example

This is yet another example of the inequality that so rampantly appears in Israeli policy. I forgot to discuss another issue I was thinking about today, which this article seems to bridge over to perfectly.

The concept of a community is beautiful, and the Jewish community is one in which I have grown up and felt at home for my entire life. However, I am very uncomfortable with the exclusivity of Judaism in certain ways, whether they be religious laws that prevent certain kinds of mixing or even just the stigma that there is against intermarriage and dating outside of the community.

Then I am presented with this argument: "How can we expect to retain our identity in the world if we simply do everything like other people and don't maintain a degree of separateness?"

Touché.

As always, however, I have a response. I am a huge fan of tradition and culture. It's fascinating to me to have my own to show off to the world and I love learning about others'. I practice my culture and heritage not only out of fascination and pride, but also because my family has been doing this for so long, and it is a way for me to feel as though I have a stronger connection to them and their accomplishments which have led to my great life. When looking at the big picture, I don't see that the purpose of our morals, values, traditions is to be exclusive, to not share them with the world. I see our virtues to be examples, to show what a beautiful society we have without imposing it on others. I see sharing amongst all peoples, which happens so regularly in the US and other parts of the world, yes even Israel. Why should I follow strict dietary laws that prevent me from eating at a friend's house or drinking wine that he or she has poured?

I understand that these laws were intended to maintain the strength of community that we have, to prevent us from diluting our people and becoming one of the rest. But are people not to be trusted? Can we not balance our personal culture with our roles as global citizens? Am I really going to connect more with someone based on which day of the week I don't command electricity so much so that I will never be tempted to marry someone who is not Jewish? On the flipside, is it a given that if I choose not to eat kosher that I will sacrifice all of my Jewish heritage for a life completely free of it? I am looking at a big picture, and the line between participating in the world and upholding your heritage is not too fine. There is a wide spectrum of ways to fulfill both at different degrees, and I feel that neither one of these obligations set before us--whether we choose to fulfill either one of them--should interfere with the other.

--Abraham

part/apart

While reading this article, I read statements that have become so familiar to me and reflect nothing new in my stream of consciousness. However, I remember not too long ago when this article would have told me many new things. What this article does not say is something that I am constantly reminded of every day since my return to the US. Many Americans are oblivious to these arguments.

Israel should become a secular state
I think just two years ago before I had undertaken the task to learn as much as possible about Israel and Palestine, and I may not have even realized that Israel was not a secular state, that secularism of government was not something that the Israeli mentality as a whole saw as progress or beneficial to their society. I, like many Americans, assumed that Israel was far more like what we are comfortable with than not. It's not true. Israel can be a very open place in social life, but policies on social issues can be very close-minded. This may be obvious to people who study the region or have traveled there, but it is not clear to the average American that just because Israelis in Tel Aviv can walk around town with a beer does not mean that the government does not impose policies of Jewish law on secular Jews and non-Jews, that the government does not use tax dollars toward Jewish education and even programming for Jews living outside of Israel to travel within Israel--20% of tax payers are not even Jewish. These are only a few light examples of governmental injustices in which Israeli religious groups take advantage of a non-religious majority and a non-Jewish minority. Many Americans do not know this, but the Jewish community in America has yet to confront Israel in an effective way on these issues.

Israel should learn from Europe's example
I agree that Europe should be applauded for its incredible accomplishments in becoming the most peaceful region in the world, considering that in the last century the continent erupted into the most gruesome wars that the world has ever seen after centuries of constant fighting. However, this argument can be made even stronger if Israel could accomplish a secularization in which anti-racism was seen as a strong, core societal value. I don't need to recount the struggle for civil rights in the US, but in Israel, ethnic minorities face situations similar to black Americans in the 1950s and 1960s in the US. In my experiences, I learned that Arab citizens of Israel are told that they are not allowed to live in certain towns, even certain buildings. In some situations, their legal rights do not match up with the societal pressure from within their own community not to send their children to certain schools or live in certain areas in addition to an often belligerent Jewish community--secular or religious, of any socioeconomic class, regardless of level of education--that does not want Arabs to "infiltrate" the town. For example, just earlier this year in Carmiel, candidates for mayor ran on platforms intending to keep Arabs out of the city.

I feel that Israel's real battle is not simply secularization, but its domestic triumph will essentially be one of civil rights. Secularization is an important step in realizing the goal of equality for Israeli citizens, but the means must not replace the ends or we will never reach justice.

--Abraham