be relevant to current debates about the legitimacy of a Jewish state.
In the first session we shall look into some possible senses in which Israel is a Jewish state. We shall argue that the primary sense of Israel's Jewishness is not a religious sense. Israel's Jewishness is not presented against a Moslem or a Christian state but against an Arab state, in terms of the debate in the UN in 1947. Israel is Jewish because it is the one state in the world in which Jews, observant and non-observant alike, exercise their right to self determination.
In the second session we shall look into two related elements of the Jewishness of Israel – The Law of Return, 1950, declaring that every Jew has a right to immigrate to Israel; and the debate that developed around this principle concerning who is eligible for Return, and how this question is related to the question Who is a Jew and who should determine the answer to this question. The issue is relevant for both Jewish- Arab tensions but also for the way modern Jews see the Jewish collective, the rationale of Return, and the relationships between religion and religious establishments and contemporary Jewish identity. The latter question is relevant not only in Israel but in other parts of the world as well. Thus we see that debates about the Jewishness of communities transcend the special features of the Jewishness of Israel.
The third session will look more closely at the claim that because of its Jewishness Israel cannot give the Arab minority living within it the full equality required by both justice and democracy. We shall look at the way these claims are reflected in one of the Vision Statements issued by representatives of the Arab minority in Israel and discuss them.
Finally, in the last session, we shall consider a critical aspect of the Jewishness of Israel – the effects of Jewish majority on the public culture in Israel, the revival of the Hebrew language, the choice of Saturday as a national Day of Rest etc. This ability to live in a community whose public culture and symbols are one's own are among the shall consider how a Jewish public culture is important for Jews and how its impact on non-Jews should be dealt with.
This will permit us to form a more integrated opinion about the meanings and possible
justifications of elements in the Jewishness of Israel.
week 2 | week 3 | week 4 | Summary
Week 1 Reading assignment:
Background: There are three clusters of meanings to the Jewishness of Israel. The first is the fact that in Israel there is a large Jewish majority; the second is that Israel is the nation- state of Jews, the state in which Jews exercise their right to self determination; the third is that Israel is a Jewish theocracy. There are complex relations among these meanings. A Jewish majority in itself is a significant feature of society, especially in a democracy where majority preferences can be implemented (within the constraints of human rights and constitutional strictures). The justifications provided in the selections are for Israel as the nation-state of Jews: the state in which Jews exercise their right to self determination. Principles of political morality and of international law give the right to self determination to peoples, not to religions. Indeed, most peoples include individuals who endorse different religions; and most religions can be found among many peoples. Jews may be unique in this sense because historically they were defined by religion. Indeed, some religious people believe that the Jewish people is necessarily defined in that way, and that Jews are those who believe in the brith (covenant) between God and his chosen people. A majority of Jews, however, see contemporary Jewish identity as a matter of ethnic and national membership rather than as membership in a religious community. They often resent having Judaism be defined exclusively in terms of religion. The texts seek to elucidate meanings of the Jewishness of Israel and point out justifications for Israel as the nation-state of Jews which is committed at the same time to the equal rights of all its citizens, irrespective of religion or ethnic origin. Guided Reading Questions:
For those reading the optional readings:
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Reading assignment:
Background: The Law of Return – granting all Jews the right to come to Israel, settle in it and gain its citizenship – is considered by both supporters and opponents as one of the key elements of the Jewishness of Israel. Supporters see it as the quintessential raison daitre of the Jewish state – to be a refuge for Jews who are persecuted for their Judaism or to provide all Jews an opportunity to live a life in which their Jewish identity does not have to be 'privatized', and to provide Jews with the characteristics of a full national life, including a territory, a language and political independence. Opponents see it as an acute sign of discrimination, even racism. This week I want to raise two different questions concerning the Law of return. One concerns its justification. We have started dealing with this question in week 1. This week the themes are connected. The other is the identification of those who are eligible to benefit from this law, or the identification of the set of norms and institutions that should decide on such eligibility. Who is a Jew? Who decide who is a Jew? And by what standards? There is a huge literature on these questions. It is impossible to do justice to its richness in such a framework. We shall try to raise some of the issues. The fact that Israel has to decide these issues is the consequence of the fact that it wanted to give Jews preference in immigration. It will be hard for Israel not to include a reference to Jewishness in its laws of immigration for this reason. The British case shows, however, that the same question may be raised in a legal and judicial contexts outside of Israel as well. It is instructive to compare the way and the context this is done in Israel and outside it. Guided Reading Questions:
