I often think about this: how awesome would it be if the state of Israel had been established in Europe instead of the shitty middle east? Practicality aside - very fucking awesome. For one, all the best Jews are Ashkenazi, right? haha
With the creation of the modern state of Israel, I feel like Jews tried to create a whole new culture and a new identity, namely the pioneering, manly kibbutznik. Jews (Israelis) then had to forge an identity with MORE bloodshed, i.e. the war for independence. Israel's short history has been defined by constant warfare. Basically what I don't comprehend is the leap from intellectual, assimilated yid to a pugnacious, modern Maccabe.
I am just wary of trying to recreate something that existed a long time ago and bring it into modernity.
Maybe this is why I like America so much. In the US, I feel like you aren't really anything. "American" isn't an ethnicity (unless you're a Cree or something), so you mostly identify with your actual ethnicity: Jewish, Italian, Cherokee, Filipino, etc. I just want to be a Jew and have it left at that.
question: in the process of (re)creating the state of israel in the middle east, how could the jews settling the area continue on as "intellectual, assimilated yid[s]"? to do so would have spelled the immediate destruction of israel. a country cannot survive on intellectuals alone -- there must be a marked contingent of the population that works in agriculture, manufacturing, natural resources, the armed forces, etc etc etc. israel needed to build itself from the ground up, so (jewish) workers were desperately needed. moreover, the concept of pioneering settlements, of working the land, was a zionist ideal and considered to be the route to independence. keep in mind that jews in eastern europe were actually forbidden to own land/participate in agricultural production, so to work the land in kibbutzim and moshavim was considered personally and politically liberating. this new identity forged by israelis is essential to their very survival. is it really a matter of reclaiming the past, or is it forged by pragmatism?
ReplyDeleteisrael would never have been created in europe because a) europe does not have any religious "holy" sites per se, b) is the site of diaspora rather than homecoming, c) no european country, even in the aftermath of the holocaust, cared enough about the jews to give up any of their valuable territory (israel -- then palestine -- was mostly desert and not terribly valuable to britain), and d) i'd surmise that most european jews couldn't wait to GTFO of europe after 1945, if they made it that long.
you'd be surprised at how many people identify as "american," i think, particularly BECAUSE in america you aren't really anything -- or maybe you are everything by virtue of the so-called melting pot culture, i haven't decided which. personally, i identify as a woman first, as a jew second, and as an american as a distant third. i feel that you don't just identify as jewish though, considering that you've previously expressed that you've referred to yourself as an american/american jew, & that you love the US and are generally accepting/approving/proud of its culture for the most part, &c.