Bridging Hybridity: The Complex Nature of Secular Jewish Identity in Israel and Its Theoretical Framing
Abstract
The paper discusses multiple theoretical perspectives on secularism and its specific conditions in Israel regarding the complex character of Jewish ethno-religious identity. The traditional concept of secularization (secularization theory) creates a dichotomy of believer and non-believer.
Such approach closes off the possibility of conceptual grasp of Jewish identity, which is based not exclusively on religion but also on specific form of ius sanguinis. But is it even possible, or put in a different way: is it something we should try to do? In the particular context of the State of Israel (which is defined as Jewish by law), by being born to a Jewish mother, one becomes a Jew ethnically without having to perform his or her belonging to Judaism.
To be a Jew is a "default setting" for the majority of its population, regardless of the level of its religiosity. Although, substantial part of Jewish Israeli society defines itself as secular, as a recent survey has shown, the majority of secular Jews observes at least some of the religious rules, celebrate Jewish holidays, or relate to Judaism as a formative principle of the nation.
Therefore, in the Israeli context, secularism cannot be understood as atheism, but must be framed in a differentiated way, taking into account the interconnectedness of ethnicity, religion and Jewish character of the state itself. One approach that helps to bridge the dichotomy of secularization is the post-secular paradigm that allows us to consider the hybrid nature of secular Jewish identity in Israel which greatly differs from the one in diaspora.