We see that this natural divine law does not require ceremonies âŠ. For the natural light requires nothing which that light itself does not reach, but only that which can indicate to us very clearly the good ⊠finally, we see that the highest reward of the divine law is the law itself, namely, to know God and to love him from true freedom and with a whole and constant heart.
Spinoza, Ethics, 20, III, 30
The first two chapters address the question: how generationally unique (or not) are hiloni millennials? To answer this question, we must start with terminology and the conceptual debates. What does the term âhiloniâ mean? How do scholars use it? How do people who identify with the term use it? Scholars agree that the terminology of Western secularism does not translate for the Jewish-Israeli case. This is because Jewish tradition, a cornerstone of Jewish identity, is a powerful reference point even for those who think they are not halakhically observant.
Before delving into the academic debates about who is hiloni (and who is masorti, a traditional Jew), here is a flavour of how self-identified hilonim, millennials and transitional Generation XY, talk about growing up as hiloni Jews in Israel and their earliest experiences of Jewish tradition in their own words. The themes raised here are not generationally specific. Quotations presented here represent mainstream hiloni narratives about âbecoming hiloniâ, in so far as one can speak about there being a mainstream hiloniness in Israel.
To questions about childhood, interlocutors gave answers about food and family â answers which captured Jewish traditional practice and identity.
Q: | Does everyone in your family do and think the same thing? |
A: | Not at all. Iâm descended from a rabbinical family, from Spain and Morocco. Most of my family are traditional secular with a hint of observant ⊠my dad keeps a few habits for sentimental reasons rather than belief âŠ. Iâm avidly secular. (Oren, late twenties, male) |
Q: | What did you think about religion growing up? |
A: | When my brother and my dad would go [to synagogue] I would not. It wasnât an issue like âyou should comeâ. They would just ask me, and I would say no. Itâs really boring âŠ. We used to do Pesach, you know, like every Israeli family, Rosh Hashanah, the main holidays. But I never understood [why]. Why should I separate dairy and meat? I think it was my mom, she didnât really care about it. There was no one who [gave me] a good answer to these questions âŠ. I had a bar mitzvah like any Jewish boy âŠ. I donât like big events [laughs] there was an issue about it, I wanted a small one, so we met in the middle, in a restaurant. I didnât go to the synagogue again until a friendâs brotherâs bar mitzvah. I didnât know how to put on the tefillin ⊠some guy had to do it ⊠it was like putting on, what is the word? The thing to stop the blood? (A tourniquet?) Yes, a tourniquet, thatâs how it felt. (Shaul, mid-twenties, male) |
Q: | What did you learn about religion in school? |
A: | As a kid I didnât get it. You learn about God as a figure in a story. That he does this thing and he gets upset with you, not you individually, but with the Hebrew people, and he does all these miracles. Itâs like a story. (Ruth, mid-twenties, female) |
Q: | What did you think about religion growing up? |
A: | There was something about the religious people, you know, the people that wear black, that was very alienating to me. I was very alienated from it even though the city I grew up in was mostly a religious city. But it was completely separate neighbourhoods. I had one friend at the age of 13 from a religious background. We never talked about religion. The army was the first place where I met religious people. I became close to a religious woman, and then during my BA started to make religious friends. Iâm not anti-religious. I have friends who are religious, and I do like the rituals. I think with a different partner I might have done the candles or kiddush. I donât mind. I wouldnât consider myself an atheist. I donât believe in God. I donât believe in the Jewish God. Iâm not sure what my belief is. I practise meditation. I have more Buddhist inclinations. So, if I have any inclinations it would be towards some sort of afterlife or continuation and some kind of fate. (Sara, late thirties, female, Generation XY)2 |
Q: | When you were growing up did you believe in God? |
A: | No, not so much. |
Q: | And now? |
A: | Itâs still the same. Yesterday we had a visit from my friend, and we started talking about it. No, well, itâs not something that guides me. You could always say, yeah, maybe there is something that we donât understand. We are open-minded people and stuff like that. Never say never. But itâs certainly not something that I would say, that I accept that thereâs a superior being that has all the answers to the things we donât know. So, no: no God. (Uri, early forties, male, Generation XY) |
While there are debates and disagreements, researchers broadly agree with the following:
âąhiloniness remains a socially elite identity among Jewish-Israelis; it has had a historically disproportionate impact on Jewish-Israeli national identity and practices relative to other âreligious sectorsâ in Israel;3
âąwhile hilonim do not strictly observe the halakha as it is interpreted by the Orthodox Rabbinate in Israel, Jewish tradition, through Israeli popular culture, plays a substantial role in everyday hiloni practices and self-identity;4
âąhiloni identity and practice overlaps with masorti (traditional) Jewish identity and practice;
âąhilonim participate in a politics of boundary-marking with Jews from other âreligious sectorsâ in Israel; that this boundary-marking is shaped in important ways by ethnic boundary-marking between Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews â even though a third of hilonim are Mizrahim;5
âąstrong anti-religious sentiments among hilonim is rare;
âąbelief in a non-interventionist force (koach elyon) or agnosticism are common beliefs among hilonim, with atheists a small (but, I would add, often overlooked) minority;
âącompared to other religious sectors in Israel, hilonim have been disproportionately shaped by non-Jewish ideas and practices. The strongest influences have been state atheism and Orthodox Christianity in the former Soviet Union, Eastern religions and New Age spirituality;
âąWestern conceptions of secularism do not apply to the Jewish-Israeli case.
It is to this last point that we now turn.
Israel and âsecularismâ
In recent years, scholars have quite rightly sought to problematize the idea that the category âsecularâ can be applied to life in Israel.6 I very much agree with this project. For example, Ram quotes Asadâs point that the âreligiousâ cannot be separated from âthe secularâ, and that which appears âsecularâ reconstitutes the âreligiousâ within it.7 Ram argues ...