THE PLOT

How do you put the Jewish in the Jewish State? The Zionist Movement envisioned a secular Jewish society free from the strictures of Jewish law. But for Orthodox Jews, the idea of a Judaism devoid of Jewish law is utterly unthinkable; it’s not Jewish. Israel practices both a secular Jewish identity and a religious one.

Israel reached for several tools to build and reflect a national secular Jewish identity: the Hebrew language, ancient Jewish relics (my favorite), and the Hebrew Bible itself. 

Language is an essential tool for ensuring assimilation, and the reinvention and ongoing adaptation of Hebrew was therefore one way of instilling a specifically-Jewish identity onto the Israeli one. In 1953 Israel established the Academy of the Hebrew Language. Its job was to oversee all things Hebrew — researching the history of the language, establishing standards for grammar, setting style guides, and, the most fun part, making new Hebrew words.

In the 1950s and 60s a series of incredible archaeological finds, one after another, captivated Israelis. The fortress at Masada, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Bar Kochba letters — each new ancient find was another link to Jewish culture. Each new relic reinforced for the Israeli Jew their indelible connection to history, heritage, and Eretz Yisrael — the Land of Israel — beyond what could be achieved by a border or a flag. Some, like Masada, symbolized Jewish resistance, resolve, heroism, and sacrifice. 

For the Zionists, the Hebrew Bible was the foundational text of Judaism. They read it not as divine instruction but as literature, history, memory and heritage. The stories in the Hebrew Bible affirm again and again the Jews’ indigenous connection to the land. To live in Israel as a Jew is to partake in a continuum of history that stretches back thousands of years. It’s therefore critical to know the Hebrew Bible, which is why since even before the state was established the Jewish community in Palestine emphasized its study.

Zionism and Israel represented a profound shift in Jewish expression that could only take place in a sovereign Jewish State in the ancient homeland of the Jews.

THE PEOPLE

Shmarya Guttman: archaeologist who helped popularize Masada as a symbol of Zionist and Israeli courage, sacrifice, and resolve.

Eliezer Sukenik: Hebrew University professor, and Yigal Yadin’s father, who recognized the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls and purchased several of them on behalf of Israel. 

Yigal Yadin: war hero, politician, and archaeologist who led some of the most famous excavations in Israeli history, including Masada and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Eliezer ben Yehuda: began reviving Hebrew in the 1880s, updating and modernizing the language for use as the daily language in the Jewish homeland.

THE BIG IDEAS

Contrasting visions of the Jewish nature of the future society emerged from the beginning of the Zionist Movement. Theodore Herzl imagined a political nation with all the trappings of a modern country. Ahad Ha’Am imagined the homeland as a spiritual center for the Jewish people, openly Jewish, albeit secular, in its national character.  Most Israelis weren’t opposed to Jewish religious tradition, beliefs, or theology — they just weren’t interested in practicing it, and didn’t want to be compelled to.

Most of the significant archaeological finds were discovered in the desert, which was filled with Jewish historical artifacts but had few ancient synagogues. There, Jewish heritage wasn’t religious per se, but historical and heroical. So for the secular Jewish State, the desert became a prime location of Jewish heritage. It was a universal space and ethos that could be accessed by all Jews. 

The secular Zionist effort to put the Jewish in the Jewish State moved Judaism from that of a religious identity to that of a national identity. While outside of Israel one’s Jewish identity is often a question of what one does that is specifically Jewish, in secular Israel, it’s instead about who you are. You are Israeli because you’re Jewish, and you’re Jewish because you’re Israeli.

FUN FACTS

Biblical Hebrew only contains about 7,000 unique words — not enough for a modern language in a modern society.

David Ben Gurion decreed that all government officials had to Hebraize their name. So, Golda Meyerson became Golda Meir; Moshe Shertok became Moshe Sharett, etc.

The oldest existing Hebrew Bible is the Aleppo Codex, housed in the Shrine of the Book, written in the 10th century CE in Tiberias and later ending up in Aleppo, Syria.

© Jason Harris 2020