From the anarchists to the religious labor Zionists ( Mizrachi ), Zionism gave the opportunity for early settlers to connect to Judaism in their own way and to construct new kinds of Jewish communities. Over time, a rich culture of nationalistic and agricultural traditions emerged.
The settling of the Land of Israel and its reforestation brought new meanings to many Jewish holidays. On Tu Bishvat, for example, in addition to eating fruits indigineous to the land, Jews from around the world collect money for tree-planting, and re-affirm a commitment to our environment.
The ancient traditions of counting the Omer and offering the first fruits at Shavuot were given new creative expression in the early farming communities - through parades, skits, songs and dance performances. The essence of Chanukah shifted in Israel, and later in most of the Jewish world, from the "holy miracle" of the oil to the more nationalistic aspects of freedom from oppression, the agricultural significance of the olive harvest and the celebration of light during the darkest month of the year.
The Backdrop
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The isms and schisms of the late 19th century were eagerly incorporated into Zionist thought of the day, producing the Jewish community experiments which became known as kibbutzim and their offshoots. Although this pioneering enterprise comprised a small part of the Jewish people, the rural settlements represented at times a majority of the Jewish population in pre-State Israel. Not only were they the backbone of defense, immigrant absorption, leadership, ideology and agriculture of the Yishuv (pre-state Jewish community) and the early State, their group ethos and innovative approach to Judaism and ritual were to have a profound effect on the Jewish community in Israel and abroad. As the State grew, the civic culture evolved in a more urban environment. Today, a concerted medley of themes: traditional and innovative, Western and Eastern, urban and agricultural, intermingle as Israelis build a common future.
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The early days of the rural and urban sectors of the Yishuv (pre-State Jewish community in the Land of Israel) were dominated by the cooperatives (transportation, health, finance, agriculture, and much of heavy industry) and their attendant cultural and intellectual institutions. The emphasis placed on the ideal of the group and communal responsibility were to become embedded in the Israeli national ethos.
After the establishment of the Jewish State, many of the masses of immigrants arriving from Eastern Europe and the Middle East were most decidedly traditional in both manner and outlook. While integrating into the existing communal ethos, they engraved their own values of family ties and a more traditional approach to religion onto the young society.
The Dominant Group
An Israeli child entering kindergarten today will probably remain with more or less the same children for 6 to 12 years. Underpinning this tenet is the pedagogic and social goal of creating a cohesive group , literally a mantra amongst educators and parents alike. The stress on group cohesion is echoed in all layers of society - from youth movements to the army to social clubs and ultimately to residential communities and the nation as a whole.
Emanating from this group ethos and sense of communal responsibility, as well as from the time-honored Jewish tradition of social welfare, the rates of volunteerism in Israel are amongst the highest in the world - and that is above and beyond the mandatory military service of two to three years . It is not uncommon to find fresh high school graduates looking towards a three year army stint, who choose to volunteer for a year of community service before entering the army. In most high schools, pupils participate in school-coordinated community service programs for at least one year.
"In Israel," according to Arnie Eisen, Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University and a recent immigrant, one finds "a sense of collective purpose, the knowledge that one does not live only for oneself." He adds that, "Israeli society, or at least significant elements within it,still takes the ideal seriously, whereas American society does not."
Therefore, despite the decried rampance of individualism, consumerism, and capitalism, and perhaps even bolstered by those same things, Israel remains a hotbed of community building and innovation.
Finding Common Ground
"our growing affluence places us at a crossroads, allowing many Israelis the leisure time to examine and remold tradition within the context of creating social networks and community building..”
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"Actually," says Yiftach Shilony, Director of the Institute for Jewish Secular Rites based in Tel Aviv, "a growing affluence places us at across-roads, allowing many Israelis the leisure time to examine and remold tradition, in the context of creating social networks and community-building." Orthodox women are finding expanded roles and growing means of expression within their homes and without. Residents of newly-built communities and of re-configured rural settlements, actively search for common ground through both tradition and innovation.
Ace Hardware, Toys 'R' Us and McDonalds have littered our landscape, but the Jewish calendar defines the pulse of our lives, and communal Jewish expression peaks at holiday time.
Cadres of volunteers from neighborhoods and communities around the country regularly meet to plan communal holiday celebrations, welcome newcomers and piece together a cultural agenda. A stage is erected, neighbors gather round, children dance, musicians perform, poems are read and, year after year, Israel's communal experience is re-crafted and creatively affirmed.
Shilony, in creating new secular ritual, draws on the rich tradition of the early communal settlements. 'One of our challenges today is to create informal communities based on secular ritual, within the urban landscape,' engendering a kind of individual and collective cultural empowerment.
Communal celebrations and commemorations bring people together, but volunteer activities encompass the many aspects of daily routine. Volunteer committees are formed to take responsibility for everything from youth activities and public safety to publishing a newsletter and maintaining a playground. Gearing up for community building demands the talents and time of a diverse group of individuals.
Spiritual Communities
Miri Gold, the rabbi of the Kehilat Birkat Shalom at Kibbutz Gezer, who made aliyah in 1977 from Detroit, explains, 'Each week, our spiritual community, from local moshavim and kibbutzim, welcomes the Sabbath with guitars and tambourines accompanying traditional tunes from as far afield as Bombay and LA.
'Our connectedness blossoms into a variety of services and rites of passage celebrations, such as britot (pl. bris ) and bar and bat mitzvahs.' Spiritual homes such as Kehilat Birkat Shalom are springing up all over the country, offering every strain of observance, and often with English-speaking immigrants at the forefront.
In the heart of Tel Aviv, a core of former North Americans spiritually affiliated with Conservative Judaism, started a Havurah group over a decade ago. Now accommodating over eighty families from many backgrounds, the Havurah continues to meet weekly for study and communal observance, and has become a decidedly Tel Avivian institution.
'The juxtaposition of different Jewish communities, worship styles and beliefs, create rich and varied Jewish expression,' says Gold. 'The choices become increasingly varied and plentiful, so that everyone can find a niche.'
Israel community-building is a work-in-progress, based on Jewish expression, group commitment, and the realities of making a home together in a small country.
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