Israeli Judaism The Sociology of Religion in Israel

This is an unusual and extremely timely collective effort. It appears at a moment inwhich Israelis not only must confront their Arab neighbors, but must deal with one another as Jews possessing radically different views on the present and future of the Jewish tradition. With this seventh volume of the series, the Israeli Sociological Society has turned its attention to religion, an area that for many years has been of high importance, but low profile in Israeli affairs and in the wider Middle Eastern context.Chapters and contributors include: "Jewish Civilization: Approaches to Problems of Israeli Society" by Shmuel N. Eisenstadt; "Life Tradition and Book Tradition in the Development of Ultraorthodox Judaism" by Menachem Friedman; "Religious Kibbutzim: Judaism and Modernization" by Aryei Fishman; "The Religion of Elderly Oriental Jewish Women" by Susan Sered; and "Hanukkah and the Myth of the Maccabees in Ideology and in Society" by Eliezer Don-Yehiya. The increasing presence of religious activism in contemporary Israel, side by side with subtle changes in the religion of Israeli Sephardim, makes the topic of religion essential for an understanding of Israel and much of the Middle East generally. Israeli Judaism is a significant work, and will be of interest to theologians, philosophers, sociologists, anthropologists, and political theorists.

Editorial introduction : the study of religion in Israeli social science / Shlomo Deshen -- Sociological analyses of religion / Stephen Sharot -- Dimensions of Jewish religiosity / Peri Kedem -- Jewish civilization : approaches to problems of Israeli society / Shmuel N. Eisenstadt -- State ceremonies of Israel : Remembrance Day and Independence Day / Don Handelman and Elihu Katz -- Religious adherence and political attitudes / Yochanan Peres -- Religion in the Israeli discourse on the Arab-Jewish conflict / Shlomo Deshen -- Life tradition and book tradition in the development of ultraorthodox Judaism / Menachem Friedman -- Ultraorthodox Jewish women / Tamar El-Or -- Religious kibbutzim : Judaism and modernization / Aryei Fishman -- A mystic-messianic interpretation of modern Israeli history : the Six-Day War in the religious culture of Gush Emunim / Gideon Aran -- The religiosity of Middle Eastern Jews / Moshe Shokeid -- Secularization and the diminishing decline of religion / Hannah Ayalon, Eliezer Ben-Raphael, and Stephen Sharot -- Saints' sanctuaries in development towns / Eyal Ben-Ari and Yoram Bilu -- The religion of elderly oriental Jewish women / Susan Sered -- Hanukkah and the myth of the Maccabees in ideology and in society / Eliezer Don-Yehiya-- Death customs in a non-religious kibbutz / Nissan Rubin -- Americans in the Israeli reform and conservative denominations / Ephraim Tabory and Bernard Lazerwitz -- Religion and democracy in Israel / Charles S. Liebman.

M.J. Kister, Shlomo Deshen