The Relationship Between Religion and Israel

3176 Words7 Pages

Israel, the place call the holy land, the land, which Jesus walked, however, it is widely acknowledged that tensions between secular and religious sectors constitute a salient feature of Israeli society. If one were to try to summarize the relationship of Israel to Jewish religion, he would say that it is related but not equivalent to certain concepts of Israel. Most people think of the holy land when they hear the names Israel but one must ask the question is Israel truly the holy land. This essay will show the relationship between religion and Israel. Religion in the broadest sense may be defined as man's attitude towards the unseen, and the earliest forms of human thought furnish the clue from which must be traced the development of those great systems of religion that have at different time periods been professed by certain groups of people. The term religion must also include, not only beliefs in unseen spiritual agencies, but also numerous customs, superstitions, and myths which have usually been regarded by the people of the specific society or community. As far as, Jewish religion goes, there are many different opinions about the origin and history of people and the religion.

The Jews are a people who trace their descent from the biblical Israelites and who are united by the religion called Judaism. They are not a race; Jewish identity is a mixture of ethnic, national, and religious elements. An individual may become part of the Jewish people by conversion to Judaism; but a born Israel who rejects Judaism or adopts another religion does not entirely lose his Jewish identity. In biblical times the Jews were divided into 12 tribes: Reuben, Simeon (Levi), Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Ash...

... middle of paper ...

...ment of the Israeli culture with religious Jewishness. Because of the diversity in the different religiosity categories’ exigencies from the social order, one may speak in this respect of the Israeli society as an example of conflictual multiculturalism. This notion designates this kind of multiculturalism where the dominant culture conditions the insertion of groups on their acceptance of exigencies which, in given respects, contradict their own self-perceptions. Religiosity in Israel is bound to multi-sided conflicts, which is conjunctively articulated through a continuum of approaches. This religious convictions stand behind the stage explains the sharpness that conflictedness may eventually take on. Yet, as we have seen, in this case, religiosity does not divide this society dichotomously and actors remain bound by common references, albeit unevenly.

Open Document