I Recommend Bernard Avishai's "The Hebrew Republic"

Last year, I read an intriguing book by Bernard Avishai, “The Hebrew Republic: How Secular Democracy and Global Enterprise Will Bring Israel Peace at Last,” and I read it again this year. I very much recommend it. Although I don’t agree with everything in Mr. Avishai’s book (when could you expect 2 or more Jews to agree on everything?), I agree with the general idea that Israel should become more inclusive and be based more on the Hebrew language and culture than on the Jewish religion. That includes among other things giving the Israeli Arabs equality in more than just equality before the law and the ability to vote. I agree that non-Arab, non-Jewish people (like the Thais and Filipinos) who come to work in Israel and would like to stay as productive citizens and raise their children as Hebrew speaking cultural Israelis should be allowed to do so as long as Israel has the resources to accommodate them. Greater inclusiveness would turn the demographic clock in Hebrew Israel’s favor and make Arabism less threatening. I also agree with his idea that science, technology, and participation in the global technology are Israel’s greatest hope for the future.

Mr. Avishai says in his title that “secular democracy and global enterprise will bring Israel peace at last” (from his mouth to God’s ears). I believe that the ideas proposed by Mr. Avishai will make Israel stronger. A strong military is only one component of power. Full equality and full inclusion of all the citizens of a nation are equally important components. But will it bring peace? Maybe yes and maybe no. I think most Israeli Arabs would be happy with greater inclusion in their country. I don’t know what Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank would think about it, or Arabs living elsewhere who consider themselves to be Palestinians, or non-Palestinian Arabs, or other Moslems. I don’t think it will make Moslem fundamentalists happy. They might find that they missed an opportunity by not coming to terms with an inward looking Jewish theocracy with limited goals within what it considers its own borders (as much as possible of Eretz Yisrael?). An inclusive Israeli Hebrew Republic, if and when it actually comes to pass (and I think it will because it has already started), will hit them like a tornado. They might at some time in the future find themselves allies with a disenfranchised Jewish Orthodoxy.

Mr. Avishai and I probably look at Israel from a different perspective. He is a North American Jew who chose to live in Israel. I am a Diaspora Jew who has lived his whole life (76 years so far) in the USA (other than 1 year doing military service in South Korea). I like it here in Southern California and have no desire to live the rest of my life elsewhere. My interest in Israel is my belief in “kol Yisroel achim,” in other words all Jews are related, we have each other’s backs, and 1/3 of all the Jews in the world live in Israel. In fact a number of Israelis actually are my relatives (my nephew and his family as well as some cousins). I really am concerned about their welfare and safety.

I know that Mr. Avishai is a Jew like me, but I don’t know what his more specific religious beliefs are. As a non-fundamentalist Jew, I believe in God. As I have written in previous entries in this blog, I think the important issue is not whether or not one believes in God but why one believes in God. I believe religion is a human endeavor to grapple with the meaning of existence. The details are less important. God is not a real estate agent who assigns this or that building, monument, or piece of land to certain people. As Mr Avishai alluded in his book, there is a religious vacuum in Israel between state supported fundamentalist Jewish Orthodoxy and the absence of organized religion, and therefore many Israelis travel to Hindu and Buddhist countries to temporarily fill the vacuum. I believe that the promotion of non-fundamentalist Judaism like Reformed and Conservative (perhaps a misnomer because American Conservative Judaism is actually liberal) can fill the vacuum.

Last year I had occasion to be in Chicago during Yom Kippur and had to find a synagogue. I stumbled on a synagogue called Mishkan. I went there because at a reasonable price one could buy a ticket for only Yom Kippur or only Rosh Hashonah. Mishkan does not own a building, but meets in various places and attracts a large congregation. It is not part of any movement. It is wonderfully inclusive (gays, mixed marriages, travelers, anyone). It is particularly attractive to young people. The services are vibrant, emotional, very Jewish, without the sterile Goyish feeling one might get in some ultra-Reform synagogues. It’s almost like a very liberal, non-fundamentalist Hassidism without the stifling conformity of real Hassidism. In fact, Mishkan at times partners with a local Hassidic synagogue in some of their programs. If there were a Mishkan in the San Fernando Valley, perhaps I would join. The reason I mention Mishkan here is that I believe that Mr. Avishai’s Hebrew Republic needs a religious component to fill the vacuum between Orthodoxy and nothing in order to keep Judaism alive there when the present world fundamentalist fad fades. Thinking about God without the political crap is a real human need and will not disappear because basic unencumbered religion deals with a real issue posed by the temporary existence of conscious life which will not soon (if ever) be answered by science alone. I believe any non-fundamentalist Judaism will do, but I mention Mishkan because it seems particularly inclusive and could be a model to attract unaffiliated Jews in Israel as well as the Diaspora. Also, just as some Israeli Moslems are attracted to Israel’s technology and globalism, a non-fundamentalist inclusive Judaism could stimulate Moslems in Israel to develop their own non-fundamentalist inclusive Islam. And if you cut out the details, is there really such a difference between Judaism and Islam?