Identity

WHO IS A JEW? VIEWPOINTS OF ISRAELI JEWS

A comprehensive study examines the attitudes of Jews in Israel regarding the question “Who is a Jew?”

WHO IS A JEW? VIEWPOINTS OF ISRAELI JEWS

Attitudes regarding the issue of Jewish identity and the nature of Jewishness are significantly related to levels of traditional observance and to ideological-political views. This fact makes it hard to reach a broad consensus, as disagreement on matters of Jewishness is not point-specific, but rather bound up in a complex contextual web with views on other topics.

Regarding observance of tradition: Jews who observe the Sabbath and Jews who do not observe the Sabbath are divided on the nature of Jewish identity: the former generally see it as a matter of religion and ethnicity, while for the latter it is a matter of culture, nationality, and values. These differing definitions of the main component of Jewishness also engender differing expectations at the practical and ideological levels, based on affiliation with this or that Jewish subgroup.

Regarding politics: Definitions of the chief components of Jewishness have significant political manifestations: The farther one moves from right to left, the weaker Religion becomes as a main component of Jewishness, and the greater the emphasis on culture.

There is a major gap in Israeli and Diaspora attitudes toward self-definition as a decisive element in establishing Jewishness. In Israel, the tendency is toward group determination of the elements necessary for Jewish affiliation. In the Diaspora, the emphasis is on individual determination.

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