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State and Religion in Israel
Why the Separation of State and Religion is Inappropriate
for Israel
Shlomo Sharan
Elections to the 15th
Knesset in May 1999 once again brought to the forefront of Israel’s
political life the problem of the relationship between state and
religion. The ultra-Orthodox Shas party became the 3rd largest
political party in Israel, and the newly formed Shinui party, elected on
the basis of a narrow and exclusively anti-religious political platform,
acquired 6 seats in the Knesset. Shinui, the Left-wing Meretz party and
other extra-parliamentary groups, seek the adoption of a constitution that
would formerly separate Judaism as a religion from the State of Israel as
a secular nation. Such separation, claim the pro-secularist groups, would
prevent the concentration of political power in the hands of the
ultra-Orthodox parties (Haredim), as well as rectifying conditions created
by what the secularists perceive to be coercive and anti-democratic
legislation.
There are many reasons why
separation of state and religion is inappropriate for Israel. Among these
are:
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The Jewish
cultural-religious-historical heritage consists of the unfolding of
Jewry’s creativity over a period of 3,400 years. It is not identified
solely with the Talmud and Midrash. The latter possess enormous breadth
and depth, having evolved over an 800-year period (200 B.C.E. to 600
C.E.), but Judaism as the Jewish historical heritage continued to evolve
to this very day. This entire heritage, including Zionism, forms the
basis of the State of Israel as a Jewish nation. Consequently,
separation of Judaism from the State is tantamount to undermining the
foundations of Israel.
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The social cohesion of
Israeli society, reconstituted as a body politic after 19 centuries of
exile by Jews from all over the globe, depends upon Jewry’s identity as
a distinct historical-religious-ethnic-national entity. Removal of any
of these elements by shortsighted legislation could destroy the internal
fabric of Israeli society and seriously weaken its ties to Diaspora
Jewry.
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Separation of state and
religion would not eradicate the antagonism between the two militant
poles, secularist and Haredi, of Israeli society. That conflict can be
alleviated only through a long process of political compromise and
visionary leadership.
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4. Israel is only one of many
ethnic democracies (such as Finland, Norway, Korea, etc. etc), that have
one ethnic majority and one or several minorities that do not share
ownership of the national territory. Israel’s identity as a Jewish
nation is no less democratic than any other of these countries. Almost
all of the ethnic democracies also have an official state religion, just
as Judaism is the official national religion of Israel. An official
state religion, along with a dominant ethnic majority, are fundamental
features of many democratic nations.
Finally, Israel Jewry is
urged to undertake a profound reconstruction of its cultural-religious
life. The goals are to promote a higher level of awareness regarding
Jewry’s historical-religious heritage among Israel’s Jewish citizens, and
to make it possible for all major Jewish subgroups, that are devoted to
promoting Jewish historical continuity, to identify with the State of
Israel.
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