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Week 3 Background: We started looking at the Jewish-Arab divide in week 1, when we looked at the justification of the Jewish state in both historical perspective and through the claim that a Jewish state cannot give full equality to the members of the Arab minority living in it. This week will be devoted to this cluster of issues. In our own times, a central question is whether it is justified or useful to present the recognition of the Jewishness of Israel in the negotiations and in possible agreements with Arab states in general and the Palestinian in particular. This question, in turn, is connected to the Palestinian claim that Palestinian refugees and their descendants have a right under international law to return to their homes within pre-67 Israel. The subjects of the status of the Arab minority within Israel and that of the future of relations between Israel (or Jews) and Palestine (or Palestinians) are both distinct and closely connected. This is why we shall discuss here not only the question of the status of the Arab minority within Israel. Rather, the materials you'll be reading move between the one issue and the other. Again, the literature on both these subjects is huge. I hope the materials present us with a good basis for discussion. After the 1947-1949 war, called the War of Independence by Jews and Al Nakba (the disaster) by the Arabs, only about 150 thousand Arabs were left in Israel. Those of them living in villages were put for almost 20 years under Military Rule. In 1967 the remainder of the Land of Israel – the West Bank – was captured by Israel after a defensive war. Starting in the 1990s, the new Arab elites developed an impressive leadership voicing their national concerns very vocally in the Knesset and elsewhere. This process culminated in 2006 with the publication of the "Arab Vision Statements", presenting the way the leaders of the Arab minority in Israel saw the political structure and the identity of the State. Of these statements we included here the shortest document: 1. Adala's Democratic Constitution 2. Gordis' blog piece We included two op-eds on this subject, presenting these two positions:
I remind you of Jadal, an Arab think tank devoted to discussions of the meaning of the Jewishness of Israel and why Arabs should not recognize it as such. This is optional reading for this week. Guided Reading Questions:
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Week 4 This is the last week of our course. I hope that by now you appreciate how hard it was for us to choose the specific subjects and writings to convey the complexity of this vast topic. I admit having mixed feelings. On the one hand, it is good to be able to put the course and its work behind me. On the other hand, I feel that the conversations developed here show that the subjects are far from being exhausted. Maybe we can find ways to continue them. This week I would like to do two things. The first is to look at an important aspect of the Jewishness of Israel that we have only hinted at until now – its manifestations in Israel's public sphere. You may recall that this was one of the key reasons for wanting a state, or at least a spiritual center in Israel – namely, the ability to create a place in the world in which the public culture will be Hebrew and Jewish. The second is to try and summarize and close some of the circles that we have opened in the course. For the first part we chose the section from the Gavison-Medan Covenant on Kashrut in a Jewish and democratic state. For the second I attach a concept paper I wrote for the recent President's Conference in Jerusalem in August 2009, and a link to my speech at that conference: the concept paper is the second text in the reading list, for the speech click here: http://www.presidentconf.org.il/en/ - (below the embedded screen, choose the sixth 'movie' from the horizontal menu – it's the morning plenary session: "Looking Towards Tomorrow – Turning Crises into Opportunities," my speech starts at 40minutes, and lasts about 20 minutes). Israel's Public Sphere One of the most profound characteristics of living as Jews outside of Israel is the fact that Jews are a minority and in most places (with the exception of predominantly Jewish towns or neighborhoods) they live within a culture that is not theirs. In other words, the culture around them presents a dilemma: either you live within it, risking assimilation, or you maintain your own traditions and must - to some extent - live a separate life. One of the unique claims of Zionism, which was in fact implemented to a large extent in Israel, is the creation of a Jewish public sphere in most of the state. We mentioned some of these elements in previous weeks. Language is a notable characteristic. The amazing revival of the Hebrew language could probably not have taken place unless it became the living language of a community and a state. Same goes for the calendar. The day of rest is Shabbath; the high holidays are days of rest. There are also the symbols of the state. The hymn is a moving Jewish text talking about the Jews' dreams of liberation and independence. Israel is the one place