One of the most frequently repeated mantras of a number of important religious teachers in Israel is that secular Zionism has failed. The implication, of course, though no one states it so bluntly, is that the people of Israel need to do tshuvah (repent) in order to survive, that only a completely religious Jewish society has a future in the Middle East.
This message is often delivered in a patronizing tone, and contains wholesale condemnation of the secular Zionists who supposedly failed to transmit their ideology to future generations, and who have also failed in their goal of building a "normal" society.
While it is true that Israel is anything but a "normal" society, and it is also true that there are not a few 'post-Zionists' in the academic and media elites of Israel, I think a more balanced consideration of a very complex reality is in order.
First of all, the historical reality. The state of Israel was founded and was brought into being by the efforts and sacrifices of many people, secular and religious alike - but the overwhelming majority of these were secular. Here, I will not go into the important tangent of religious resistance to Zionism. A strong remnant of this phenomenon is present today in the abstention from any contribution to the physical effort for Israel's survival among a large share of the Israeli religious public. Rather, I would like to emphasize the tremendous contributions made by secular Zionism in Israel.
First of all, secular Zionists were the predominant power in building the modern state of Israel. Israel is by no means perfect, but there are few states that have come into the world in the past half-century that can equal the contributions it has made to mankind in a whole variety of important areas, from agriculture to medicine, from music to literature, from economics to public health. Israel, in its quality of life, is in the upper rung of the world's nations.
Israel has also faced challenges to its existence of a kind no other nation has faced. Essentially, it has been engaged in one long war, even before the time of its founding, against societies and powers greater in size and wealth. Its continued survival, and even growth and development, in the face of the constant threats and hostility of many of its neighbors is proof of the dedication of its people. Its continued existence as a democratic society in a sea of totalitarian tyranny mark it out as an exceptional success.
Israel has absorbed more immigrants, relatively, more successfully than any nation in the world. Religious Jews have played a great part in this, but so have secular Zionists.
Secular Zionists were central in doing what no other people succeeded in doing, bringing to life an ancient language and making it the living tongue of a growing young nation.
The frequent argument made against secular Zionists is that they have lost all faith in the enterprise. They do not believe any more. And it is true that, at present, nearly one-third of secular conscripts no longer take as sacred the obligation to join the army to defend the state. There has been decline and the religious critics are right about this. But in the recent Lebanon war, the overwhelming mass of secular Jews showed their willingness and readiness to serve. The dedication of this sector - including those whom the religious public most love to scorn, the kibbutzniks - speaks loudly and sadly from among the lists of those killed and injured in battle. Are we to say that those secular Israelis who went to fight for Israel are wholly without Zionist motivation?
Are we to say that the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who work and make their family lives in the Jewish state are less committed to Israel than the hundreds of thousands of Jews, religious or not, who choose not to live in Israel?
It seems to me that the religious public should take its cue on this subject from one of its leading teachers, Rabbi Shlomo Aviner. He consistently preaches against the attitude of contempt for and dismissal of non-religious Israelis, and the contributions they make to the society. His sense of Israel's ideal future is of a religious society living in accordance with the teachings of Torah, but he is wise and broadminded enough to know those who do not think as he does, who do not act as he does in everything, still may have real values and make a real contribution to Jewish life and survival here and now.
Moreover, it seems to me that, beyond the undeniable contributions of individual secular Zionists, there is something to be said for the persistence of, and perhaps even revival of, secular Zionism as an ideology. I would maintain that many Jews who live in Israel, care about Israel, and belong to Israel, do so because they care about Jewish history and its lessons. Their understanding of the patterns of Jewish suffering and exile have led them to believe that the Jewish people must have a home of their own, in which they can develop and defend a society and culture of their own.
Here, of course, comes the famed 'abnormality', and the fact that our being here has not brought us complete security, nor the peace we long for. In fact, hostility against the Jewish state today is at record levels. But it makes no more sense to blame secular Jews for this than it does religious ones. Neither the secular dream of normalcy and security, nor the religious vision of the Return and inauguration of the Messianic Age of peace on earth have as yet come to realization. This does not mean that they will not, one day.
