Who owns Judaism? Israel must take it back from the religious establishment - opinion
Israelis have not abandoned Judaism. They are abandoning those who claim ownership over it.
The upcoming elections in Israel will not only decide who forms the next government but also shape the country's identity. Amidst the debates surrounding haredi (ultra-Orthodox) military service, public funding, religious practices, and Israel's national character, a crucial question remains overlooked: who truly owns Judaism in Israel?
In Israel, a troubling belief has emerged: Judaism is synonymous with religious devotion, religiosity equates to Orthodoxy, and Orthodoxy is linked to the rabbinical establishment and haredi political parties. This mindset has led to sectoral demands rooted in the idea of Jewish superiority. Those who follow a religious lifestyle are considered the guardians of Judaism for the entire public, granting them special status.
This includes exemptions from basic civic obligations like military service, and demands for society to support a nonproductive way of life, a cost that continues to rise for the public.
Current conflicts, which have highlighted the necessity to integrate haredim into Israeli society and enlist them in the IDF, are intertwined with the struggle for Israel's Jewish identity. Moreover, the haredi control over religious institutions and services has effectively granted them control over the Jewish character of the state.
Various aspects such as kosher laws, the Chief Rabbinate, religious councils, and rabbinical appointments have become political tools that reinforce a false division of roles, alienating people from Judaism.
Conversely, a vibrant and diverse form of Israeli Judaism is emerging outside the religious establishment. This includes traditional, popular, cultural, and communal expressions in music, literature, customs, and everyday life. However, it is clear that Israelis are not abandoning Judaism altogether. Instead, they are distancing themselves from those who claim ownership over it.
The call to enlist haredim in the military and workforce must begin by returning Judaism to the people. The first step is to dismantle the notion that any single group can claim exclusive ownership of Judaism. This is one of the significant challenges facing the next government: dismantling the ideological foundation that allows one sector to appropriate Judaism and demand special privileges.
It is time to address a question that may have become taboo in Israel: Judaism does not belong to the religious establishment, the political parties, the rabbinate, or any particular sector. It belongs to all of us. In the upcoming Knesset, this principle must be implemented: breaking monopolies in religious services, restoring competition in kosher laws, transforming religious services into public services, converting the rabbinate and religious councils into institutions that serve the public, and giving local communities more power, greater roles for women, and more freedom of choice for every citizen.
In a country increasingly divided into identities and tribes, and one that must integrate its haredi population, this is no longer just a question of religion and state. It is a question about our future.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