in the world where Jews can be Jewish both in their homes and when they are 'outside'. These are usually quite important for Jews. Naturally, they are not simple matters for non-Jews, especially for the Arabs. Again, there are issues here concerning both Jewish-Arab sensibilities and the internal debate among Jews about synagogue and state and the meaning of the Jewishness of Israel and its implications. Some of these issues – like Shabbath laws and language – reached the Israeli court of Justice. So has the prohibition of displaying Hametz during Pessach in public, – a controversial law that was almost interpreted away by the courts - and laws seeking to limit the sale of pork products within Jewish towns. We could have run a whole course on just these issues. chose to deal with Kashrut precisely because it is just an internal Jewish question. Unlike the questions of membership which are of far-reaching consequences, matters of Kashrut may seem petty and simple. Thinking about how they should be regulated is therefore interesting because it may expose issues of importance which are not too charged or emotional. While in other countries matters of Kashrut are only social and cultural, in Israel they, too, become legal issues. Hence the concerns are both social and cultural and pertain to the art of living together with different attitudes, and concerns relating to state-religion relationships. The guiding principle of the Covenant is simple: No religious intervention in the private sphere, so that there is a total freedom to eat what one wants; the availability of Kosher and non-Kosher restaurants and shops are a matter of demand; naturally, Israel has more Kosher places than other countries; and full transparency that allows individuals to choose where to shop and eat according to their own preferences and beliefs. At the same time, we took the position that 'public kitchens' should be Kosher so that observant people could eat there, arguing that no right of those who do not eat Kosher is violated if only Kosher food is available. Some non-observant people expressed anger at the fact that they are forced to have limited options in this way. They also expressed anger at the expectation of observant people that small kitchens in workplaces will be Kosher. They argued that observant people should take care that they eat Kosher without imposing their norms on others. Another debate was whether the rabbinate could use its power to give certificates to deny them to places where the food was Kosher but were open on Shabbath or allowed events like belly dancing. In short, we thought this was an interesting test-case of the Jewishness in the public sphere.
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The main political question is whether the Jewishness of the state is justified. But the issues around the Jewishness of Israel are many. What do we mean by Israel being a Jewish state? Jewish vs. Moslem or Christian or Jewish vs. Arab? Does it matter? Politically? Culturally? Must a Jewish state be discriminatory? If so – can it be a democracy? Can we, and should we 'soften' the Jewishness of Israel so as to create a more welcoming atmosphere for non-Jews, especially Arabs? Even those who think – like I do – that Israel should maintain its Jewish distinction, should realize that Israel as a state owes a duty of equal citizenship and full participation to all its citizens. The Jewishness of the state is NOT a license for discrimination. Moreover, this is not just a formal matter. The state must encourage and nurture the civic cohesion within it, and strengthen the inclusive sense of citizenship. This is a central element of the success of Israel as a state, irrespective of the political arrangement with the Palestinians. Once this is the guiding principle, we can discuss details about the implications of this to arrangements in Israel on different subjects. Hopefully, such a process may persuade Adala and other leaders of Arabs within Israel that the Jewishness of Israel does not deny their Arab identity. But Israel should be committed to it even if Arab leaders remain un-persuaded. Dealing with the challenge of Arab leaders requires that we are able to deal with the following questions: What is the importance of Israel to Jews living in it? Does it have to be "Jewish" for that? Is a Jewish state important for Jews outside Israel? Does it strengthen Jews in the world or does it make them more vulnerable? Or both? Should Israel be central to Jewish identity worldwide? Professor David Myers in his course here talked about the dangers of Statism. Are they real? Do we also see a tendency of Jews in Israel and outside it to distance themselves from the country and its aspirations? How can the Jewish people maintain both its unity and pluralism within it? How can Jews all over the world maintain their distinct identity, nourish it and transmit it and at the same time not grow insensitive and isolated from the achievements and needs of the world and humanity? These are issues that will stay with us. There is no knock-out answer that settles matters once and for all. Besides, the very achievement of a democratic Jewish state means that there is at least one forum in which these questions may be debated and resolved in a political community in which Jews are a majority. I think that wanting to remain Jewish means that we engage with these questions both as individuals and as a collective. We need to engage in them in the spirit of open mind and of a commitment to both truth and to basic values. This is what I tried to convey and initiate you to in this course. |