As for now, though, we Jews in Israel - religious and secular alike - must come to be devoted to our common struggle to endure, to survive, and to build a society of greater goodness and justice. One step towards that is, of course, respecting and honoring each other.
This message is often delivered in a patronizing tone, and contains wholesale condemnation of the secular Zionists who supposedly failed to transmit their ideology to future generations, and who have also failed in their goal of building a "normal" society.
While it is true that Israel is anything but a "normal" society, and it is also true that there are not a few 'post-Zionists' in the academic and media elites of Israel, I think a more balanced consideration of a very complex reality is in order.
First of all, the historical reality. The state of Israel was founded and was brought into being by the efforts and sacrifices of many people, secular and religious alike - but the overwhelming majority of these were secular. Here, I will not go into the important tangent of religious resistance to Zionism. A strong remnant of this phenomenon is present today in the abstention from any contribution to the physical effort for Israel's survival among a large share of the Israeli religious public. Rather, I would like to emphasize the tremendous contributions made by secular Zionism in Israel.
First of all, secular Zionists were the predominant power in building the modern state of Israel. Israel is by no means perfect, but there are few states that have come into the world in the past half-century that can equal the contributions it has made to mankind in a whole variety of important areas, from agriculture to medicine, from music to literature, from economics to public health. Israel, in its quality of life, is in the upper rung of the world's nations.
Israel has also faced challenges to its existence of a kind no other nation has faced. Essentially, it has been engaged in one long war, even before the time of its founding, against societies and powers greater in size and wealth. Its continued survival, and even growth and development, in the face of the constant threats and hostility of many of its neighbors is proof of the dedication of its people. Its continued existence as a democratic society in a sea of totalitarian tyranny mark it out as an exceptional success.
Israel has absorbed more immigrants, relatively, more successfully than any nation in the world. Religious Jews have played a great part in this, but so have secular Zionists.
Secular Zionists were central in doing what no other people succeeded in doing, bringing to life an ancient language and making it the living tongue of a growing young nation.
The frequent argument made against secular Zionists is that they have lost all faith in the enterprise. They do not believe any more. And it is true that, at present, nearly one-third of secular conscripts no longer take as sacred the obligation to join the army to defend the state. There has been decline and the religious critics are right about this. But in the recent Lebanon war, the overwhelming mass of secular Jews showed their willingness and readiness to serve. The dedication of this sector - including those whom the religious public most love to scorn, the kibbutzniks - speaks loudly and sadly from among the lists of those killed and injured in battle. Are we to say that those secular Israelis who went to fight for Israel are wholly without Zionist motivation?
Are we to say that the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who work and make their family lives in the Jewish state are less committed to Israel than the hundreds of thousands of Jews, religious or not, who choose not to live in Israel?
It seems to me that the religious public should take its cue on this subject from one of its leading teachers, Rabbi Shlomo Aviner. He consistently preaches against the attitude of contempt for and dismissal of non-religious Israelis, and the contributions they make to the society. His sense of Israel's ideal future is of a religious society living in accordance with the teachings of Torah, but he is wise and broadminded enough to know those who do not think as he does, who do not act as he does in everything, still may have real values and make a real contribution to Jewish life and survival here and now.
Moreover, it seems to me that, beyond the undeniable contributions of individual secular Zionists, there is something to be said for the persistence of, and perhaps even revival of, secular Zionism as an ideology. I would maintain that many Jews who live in Israel, care about Israel, and belong to Israel, do so because they care about Jewish history and its lessons. Their understanding of the patterns of Jewish suffering and exile have led them to believe that the Jewish people must have a home of their own, in which they can develop and defend a society and culture of their own.
Here, of course, comes the famed 'abnormality', and the fact that our being here has not brought us complete security, nor the peace we long for. In fact, hostility against the Jewish state today is at record levels. But it makes no more sense to blame secular Jews for this than it does religious ones. Neither the secular dream of normalcy and security, nor the religious vision of the Return and inauguration of the Messianic Age of peace on earth have as yet come to realization. This does not mean that they will not, one day.
As for now, though, we Jews in Israel - religious and secular alike - must come to be devoted to our common struggle to endure, to survive, and to build a society of greater goodness and justice. One step towards that is, of course, respecting and honoring each other.