In Search of Identity: Jewish Aspects in Israeli Culture

by Dan Urian (Editor), Efraim Karsh (Editor)

Overview

Culture has played a focal role in the shaping of Jewish-Israeli national identity. Since the 1950s, Israeli culture has been disintegrating into simultaneous sub-cultures. The contributors discuss the nature and characteristics of this cultural tension and the nature of Jewishness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780714644400
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/01/1998
Series:	Israeli History, Politics and Society , #7
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

Dan Urian, Efraim Karsh

Table of Contents

Part 1 Cultural tension: Judaism in Israel culture, Eliezer Schweid; secular Judaism and its prospects, Charles S. Liebman; between hegemony and dormant Kulturkampf in Israel, Baruch Kimmerling; shall we find sufficient strength? on behalf of Israel secularism, Gershon Shaked; between Rabbi Shach and modern Hebrew literature, Dan Miron. Part 2 The Jewishness of Israeli identity: spiritual rootlessness and circumscription to the here and now in the Sabra World View, Avraham Shapira; the Shdemot circle members in search of Jewish sources, Gad Ufaz; Jewish education in the Jewish state, David Zisenwine. Part 3 Artistic representations of Jewish identity: Sisera's mother and the Trojan women - on universal aspects of the Jewish/Israeli theatre, Eli Rozik-Rosen; from Jew to Hebrew - the Zionist narrative in the Israeli cinema of the 1940s and 1950s, Nurit Gertz; the theme of Jerusalem in the works of the Israeli fathers of conceptual arts, Moderchai Omer; The Dybbuk revisited - images of religious Jews on the Israeli stage, Shimon Levy.

Editorial Reviews

As Israel celebrates its 50th anniversary, it faces a deepening sense of crisis over identity ironically just when hopes for peace are warily ascending. In three sections, 16 contributors examine the national tensions involving secular and religious subcultures, the Jewishness of Israeli identity, and artistic representations of Jewish identity. This group of studies first appeared in a special issue of Israeli Affairs (ISSN 1353-7121), v. 4, nos. 3&4, Spring/Summer 1998. Includes chapter notes but no bibliography. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

'engaging and dynamic book...This comprehensive collection of articles will be of perticular interest to students and scholars of Jewish-Israeli culture and to any reader with an interest in the subject.' - Religious Studies Review

From the Publisher