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Secularism in Israel shows how matters of religion and how matters of state are related within Israel. Secularism is defined as an indifference to, rejection, or exclusion of religion and religious consideration. [1] In Israel, this applies to the entirely secular community that identifies with no religion and the secular community within the Jewish community. When Israel was established as a new state in 1948, a new and different Jewish identity formed for the newly created Israeli population. This population was defined by the Israeli culture and Hebrew language, their experience with the Holocaust, and the need to band together against conflict with hostile neighbors in the Middle East. [2]
Since 1922, many official documents originating in the land of Israel gave rise to religious freedom. In 1922, the Palestinian Mandate prohibited discrimination based on religious affiliation. In 1948, at the establishment of the state of Israel, the Declaration of Independence protected freedom of religion. [3] The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel was approved by members of the Jewish community of Palestine and the Zionist movement. The document's first section sheds light on the relationship between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.[ citation needed ] It reads: "The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here, their spiritual, religious, and political identity was shaped." The history of the Jews establishing the State of Israel is long. The right of the Jewish people to settle in the land was recognized in the Balfour Declaration. The United Nations General Assembly passed the resolution that called for a Jewish state to be established in Eretz Israel on November 29, 1947. [4]
When he first proposed his ideas of political Zionism, Theodor Herzl was expecting the future Jewish state to be a secular state, in the style of central European countries of the time, such as Germany and Austria. However, Zionist and eventually Israeli politics were firmly coalition-based. When David Ben-Gurion became the first prime minister of Israel, although he was the head of the large Socialist party, he formed a government that included the religious Jewish parties, and took a moderate line in forming the relationship between the state and the religious institutions, at the same time continuing their status as state organs. Some secular Israelis feel constrained by the strict religious sanctions imposed on them. Many businesses close on Shabbat, including El Al, Israel's leading airline, along with many forms of public transportation, and restaurants. [2]
Matrimonial law is based on the millet or confessional community system which had been employed in the Ottoman Empire, including what is now Israel, was not modified during the British Mandate of the region, and remains in force in the State of Israel. [5]
Israel recognizes only marriages under the faiths of Jewish, Muslim, and Druze communities, and ten specified denominations of Christianity. [6] Marriages in each community are under the jurisdiction of their own religious authorities. [5] The religious authority for Jewish marriages performed in Israel is the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Rabbinical courts. The Israeli Interior Ministry registers marriages on presentation of the required documentation. Israel's religious authorities — the only entities authorized to perform weddings in Israel — do not marry couples where both partners do not have the same religion; the only way for people of different (or no) faith to marry is by converting to the same religion. However, civil, interfaith, and same-sex marriages entered into abroad are recognized by the state; [7] as a consequence Israeli residents not permitted to marry in Israel sometimes marry overseas, often in nearby Cyprus, or are married on Israeli soil via videotelephony by an officiant from overseas if such solemnization is legal in the officiant's home country.
Many religious symbols have found their way into Israeli national symbols. For example, the flag of the country is similar to a tallit, or prayer shawl, with its blue stripes. The national coat of arms displays the menorah. [2] The Israeli national anthem includes references of religion. "As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning" and "the two-thousand-year-old hope" are both lines in the anthem, "HaTikvah" ("The Hope"). [8] (HaTikvah was sung at Jewish prayer services for many years prior to the 1948 UN partition that allowed for the reestablishment of Israel as a nation state.)
Due to the role of religious influences in government and politics, Israel is sometimes not considered to be a fully secular state in the common sense of the word. [9]
In Israel, the secularism of population centers varies. Tel Aviv, for example, is considered more secular; it is very cosmopolitan, with modern hotels, boutiques, coffee shops, and events with loud music. Non-Jews and secular Jews alike feel comfortable in this city because of the lack of religious bearing. Tel Aviv is a modern city similar to a coastal city in the United States like Miami, [10] and is considered one of the top party cities in the world. It is typical to find bars and night clubs open until dawn, even on Shabbat. [11] Conversely, Jerusalem is a very religious, conservative city, with a large Orthodox Jewish (Religious Zionists, as well as Ultra-Orthodox) population.
As of November 2012, secular and Orthodox Jews are competing in a bidding war for apartments in Harish after a court ruled that the Israel Land Administration could not discriminate between them. [12] [13] Elsewhere, officials in Jerusalem City Hall have alleged that the Ministry of Housing worked with ILA to favor housing for Chareidim in the Ramot area of Jerusalem. [14]
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has called upon the mayor of Modi'in to revoke a residents-only restriction to Anaba Park during the High Holidays and summer vacation, deeming it a discrimination against Haredim in the neighboring town of Modi'in Illit. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that this municipality of about 80,000 is predominately secular. [15] The regulation was seen as a response to threats from Hareidim to bar secular visitors from a heritage site in Modi'in Illit. [16]
Haredi Judaism is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted halakha and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating or modern values and practices. Its members are usually referred to as ultra-Orthodox in English; a term considered pejorative by many of its adherents, who prefer the terms strictly Orthodox or Haredi. Haredim regard themselves as the most authentic custodians of Jewish religious law and tradition which, in their opinion, is binding and unchangeable. They consider all other expressions of Judaism, including Modern Orthodoxy, as deviations from God's laws, although other movements of Judaism would disagree.
Neturei Karta is a Haredi Jewish group.
A homeland for the Jewish people is an idea rooted in Jewish history, religion, and culture. The Jewish aspiration to return to Zion, generally associated with divine redemption, has suffused Jewish religious thought since the destruction of the First Temple and the Babylonian exile.
