Description
Book SynopsisIsrael Celebrates is about the intersection where Israeli inventiveness and Jewish tradition meet: the holidays. It employs the anthropological history of four Jewish holidays as celebrated in Israel in order to track the naturalization of Jewish rituals, myths, and symbols in Israeli culture throughout “the long twentieth century” of Zionism and on to the present, and to demonstrate how a new strand of Judaism developed in Israel from the grassroots. But could this grassroots Israeli culture develop into a shared symbolic space for both Jews and Arabs? By probing the political implications of the minutiae of life, the book argues that this popular culture might come to define Jewish identity in Israel of the 21st century.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction – Israeli Civic Culture as a Jewish Culture Civic Culture Israeli Culture, Jewish Culture(s) The Anthropological History of Israeli Holidays Structure of the Book Chapter One – Jewish Family: Passover Passover in Jewish Cultures of the Past The Seder in the Yishuv and in Israel The 1960s on: The Rise of the Extended Family “What do I have in common with these people?” Why the Haggadah? The Seder in the Jewish Culture of the Diaspora Conclusion: The Jewish Extended Family in Israeli Public Culture Chapter Two – Environment: Tu Bishvat Tu Bishvat in Jewish Cultures of the Past Arbor Day and Tu Bishvat Trees and Planting in the New Hebrew Culture The Mandate Era: National Planting Ceremonies Planting Ceremonies in Independent Israel: Ecology and Politics Tu Bishvat in Israeli Culture: The Environmental-Political Track Tu Bishvat in Israeli Culture: The Environmental-Apolitical Track Tu Bishvat in Adult Culture: Active Nostalgia Tu Bishvat in American Jewish Culture Tu Bishvat and Arbor Day: Reciprocal Relations Conclusion: Nostalgia as a Cultural Force Chapter Three – Public Space: Yom Kippur Yom Kippur as an Anomaly Historical Yom Kippur The Israeli version of Yom Kippur: The Suspension of Transportation The Suspension of Economic Activity “Online Fasting”: What do People Do? Heshbon Nefesh: Ecology and Politics The Jewishness of Public Space Conclusion: The Jewish Public Space Chapter Four – Freedom: Yom Ha’atzma’ut Yom Ha’atzma’ut: The Initial Second Thoughts Spontaneity and Artificiality Doing Something on Yom Ha’atzma’ut Wandering the City Streets From Picnic to Cookout Memorial Day and the Torch-Lighting Ceremony Yom Ha’atzma’ut in the Diaspora Israeli Arabs and Yom Ha’atzma’ut Conclusion: An Empty Day? Chapter Five – Citizenship: The “Nationalization” of Jewish Culture in Israel The Assimilative Power of the Jewish Culture in Israel The Nationalizing of the Israeli Jewish Culture Nationalizing the Jewish Culture: Its Ramifications for Jewish Identity in Israel Nationalizing the Jewish Culture: Its Ramifications for Arab Identity in Israel Epilogue: Political Fantasy and Cultural Reality References
