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Some preliminary thoughts by KolDor member Terry Newman, March 2007
KolDor is much more than a network of highly motivated, talented Jewish leaders of the next generation. It is a network that advocates a controversial message: Jewish Peoplehood is a means of providing a Jewish identity for the 21st century Jew. But to date all discussions have been on what Jewish Peoplehood ‘does’ rather than what Jewish Peoplehood ‘is’? So what is Jewish Peoplehood? Let us look at: (1) What it seeks to replace; (2) What it offers to the 21st century Jew; and (3) What are its challenges and implications?
What does Jewish Peoplehood seek to replace?
Jewish identity in the 20th century was built on three pillars; religion, nationalism and responses to Antisemitism. If you look at the state of the current Jewish world, nearly all of our major organisations are built around one of these pillars.
The various religious movements from the ultra-orthodox to liberal denominations focus their energies on strengthening Jewish identity through religion. These groups posit a link between the Jew and an external force that is given different names and characteristics depending on which denomination you talk to.
The State of Israel and the Jewish Agency for Israel focus on Jewish nationalism as the key component of Jewish identity. They posit a relationship between the Jew and the nation – namely rights and responsibilities – as the main way of strengthening Jewish identity.
The World Jewish Congress, The ADL and the Holocaust Educational Trust are examples of organisations that focus on fighting Antisemitism and remembering the Shoah as the key to protecting and strengthening Jewish identity. And, then there are those groups which invoke all three of these pillars in order to strengthen Jewish identity. These include the student movements and the umbrella organisations throughout the Diaspora. But none of these groups focus on Jewish Peoplehood as a fourth pillar of Jewish identity. A pillar that stands shoulder to shoulder with the existing three, a pillar that is not classed as a sub-section of existing ideological triumvirate.
What does Jewish Peoplehood offer the 21st century Jew?
These three pillars do not address the needs of the non-religious, post-nationalist Jew who is three generations removed from the Shoah and has seldom experienced Antisemitism. The stereotype of this Jew would be upper-middle class, would have a university degree, would be in the top quartile of earners in their respective country and would be proud to be Jewish but would see their commitment to the human race as of similar importance to their commitment to the Jewish people. Yet, crucially, this Jew wants to remain Jewish.
These people are a new phenomenon in Jewish history and there needs to be an ideological structure in place to offer these people Jewish identity. KolDor is developing this structure. Incidentally, this is why there are no haredim and so few mizrahim in KolDor – because they identify with one of the existing three pillars and so feel no need for developing a fourth pillar.
Contemporary Jewish organisations do not fully answer this need for a fourth pillar because their current leadership is from a generation that grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust and the rebirth of Israel. It is too strapped into the rollercoaster of the 20th century Jewish experience to understand the need for a new ideological pillar.
Jewish Peoplehood offers the non-religious, post-nationalist, optimistic Jew an ideological platform through which to identify as a Jew. It offers a means of bridging the gap between Jewish citizens of different nations and different religious streams. And, it maintains the centrality of the State of Israel as part of the equation without disregarding World Jewry.
Challenges and Implications of Jewish Peoplehood
Jewish Peoplehood of the 21st century as a solid ideological pillar is still in embryonic form. What is in this seed? Let’s start by defining what it is not, and then we can start the discussion on what it is.
We know that it is not religion, nationalism or a response to Antisemitism. And, we know that is not a mixture of all three of the above. Rather it is an attempt to create something new, a new narrative that can speak to those who do not connect with the existing narratives.
To date, we have translated the concept of social action from the personal responsibility of an individual Jew to the global responsibility of the Jewish People. The success of Jewish Social Action Month (JSAM) in only its second year shows that there is a longing for such translations. Jews from across the globe participated in social action projects throughout the month of Cheshvan and the Knesset is debating whether to enter JSAM into the official Israeli calendar. This is part of the larger process of moving Judaism from the ‘I’ to the ‘We’.
We have stressed a new educational channel that teaches Jewish Peoplehood as an integral subject. It is no longer a sub-chapter of Jewish religion or Jewish nationalism. Rather, Jewish Peoplehood is a subject worthy of study in its own right. That is about it in concrete terms. We have been set the task of drawing the map. And, with this comes creativity, responsibility and danger.
Religion posits a relationship between the Jew and a higher being, nationalism posits a relationship between the Jew and a state entity, and Antisemitism posits a relationship between the Jew and Jew-haters. Jewish Peoplehood posits a relationship between the Jew and a people – the Jewish People. The content and nature of this relationship is yet to be defined. This is one of our key tasks Here there is a danger. In attempting to further develop this ideological pillar for the post-religious, post-nationalist and optimistic Jew we could create a new ideology that could easily slip into ‘worship of the people.’ We should be wary of idealising ‘Peoplehood’ in the same manner that those in previous generations idealised ‘Nation’ above all else.
Conclusion
Today's ideological situation is very similar to that of the late 19th century. The 'assimilated elite' of the Jewish People have been told by their host society (western culture - which includes parts of Israeli society) not to assimilate, but to remain Jewish. Whereas in the late 19th century it was an exclusivist Antisemitism that caused this rejection, today it is an inclusivist multiculturalism that stresses the centrality of ethnic identity.
Whereas in the late 19th century the response was to turn to a new form of nationalism developed in mid-19th century Europe, today we turn to ‘Peoplehood’ – an ideological construct that fits into the matrix provided by existing national and multicultural structures.
And, just as the first 50 years of Jewish nationalism witnessed a lack of clarity over the meaning of Jewish nationalism in both content and application: eretz yisrael vs Uganda vs bundists vs Argentina, bi-national state vs Jewish state, religious zionists vs socialist utopianists; revisionists vs labour activists, messianic longing vs military activism. Similarly today Jewish Peoplehood lacks clarity in meaning - both in content and application.
Jewish nationalism succeeded in large part because it evaded clarity and spoke in different voices to different audiences. Similarly, today Jewish Peoplehood might succeed to capture the imagination of the Jews for exactly the same reason.
Jewish Peoplehood offers a new rallying cry for Jews who are not satisfied with the existing three pillars. If this is to be the case, we need to make development of the content of that pillar a priority. We might find that Jewish Peoplehood does not have sufficient traction to hold the weight of a true pillar or that it is potentially stronger than the other three. The only way to test this is to develop our ideas and get them out into the open.
Terry Newman
March 2007 |