The National Religious Party, commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acronym Mafdal, was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist movement.
Religious Zionism is an ideology that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as Dati Leumi, and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the first part of that term: Datiim. The community is sometimes called 'Knitted kippah', the typical head covering worn by male adherents to Religious Zionism.
Modi'in Illit is a Haredi Jewish-Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the West Bank, situated midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Shlomo Moshe Amar is the former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel. He served in the position of Rishon LeZion from 2003 to 2013; his Ashkenazi counterpart during his tenure was Yona Metzger. In 2014 he became the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem.
Religion in Israel is manifested primarily in Judaism, the ethnic religion of the Jewish people. The State of Israel declares itself as a "Jewish and democratic state" and is the only country in the world with a Jewish-majority population. Other faiths in the country include Islam, Christianity and the religion of the Druze people. Religion plays a central role in national and civil life, and almost all Israeli citizens are automatically registered as members of the state's 14 official religious communities, which exercise control over several matters of personal status, especially marriage. These recognized communities are Orthodox Judaism, Islam, the Druze faith, the Catholic Church, Greek Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church, Anglicanism, and the Baháʼí Faith.
El'ad,, is a city in the Central District of Israel. In the 1990s, it was built for a Haredi Jewish population and to a lesser extent, it was also built for a Religious Zionist Jewish population. Located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of Tel Aviv on Route 444 between Rosh HaAyin and Shoham, it had a population of 49,487 in 2022. El'ad is the only locality in Israel officially designated a religious municipality. The name El'ad means "Forever God", but it is also named after a member of the tribe of Ephraim, who lived in this area.
From the founding of political Zionism in the 1890s, Haredi Jewish leaders voiced objections to its secular orientation, and before the establishment of the State of Israel, the vast majority of Haredi Jews were opposed to Zionism, like early Reform Judaism, but with distinct reasoning. This was chiefly due to the concern that secular nationalism would redefine the Jewish nation from a religious community based in their alliance to God for whom adherence to religious laws were "the essence of the nation's task, purpose, and right to exists," to an ethnic group like any other as well as the view that it was forbidden for the Jews to re-constitute Jewish rule in the Land of Israel before the arrival of the Messiah. Those rabbis who did support Jewish resettlement in Palestine in the late 19th century had no intention to conquer Palestine and declare its independence from the rule of the Ottoman Turks, and some preferred that only observant Jews be allowed to settle there.
Hardal usually refers to the portion of the Religious Zionist Jewish community in Israel which inclines significantly toward Haredi ideology. In their approach to the State of Israel, though, they are very much Zionist, and believe that Israel is Atchalta De'Geula.
Marriage in Israel is regulated by the religious courts of recognized confessional communities, none of which perform inter-faith or same-sex marriage. Domestic civil marriage is not recognized in Israel; however, civil marriages performed in foreign jurisdictions, including same-sex marriages, are recognized with full marital rights under Israeli law.
Transport in Jerusalem is characterized by a well-developed inter-city network and an emerging, developing intra-city network. Ben Gurion International Airport serves as Jerusalem's closest international airport. Egged bus lines and Israel Railways connect the city of Jerusalem to much of Israel, and a high-speed rail line to the airport and Tel Aviv is currently under construction, while the segment to Ben Gurion Airport is already in limited operation. Within the city, the roads, rather than the rails, are the primary mode of transportation.
In Israel, marriage can be performed only under the auspices of the religious community to which couples belong, and inter-faith marriages performed within the country are not legally recognized. However, marriages performed abroad or remotely from Israel must be registered by the government. Matrimonial law is based on the millet or confessional community system which had been employed in the Ottoman Empire, including what is now Israel, was not modified during the British Mandate of the region, and remains in force in the State of Israel.
Israeli Jews or Jewish Israelis comprise Israel's largest ethnic and religious community. The core of their demographic consists of those with a Jewish identity and their descendants, including ethnic Jews and religious Jews alike. Approximately 99% of the global Israeli Jewish population resides in Israel; yerida is uncommon and is offset exponentially by aliyah, but those who do emigrate from the country typically relocate to the Western world. As such, the Israeli diaspora is closely tied to the broader Jewish diaspora.
Jewish secularism refers to secularism in a Jewish context, denoting the definition of Jewish identity with little or no attention given to its religious aspects. The concept of Jewish secularism first arose in the late 19th century, with its influence peaking during the interwar period.
In world politics, Jewish state is a characterization of Israel as the nation-state and sovereign homeland for the Jewish people.
Freedom of religion is the freedom to practice religion, change one's religion, mix religions, or to be irreligious. Religion in the State of Palestine plays a strong role in society, including in the legal system and the educational system.
Religious relations in Israel are relations between Haredim, non-Haredi Orthodox, Karaite, Ethiopian, Reform, Conservative, and secular Jews, as well as relations between different religions represented in Israel. The religious status quo, agreed to by David Ben-Gurion with the Orthodox parties at the time of Israel's declaration of independence in 1948, is an agreement on the role that Judaism would play in Israel's government and the judicial system. Tensions exist between religious and secular groups in Israel.
Marriage in Israel is regulated by the religious courts of recognized confessional communities. However, civil marriages, including same-sex marriages, performed under foreign jurisdictions are recognized by Israeli law.
The municipality of Modi'in -- a predominantly secular municipality of about 80,000 residents, many of whom are immigrants from English-speaking countries -- has cited the legal opinion of Ariel Bendor, a law professor at Bar-Ilan University, who said the measure was legal.