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Archive Number 2486 | ||
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Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 09:07:31 +0200
Hi Bobby and all, you wrote: >Is it too much to suppose that Israel is historically split between those only focused on "the eternal" and those focused only on the pragmatic, and that, in the void left between ultra-Orthodox and sabra is a no-man's-land where little can grow? < Well, you are raising here one of the major issues in the quest for Israeli identity. On one hand, people like myself, reject most of the ways Ultra-Orthodox conduct their lives by. At the same time, cultural-religious issues interest us as part of our origin and inheritance, as part of our identity. Many are not interested in finding a combination of modern habits and rituals like the conservatives and the progressives have. This seems to stretch the split even more since it deals with adopting religion but has no connection to issues of territory. Those you call interested only in "eternity" are bothered too, since they enjoy the deeds of the pragmatics but are in constant clash with them. The wise ones understand that this can not forever stand. For a long time that no-man-land you are asking about was deserted. But now, different people are starting to address it. Not only here, but all over the Jewish world. Here in Israel, the issues are more complicated because we are dealing with territory, and for Judaism it is an old-new matter. The main question rising is "What in culture can be identified as Jewish?" The many answers given to this question up till now have not satisfied our inner stomach. It seems that the appropriate answer to that question might bring comfort to many that are now stingy toward religion, and make the religious less anxious. The question deals with cultural issues of a religious group and origin combined with nationalism. The people dealing with it right now are brave and willing enough to dig hard and confront any answer. If we'll find it, many of our fears to be "swallowed" will be gradually put aside, and we might be easier in negotiating peace. As part of this effort, I'm deeply excited. Judaism has gone through different phases in History. One of the dramatic shifts, was the constitution of the state of Israel. This small country is overloaded with complex internal problems, not to mention external issues. Solving this question might dramatically effect our lives to the better and it might cause a domino-effect concerning other problems connected to identity and tribal-wars. As a nation, our past cannot be left behind and I don't think it should. As individuals, leaving the past behind might be the only way to reach the future. Think for example of all those survivors of the Holocaust. They have lost families and built new ones. If they could not do this splitting that might sound to some people terrible, they could have no future. But most of them did, and in a way many of us can not understand and even sometimes reject. Yet, as part of a nation, they carry their terrible memories with them to the future. Because they understand that as individuals, they had to survive, they wanted to continue the human chain, but as a group there was something important to learn from all that has happened. The void could not be allowed to exist. Their collective passing to the future was a major factor in the creation of the Israeli state. Now is the time to fill the void between past to future. Those concerned about the eternal will probably not take part in this effort because according to their rules, this question should not be addressed by humans... a thought very far from the way Judaism sees the role of mankind. Ooooops!! Thanks for your time, Love, Limor, Israel. Limor Shiponi, Israel www.interpersonalarts.net | ||