The Religionization of Israeli Society (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Politics)

During Israel's military operation in Gaza in the summer of 2014 the commanding officer of the Givati infantry brigade, Colonel Ofer Vinter, called upon his troops to fight "the terrorists who defame the God of Israel." This unprecedented call for religious war by a senior IDF commander caused an uproar, but it was just one symptom of a profound process of religionization, or de-secularization, that Israeli society has been going through since the turn of the twenty-first century.This book analyzes and explains, for the first time, the reasons for the religionization of Israeli society, a process known in Hebrew as__hadata.__Jewish religion, inseparable from Jewish nationality, was embedded in Zionism from its inception in the nineteenth century, but was subdued to a certain extent in favor of the national aspect in the interest of building a modern nation-state.__Hadata__has its origins in the 1967 war, has been accelerating since 2000, and is manifested in a number of key social fields: the military, the educational system, the media of mass communications, the__teshuvah__movement, the movement for Jewish renewal, and religious feminism. A major chapter of the book is devoted to the religionization of the visual fine arts field, a topic that has been largely neglected by previous researchers.Through careful examination of religionization, this book sheds light on a major development in Israeli society, which will additionally inform our understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As such, it is a key resource for students and scholars of Israel Studies, and those interested in the relations between religion, culture, politics and nationalism, secularization and new social movements. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Book Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Figures 9 Tables 11 Acknowledgments 12 1 Introduction: religion, secularization, nationalism, Zionism 14 Religion–secularity 18 Nationalism 19 Orthodox reactions to Zionism 21 Israeli Judaism 25 Israeli secularism 26 Religionization 29 Hegemony 34 Summary 35 Notes 36 References 37 2 The rise and fall of Labor Zionist hegemony 44 The formation of Labor Zionist hegemony 44 A corporatist economy 51 Economic liberalization 53 Summary 59 Notes 62 References 62 3 The Religious Zionist challenge 66 Religious Zionism – demography 66 The “historic partnership” 69 Status Quo Letter 71 Return of the repressed 75 1967–1973 76 Gush Emunim 79 Socio-economic orientation 84 Summary 85 Notes 87 References 87 4 Return, renewal, and in-between 94 The teshuvah movement 94 Shas and Mizrachi teshuvah 98 “Inspiration, not authority”: the Jewish renewal movement 102 Summary 107 Notes 107 References 108 5 Education 113 The religious educational sector 114 Jewish education in the secular state system 117 Civic education 122 Charedim in higher education 126 Summary 128 Notes 129 References 131 6 The IDF: from religionization to theocratization 136 Charedim and military service: sharing the burden or division of labor? 136 Religious Zionists 139 Summary 145 Notes 145 References 146 7 Nationalism and religion in the visual fine arts field 150 Kant, aesthetics, Jews 152 Integration vs. nationalization: Hermann Cohen and Martin Buber 157 Art as national education 160 Establishment of the Israeli fine arts field 162 Art education 173 Religious art making 174 Orthodox artists: a quest for change within religious Jewish orthodoxy 180 Matronita and beyond 181 Charedim in the visual arts field 192 Summary: Nimrod’s circumcision 193 Notes 195 References 196 8 Orthodox feminism 200 Leah Shakdiel 203 Women of the Wall 204 Women advocates in rabbinical courts 205 Kolech 206 Religious-feminist art 206 Summary 210 Notes 210 References 211 9 Film, TV, media 214 Film 214 Charedi films 217 Television 221 Summary 224 Notes 225 References 225 10 Conclusion 227 Political implications 229 Causes 232 Toward a constitutional theocracy? 233 Notes 235 References 236 Appendix 238 Note 238 Glossary 240 Index 242 During Israel's military operation in Gaza in the summer of 2014 the commanding officer of the Givati infantry brigade, Colonel Ofer Vinter, called upon his troops to fight "the terrorists who defame the God of Israel." This unprecedented call for religious war by a senior IDF commander caused an uproar, but it was just one symptom of a profound process of religionization, or de-secularization, that Israeli society has been going through since the turn of the twenty-first century. This book analyzes and explains, for the first time, the reasons for the religionization of Israeli society, a process known in Hebrew as hadata. Jewish religion, inseparable from Jewish nationality, was embedded in Zionism from its inception in the nineteenth century, but was subdued to a certain extent in favor of the national aspect in the interest of building a modern nation-state. Hadata has its origins in the 1967 war, has been accelerating since 2000, and is manifested in a number of key social fields: the military, the educational system, the media of mass communications, the teshuvah movement, the movement for Jewish renewal, and religious feminism. A major chapter of the book is devoted to the religionization of the visual fine arts field, a topic that has been largely neglected by previous researchers. Through careful examination of religionization, this book sheds light on a major development in Israeli society, which will additionally inform our understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As such, it is a key resource for students and scholars of Israel Studies, and those interested in the relations between religion, culture, politics and nationalism, secularization and new social movements. "During Israel's military operation in Gaza in the summer of 2014 the commanding officer of the Givati infantry brigade, Col. Ofer Vinter, called on his troops to fight "the terrorists who defame the God of Israel". This unprecedented call for religious war by a senior IDF commander caused an uproar, but it was just one symptom of a profound process of religionization, or de-secularization, that Israeli society has been going through since the turn of the twenty-first century. This book analyses and explains the reasons for the religionization of Israeli society, a process known in Hebrew as hadata. It argues that this process had its origins in the 1967 war, has been accelerating since 2000, and is manifested in a number of key social fields. It further argues that Jewish religion, inseparable from Jewish nationality, was embedded in Zionism from its inception at the end of the 19th Century but was subdued to a certain extent in favour of the national aspect in the interest of building a modern nation-state. In addition to discussing religionization in the military, the educational system, and the media of mass communications, the book includes a major chapter on the religionization of the Israeli visual fine arts field, a topic that has not been researched before now. Through careful examination of religionization, this book sheds light on a major development in Israeli society, which will additionally inform our understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As such, it is a key resource for students and scholars of Israel Studies, and those interested the relations between religion, politics and nationalism, secularization and new social movements."--Source inconnue