Jewish Identities: Fifty Intellectuals Answer Ben Gurion (Jewish Identities in a Changing World Jewish Identities in a)

421 Pages·2002·1.4 MB·English

by  Eliezer Ben-Rafael

JEWISH IDENTITIES:
Fifty Intellectuals
Answer Ben Gurion
ELIEZER BEN-RAFAEL
BRILL
JEWISH IDENTITIES
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JEWISH IDENTITIES
Fifty Intellectuals Answer Ben Gurion
BY
ELIEZER BEN-RAFAEL
BRILL
LEIDEN •BOSTON •KÖLN
2002
Ben-Rafael.vw.c 12-07-2002 14:21 Pagina IV
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in Publication data
Ben-Rafael, Eliezer.
Jewish identities : fifty intellectuals answer Ben Gurion / by Eliezer
Ben-Rafael.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 9004125353 (alk. paper)
1. Jews—Identity. 2. Jews—Israel—Identity. 3. Ben-Gurion, David,
1886-1973. I. Title.
DS143.B46513 2002
305.892’4—dc21 2002073529
Deutsche Bibliothek – CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
Jewish identities : fifty intellectuals answer Ben Gurion / Eliezer
Ben-Rafael.– Leiden ; Boston ;Köln: Brill, 2002
ISBN 90-04-12535-3
ISBN 90 04 12535 3
© Copyright 2002 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
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Fees are subject to change.
printed in the netherlands
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ...................................................................... ix
Foreword, by Joseph Gorny ........................................................ xi
Preface ........................................................................................ xix
PART ONE
WHAT IS A JEW?
Introduction ................................................................................ 3
CHAPTER ONE: ENTERING THE MODERN ERA ...... 9
The Decline of a Caste ........................................................ 9
Orthodoxy as Conservative Change .................................... 12
Non-Orthodox Judaism .......................................................... 16
The Enlightenment in Eastern Europe ................................ 20
Zionism and the Bund .......................................................... 22
The Space of Identities .......................................................... 26
CHAPTER TWO: BEN-GURION’S
CORRESPONDENTS .......................................................... 31
A Phoenix Generation .......................................................... 31
Three Syndromes .................................................................... 36
The Caste Syndrome ........................................................ 37
The Ethno-cultural Syndrome .......................................... 41
The National Syndrome ...................................................... 46
Conclusion .............................................................................. 52
CHAPTER THREE: ISRAELI-JEWISH IDENTITIES ...... 56
Introduction ............................................................................ 56
Revolution, Unity, and Elitism .............................................. 57
The Role of Religion ............................................................ 61
Ethnic Divides ........................................................................ 66
The Mizrakhim .................................................................. 67
Immigrants from the former Soviet Union ...................... 70
Israeli Arabs .......................................................................... 72
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Ideological Controversies ........................................................ 73
Conflictual Multiculturalism .................................................. 79
CHAPTER FOUR: JEWISH IDENTITIES IN THE
DIASPORA—THE CASE OF AMERICA ........................ 82
Social Achievements and Demographic Risks .................... 82
A Religion of Congregations ................................................ 86
The Future at Issue ................................................................ 90
Cultural Ethnicity .................................................................. 94
CHAPTER FIVE: DIVERGENCE AND
CONVERGENCE OF JEWISH IDENTITIES ................ 99
Beyond Traditional Identity .................................................. 99
After Migration, the Holocaust, and Establishment of
the State .............................................................................. 103
At the Dawn of the 21st Century ........................................ 106
“Family Resemblance” and Tensions .................................. 110
PART TWO
WHO IS A JEW?
Preamble ...................................................................................... 117
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION, by Shalom Ratzaby .... 119
The Starting Point ...................................................................... 119
The Ger before the Destruction of the First Temple ............ 121
From Ezra and Nehemiah to the End of the Second
Temple Period ........................................................................ 127
Conversion as Entrance into Abraham’s Covenant ................ 139
BEN-GURION’S QUERY ........................................................ 144
THE LETTERS OF THE SAGES
1. Shmuel Yossef Agnon ...................................................... 151
2. Alexander Altmann ............................................................ 153
3. Henry Baruk ...................................................................... 158
4. Shmuel Hugo Bergmann .................................................. 166
5. Isaiah Berlin ...................................................................... 168
6. Yehuda Bourla .................................................................. 177
