A Jewish State

75 Perspectives

Author: Aharon Barak, Jehuda Reinharz, Yedidia Z. Stern and Haim Zicherman

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Description

Israel is a "Jewish state." What is the meaning of this and how does it align with the democratic nature of the country? These are the questions at the core of a contentious debate that has been raging since the establishment of the state. This volume includes 75 essays on the question of Jewish - Israeli identity, by some of today's best thinkers - Jews and non-Jews, from Israel and around the world.Its pages include dreams and nightmares, poetic visions and rational analyses, harsh critiques and songs of praise.

This collection is a first-of-its-kind nexus of thought on nationality, religion, politics, culture, society, environment, economics, and security. It is essential reading for any future discussion of Israeli identity.

Critic Reviews

“Readers of this book, particularly those readers strongly committed to

a specific Weltanschauung, will undoubtedly find themselves by turns vigorously

nodding or vigorously shaking their heads as they work their way steadily

through the essays. Be that as it may, this reviewer is of the opinion that readers

can only benefit – if simply to sharpen their own views through a consideration

of the views of others who disagree with them – by giving all of the essays in this

work their due consideration.”

— David Rodman, Israel Affairs

“[M]ost of the essays in the book focused on the central topic…Even the essays that did not relate to the main question asked (about Israel as a Jewish state) but addressed issues such as Israel’s foreign relations, the environment, and the status of women were enlightening.”

— Ephraim Tabory, Contemporary Jewry

About the Author

Aharon Barak is an Israeli lawyer and jurist who served as President of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1995 to 2006. Prior to this, Barak served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1978 to 1995, and before this as Attorney General of Israel from 1975 to 1978. Jehuda Reinharz served as President of Brandeis University from 1994–2010. He is currently the Richard Koret Professor of Modern Jewish History and Director of the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry at Brandeis. He is also the president and CEO of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation. Yedidia Z. Stern is the Vice President of Research at Israel Democracy Institute, where he heads the projects on "Religion and State" and "Human Rights and Judaism." He is a full professor at Bar-Ilan University Law School, and served as its Dean. His areas of professional interest are religion and state, Jewish law, public law, and corporate law. His awards include the Zeltner Prize for excellence in Legal Research in Israel (2009) and the Gorni Prize for special contribution in public law (2012). Haim Zicherman, a senior lecturer at the Ono Academic College (OAC), is an expert in constitutional and property law and also researches the ultra-Orthodox society. His book Black Blue-White (Yedioth Books, 2014) takes a broad-minded approach to understanding the ultra-Orthodox society in Israel. Until last year, Zicherman managed the ultra-Orthodox campuses of the OAC, where thousands of Haredi students – male and female – study. In recent years, Zicherman has coordinated the development and management of the "Israeli Identity" course available to all undergraduate students in Israel.