Tweet

Share
 

"I am a Jew, and for me, being a Jew is the most important thing. I view it as my personal responsibility, as a Jew and as prime minister of the Jewish state, to ensure the future of the Jewish people for the next 30 years, the next 300 years, and God willing, the next 3,000 years."
— Ariel Sharon, May 29

The Jewish Agency's Masa program, whose official launch recently inspired these words, will invest up to $100 million from the Israeli government toward the goal of bringing 20,000 young Jews to Israel annually on six- to 12-month programs. Shamed into action by the success of Birthright Israel, which has already brought tens of thousands of Jews to Israel on 10-day programs, Israel is finally putting its oar gingerly in the water of the struggle for the Jewish future.

Birthright (which is also partially, if insufficiently, funded by Israel) and Masa are the first major projects that promise to turn Sharon's words into more than a rhetorical flourish, barely heard and quickly forgotten. But so far they exist in a vacuum, unaccompanied by the paradigm shift that needs to occur in Israel-diaspora relations.

Israel has historically seen its mission to the Jewish people in terms of rescue and refuge. The Entebbe hostage rescue, Operation Solomon, whisking to Israel thousands of Ethiopian Jews, and the 1990s Russian wave of aliyah all symbolize our self-image of a country that acts on a grand scale to save its people.

What we have still not absorbed is that our historic mission has to be transformed to address new circumstances. Though anti-Semitism remains, in some places, a growing problem and the function of providing refuge continues, on a more fundamental level the challenge has shifted. The greatest long-term threat to Jewish aspirations and existence is not persecution, but assimilation.

Israel is not oblivious to this, but its initial, belated response has been limited to encouraging Jews to visit and study. These efforts should have been a no-brainer in any case since such visits help the Israeli economy, bolster the identity of Jewish diaspora and encourage aliyah.

Israeli leaders have come a long way from the days when they avoided granting legitimacy to the diaspora's existence, insisting that a Jew's only rightful place was

here. Now that Israel has finally surpassed the United States as home to the largest Jewish community in the world, and the diaspora role in supporting Israel politically and financially is better appreciated, "negating the diaspora" has become passe.

Where the ideological and intellectual leap has still not been made is in understanding that Israel also has a profound interest in shoring up diaspora Jewish identity in place, even without directly encouraging support for Israel and aliyah.

It has become somewhat bizarre to push aliyah to Israel — which, aside from aliyah, is growing thanks to its healthy birthrate — from diaspora communities that are shrinking due to low birthrates and galloping assimilation. Does Israel see itself like Noah's Ark, saving what it can and abandoning the rest?

Even on a practical level this would be shortsighted. Before there can be aliyah, there must be enough Jews. How much sense does it make to pump water faster from a spring that is no longer replenishing itself?

Introducing Jews to Israel is just one part of what should be a comprehensive, crash effort to restore the spring to a healthy, renewable resource. And for that to happen, the whole spectrum of known Jewish identity injectors — Jewish day schools, early education and summer camps — need a massive infusion of support.

What would happen if the prime minister of Israel were to travel around the world saying to Jewish communities: "We want you to move to Israel; but even more we want you to join us in revitalizing the Jewish people. We know that you have the energy, creativity and resources to save yourselves. We are willing to contribute substantially to encourage you, and to help."

Israel should budget 1 percent of its gross national product — a billion dollars — to a fund for the Jewish future, providing challenge grants for diaspora schools and programs fostering Jewish identity.

That's the easy part.

The hard part is for Israel to set its own example by unraveling the massive problem caused by the nexus between religion and politics. Though there are, of course, many positive religious examples of heroism, piety and charity, millions of Israelis remain Jews despite the glaring negative examples set by the three most visible manifestations of Judaism: the official rabbinate, the fervently-religious political parties and the fervently-religious communities' willingness to take from the state without contributing some form of national service.

To be credible abroad, Sharon would have to show that he could redefine the relationship between religion and state in a way that is healthier for both, and that attracts rather than alienates the diaspora. How about shutting down the government-backed rabbinate and using the savings to back a range of vibrant private Jewish institutions? Or ensuring that the majority of young fervently-religious Jews have ways to give back to their country and then join the work force?

There is still room for the pioneering ethos in settling the Galilee and the Negev. But the state is established. It's the Jewish people that now needs saving.

Sharon has, in some ways, become the embodiment of the post-settlement Israeli. He's right that the new frontier lies in taking responsibility for the future of the Jewish people. But the shaping of the new Judaism-centered ethos necessary to do this has barely begun.




Saul Singer is author of the book, "Confronting Jihad: Israel's Struggle & the World After 9/11." He's also an editor with the Jerusalem Post, where this column previously appeared.

most popular rss feeds