The Ark of the Covenant carried by the Jewish people through the desert during their biblical wonderings from Egypt to the land of Israel contained two sets of The Ten Commandments. One set of tablets remained intact. The other- shattered into pieces by Moses upon seeing the Children of Israel worshiping the Golden Calf- lay fragmented within the golden Ark. These two copies of the foremost guiding doctrine in Jewish history, one broken and one whole, were integral components in completing the most hallowed space and symbol in the Jewish world.
The Hebrew title of a new book edited by IDI Senior Research Fellows Aviezer Ravitzky and Yedidia Stern, is named after these two sets of tablets, Dvarim V’shivrei Dvarim (literally, ‘objects and fractured objects’). This text brings together writings of the foremost scholars on the relationship between the Jewish religion and the modern State of Israel. The Jewish people, identity and institutions of Israel- both the fractured and complete (a subjective judgment in the extreme) - are explored at length. The book, entitled The Jewishness of Israel in English, seeks a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by the State as it grapples with the myriad of Jewish opinions, traditions, sensitivities and hopes that comprise its cultural fabric. Ravitzky and Stern contribute, as do the other 17 scholars featured in this text, to the vital conversation taking place today surrounding the essence and function of the State of Israel.
Articles written by top researchers, rabbis, lawyers, politicians and educators clarify the intense difficulties found in unifying millions of immigrants, from thousands of Diaspora communities across the world, into one cohesive Jewish nation. They recognize the problematic nature of dual sources of authority; State law and Torah law. They struggle with the tension between maintaining a liberal democracy and a traditional Jewish identity. The merging of the modern with the ancient, with its ever-present emotional and pragmatic strain, is examined by some of Israel’s top scholars- all of whom both study and live within this complex reality.
On October 31st, the Israel Democracy Institute, in conjunction with Beit Avi Chai, held an event to mark the official public release of The Jewishness of Israel. In celebration of this seminal text, a panel was convened consisting of 6 of the book’s contributors: Knesset member Dr. Yossi Beilin, Dr. Arye Carmon, and Professors Ruth Gavison, Yedidia Stern, Menachem Mautner, and Ella Belfer. A powerful, emotional discussion took place before the roughly 200 attendees in the crowded lecture hall. The diverse panelists presented a difficult preview of the ideological hurdles standing before this generation of Israelis. Conversion, the Sabbath, divorce, agricultural law, minority rights, immigration policy, and countless other issues central to the functioning of Israeli society are inseparably tied to Jewish tradition. It should therefore come as no surprise that there are as many opinions and perspectives on these topics as there are denominations and interpretations of Judaism itself.
The presenters, by the end of the debate, illustrated through their dialogue a primary premise of the book; that “the question of the Jewishness of a democratic state is a relevant and inexhaustible question which is only beginning to be explored.” It became clear that the intertwined destinies of the citizens of Israel create tension and concern. When sensitive and fundamental issues arise, members of a successful democracy will feel vulnerable- their individual futures, and nation’s collective future, under the scrutiny and influence of others.
So long as a diverse swath of Jewish people- the broken and the completed, semi-whole and the partially torn, mostly deficient and the relatively intact- continue to sit together in this land, in this geographic Ark of the Covenant, then the process of peaceful dialogue and intellectual investment will continue to play a key role in determining the Jewish people’s national future. Both the fractured and completed tablets will remain in the Ark together, equally critical to Israel’s unique and evolving character.
The Jewishness of Israel is currently available only in Hebrew (with an English abstract)
To read more about Religion and State, click here
For other IDI English publications on ‘religion and state’, click here