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7. Haim Hermann Cohn .................................................... 180
8. Louis Eliezer Halevi Finkelstein .................................... 194
9. Felix Frankfurter .............................................................. 197
10. Solomon B. Freehof ........................................................ 199
11. Shlomo Goren ................................................................ 204
12. Aryeh Leib Grossnass, Meir Lew, Abraham
Rappoport, Meir Halevy Steinberg and
Morris Swift .................................................................... 220
13. Zecharya Hacohen .......................................................... 223
14. Shalom Yitzhak Halevi .................................................. 230
15. Hayim Hazaz .................................................................. 236
16. Yitzhak Isaac Halevi Herzog .......................................... 238
17. Abraham Joshua Heschel ................................................ 240
18. Joseph Shlomo Kahaneman .......................................... 243
19. Yossef Kappah ................................................................ 247
20. Jacob Kaplan .................................................................. 254
21. Mordecai Menahem Kaplan .......................................... 257
22. Yekhezkel Kaufmann ...................................................... 261
23. Aaron Kotler .................................................................... 268
24. Dante Lattes .................................................................... 272
25. Saul Lieberman ................................................................ 274
26. Yehuda Leib Hakohen Maimon .................................... 278
27. Moshe Maisels ................................................................ 280
28. André Neher .................................................................... 285
29. Salomon Rodrigues Pereira ............................................ 289
30. Chaim Perelman .............................................................. 290
31. Simon H. Rifkind ............................................................ 293
32. Yecheskiel Sarne .............................................................. 294
33. Joseph Schecter ................................................................ 296
34. Menachem Mendel Schneerson .................................... 298
35. Sh. (Shalom Joseph Shapira) Shalom ............................ 300
36. Moshe Silberg .................................................................. 303
37. Akiva Ernst Simon .......................................................... 308
38. Leon (Arye) Simon .......................................................... 316
39. Joseph Dov Soloveitchik and Chaim Heller ................ 321
40. Alfredo Shabtai Toaff .................................................... 323
41. Elio Raffaelo Toaff .......................................................... 327
42. Ephraim A. Urbach ........................................................ 329
43. Yekhiel Weinberg ............................................................ 333
44. Tsevi (Harry A.) Wolfson .............................................. 347
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45. Aaron Zeitlin .................................................................... 351
46. Shlomo Y. Zevin ............................................................ 355
Glossary of Hebrew Words ...................................................... 359
References .................................................................................... 364
Index ............................................................................................ 381
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to thank with warmth the Ben-Gurion Center at Sde Boker
and the Ben-Gurion Archives for their support and cooperation. This
work would never been accomplished without the backing of Tuvia
Friling who was then the Director of the Center, Shaul Shragay who
took on himself the publication of the original Hebrew version and
Nilly Landsberger who was much more than an editor—inquiring
with enthusiasm into the slightest details.
My deepest gratitude goes to Joed Elich, the Senior Acquisition
Officer for Brill Academic Press who, from the very first moment,
showed interest and enthusiasm in this work. I also include here
Anita Roodnat, the Editor of the Religion Unit.
My profound thankfulness and appreciation go to Ms Sara Kitai
who translated in English the Hebrew version of this work and over-
came the numerous intricacies which my own text comprised, as
well as those which were inherent to the complexity of the task that
the Sages confronted, on behalf of Ben-Gurion’s request from them.
I also take the opportunity here to convey my utmost respect for
the Sages themselves who had accepted the challenge set by Ben-
Gurion, the founder of the State of Israel, to confront in the frame
of a simple letter the most complicated issue of Judaism ever, namely,
“who and what is a Jew”.
In addition, I have to express my best feelings and gratitude to
Yossef Gorny and Shalom Ratsabi who both accepted to contribute
their precious knowledge to this venture, the former by composing
a foreword offering the outlook of a renowned historian, and the
latter with a chapter at the measure of his incomparable mastery of
the Holy Scriptures.
My wife Miriam, as always, has very much added to this work
by her constant encouragement, and I would forget an essential part
of this endeavor if I did not mention the warm and exciting family
atmosphere where my grandchildren Or, Tomer, Ron and Lian play
the major role.
Eliezer Ben-Rafael
Ramat-Hasharon, March 2002