CHAPTER 12: Whose Country Is This, Anyway Prompt 2 Evin Hatch p. 7

Orthodox vs. Secular Jews “In Israel, alongside Israeli negotiations with the Arabs…is the competition between Orthodox Jews and Secular (Zionist) Jews” (Heilman).

What is Zionism? “Zionism largely ignored religious identity and attachment, replacing them with attachments to a place and citizenship in a Jewish state” (Heilman).

What is Orthodox? The Orthodox, on the other hand, carried on what they considered traditional Jewish life, such as readings from the Torah. (Heilman)

So what happened? “When the dust had settled by the middle of the century, Orthodox Jews found themselves part of the secular state of Israel, whose leaders were Zionists” (Heilman).

The ultra-Orthodox These believers felt very strongly that that the then Israeli culture undermined all that what authentically Jewish. (Heilman)

The “new” Orthodox Jews This second, and larger Orthodox group came to share beliefs with the Zionists. They embraced the state and its institutions while sharing the culture of modern Israel. (Heilman)

1967 Six-Day War The outcome of the Six-Day War and the conquest of much of the biblical land of Israel further stimulated the Zionist cause The evidence of the coming “redemption” led more Orthodox Jews to embody Zionist ideas. (Heilman).

Things turn bad After the Six-Day War, Israel however, gave some of the territories back to the Arab states. This made people in Israel very upset.

….then get worse Orthodox Rabbi Meir Kahane further evolved the idea that for Israel to be a Jewish state, it must get rid of all the Arabs (Heilman). This dangerous idea became very popular in Israel (Heilman).

Lasting question “Will those who consider the unity of the Jewish people the primary value prevail, or will those who see sovereignty over the entire biblical land of Israel as the highest value carry the day? The fierce battle for the heart and soul of Israeli Judaism continues…” (Heilman).