Faith & Fate
A NEW BEGINNING 1948 – 1957
LESSON 12 SECULARISM IN ISRAEL-THE CHALLENGES OF ASSIMILATION IN AMERICA
GOALS OF THE LESSON
- A. To examine the secularism of Jews both in Israel and in the United States in the 1950’s.
- B. To analyze why Jews in were becoming more secular and assimilated.
View Video 3:55 min
SYNOPSIS OF FILM CLIP
Most Jews living in the State of Israel were no longer religious, even if their parents and grandparents had been. The dominant philosophy of the Zionist Labor Zionist movement was to create a new Jew and a new Judaism and relegate religion to the past. At the same time, in the United States after World War II, the pressure to assimilate and become more like Americans was greater than ever before. For the first time it became unfashionable to discriminate against Jews. Low cost loans allowed most middle class people, especially Jews, to move out into the new suburbs. In the cities, Jews “felt” Jewish, even if they were not religious, as they lived in Jewish neighborhoods, surrounded by the trappings of Jewish life. In the suburbs, the ethos was that everyone should get along and for the first time, Jews were involved with Gentiles in social and communal activities. Their children went to public schools and made friends with non-Jews. Universities cancelled their quota systems and allowed Jews in as never before. As Jews were accepted by general society, the pull to totally assimilate and the struggle to maintain their Jewish identity were some of the greatest challenges that the Jews in America had faced.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS
- 1. How did most Israelis justify not keeping many Jewish traditions, even if their parents and grandparents had been observant? How do you think this impacted on the values of the next generation of Israelis? On Israelis today? Do you think this is a positive or negative development for the future of Judaism? Why?
- 2. Name and analyze three new conditions in post WWII United States that encouraged Jews to assimilate. How did this impact on Jewish religious life in America? On Jewish social life?
MAIN TALKING POINTS OF THE LESSON
- A. The overwhelming number of Jews who originally immigrated to Israel before the State was founded came as part of the Labor Zionist movement from Eastern Europe. They believed that the “New Jew’ in the Land of Israel should reject the religion of the Diaspora and many of the traditions. This philosophy predominated after the State was declared.
In the United States, for the first time in history, it was no longer socially accepted to beanti-Semitic or to deprecate Jews in public. This encouraged Jews to totally assimilate into the American society where the walls of separation no longer existed. In addition, in the inner cities where most Jews had lived prior to World War II, the trappings of Jewish communal life were all around, even for Jews that were assimilated. Thus, they were always reminded that they were Jewish. As Jews moved to the suburbs, these “reminders” were no longer present. As Jewish children