Israeli Jew

שו”ת › Israeli Jew

asked 1 year ago

Hello Rabbi Michi,
I hear more people today who want to define themselves after 7/10 as Jews and less as Israelis. Why? Does the rabbi think that if we become more Israelis it will be harder for us to deal with our enemies? So what is the rational explanation for this? I understand that Israeliness is an identity with a very thin layer and not deep enough roots, but is the goal of strengthening Judaism to create a significant common denominator among Jewish society?

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מיכי Staff answered 2 months ago

This is a well-known psychological phenomenon and not a new one. Many say that because of the Holocaust they see themselves as Jews (regardless of belief in God). When you are persecuted for your Jewishness, it strengthens your Jewish consciousness. Clearly, there is a dimension of collective survival here (the survival of the gene and not of the individual, as Rabbi Dawkins Shlita said). If we do not cling to our Jewish identity and defend it, then we will be destroyed and/or scattered around the world (if I am persecuted for my Jewishness, why shouldn’t I give it up and make it disappear). Psychological phenomena have no need to seek philosophical justification. Perhaps evolutionary justification.

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נועם replied 1 year ago

Thank you. You write: ” If I am persecuted for my Judaism, why shouldn't I give it up”? But historically we have seen that it did not help. In other words, even though there was an attempt to assimilate, the Jews were still persecuted.

מיכי Staff replied 1 year ago

I have already written that there is no point in looking for justifications for psychological phenomena.
Beyond that, you are also not necessarily right that it did not help. It did not always help. The fact that it never helped is, in my opinion, religious propaganda to strengthen the camp and human beings.

נועם replied 1 year ago

In conclusion, (I think Dr. Micah Goodman also wrote about this in his latest book, "The Eighth Day") that in order to defeat our enemy, we need the broadest common denominator in Israeli society, and apparently that broad common denominator is Jewish identity. What's more, in my opinion, this also creates a greater affinity for the Land of Israel. What does the Rabbi think about this?

מיכי Staff replied 1 year ago

Maybe. The subject doesn't particularly interest me.