Safeguarding the state’s identity exacts a price here and there in terms of inconvenience and restrictions of various kinds. But the nation’s resilience requires that we pay the price necessary to uphold its values, certainly those that define its identity and justify its existence.

 

Creating a free market for religion would not only heal internal domestic tension but would also improve Israel’s relationship with the Jewish communities across the Diaspora. Israel is a Jewish state, and to retain that status, it needs to give Jews from around the world a feeling that they can look at Israel as their home.

If we are to formulate a clear vision for the Jewish state, let us say that Judaism should be part of the “basic values of the system.” A Jewish state organizes its way of life on the basis of focused dialogue between the world of Jewish values and the world of liberal-democratic values.

In order for Israel to successfully realize its potential and celebrate its 100th birthday, the Jewish population must understand that the Arab population in Israel is not its enemy. On the contrary, it is a friend who shares a broad number of mutual interests.

A day will come when the story of Israel in modern times will speak not just to Jews but to all who believe in the power of the human spirit as it reaches out to God, as an ever-lasting symbol of the victory of life over death, hope over despair.

How can one encompass an entire world – “What is a Jewish state?” – within a single short article? One cannot, nor is it necessary. If, nevertheless, we are obliged to compress all the abundance, richness and joy embodied in the existence of a Jewish state into one word, I think that word should be: “culture.”

A life-affirming leadership should strive to expand the common ground between Israeli society’s different subgroups by employing the two central values of the state: Judaism and democracy. One the one hand, civics instruction should be provided to Haredi pupils, in the spirit of what Chazal had to say about the necessity of the fear of government. On the other hand, pupils in the state education system should be familiarized with Jewish tradition and culture.

What is a Jewish state? It is a state with a Jewish majority, which treats its minorities the way Diaspora Jews throughout the world demand to be treated. It is a state that is faithful to the historical experience of exilic Jewry – ending the exile but also remembering and learning from it. And finally, it is a state that provides a protected space within which every version of Jewishness and every kind of Jew can flourish.