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Activities
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Culture, Community and Continuity of Contemporary
Jewry
Prof. Anita Shapira The Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture has been active for the past thirty years, and during this period has distributed approximately 75 million dollars to a broad array of educational and cultural programs . Approximately 12,000 scholarships have been awarded to students, and 5,500 grants to various institutions. It should be noted that the Foundation awarded grants to 32 Israel Prize laureates. Furthermore, the Foundation encourages communal activities and supports the efforts of young community activists. His Excellency, President Moshe Katzav Today's discussion will focus on one of the cardinal issues of Jewish life. Such an examination is vital to our efforts at coping with the major problems that have evolved over the past ten years and even earlier. It is our responsibility to work together for the benefit of future generations, even though there might not always be a shared and concerted goal, which was also the case in earlier periods. This joint effort is vital to the prosperity of future generations. Mr. Shlomo Hillel The vicissitudes that the Jewish nation has endured during the twentieth century have endowed a central role in the establishment and design of a cultural vision for world Jewry on the State of Israel, even though from the outset this was not the intention. Israel continues to be the most prolific Jewish center in the world. Nonetheless, more than half of the Jewish people do not live in Israel . To our regret, many of these Jews are rapidly distancing themselves from the problems that we are facing. It is our obligation to pay attention to this development, to discuss it, and invest the necessary means so that the State of Israel will become the Jewish people's leading cultural force. Today the State not only provides a foundation and sanctuary for those of us living here, but for Jews the world over. This, then, is the significance of the conference that opens here today.
Prof. Eliezer Schweid It is my belief that we must restructure the basic elements that sustain the Jewish people's existence and culture. Accordingly, we must renew the nation's education process, which is the wellspring of its continuity. It is this very task that we now face. We require a renewed definition of a unified cultural force that will serve as the foundation of the Jewish people and will determine how we are accepted among the nations of the world, as a nation with an independent Jewish identity. After the establishment of the Jewish state amid the materialistic culture of the nations of the free world, we must now solve the cultural problem of world Jewry, not only as a mechanical collection of individuals, organizations, and parties, but as a cultural entity — communally and individually. It is incumbent upon us to renew the national, cultural Jewish identity in Israel , as until now most of the resources were invested in establishing the status of the Jews in the surrounding international culture. Over the course of his long career, Prof. Schweid has scrutinized the terms “people” and “nationality.” He established that “nationality” is what serves the people, but one should not view the people as serving their nationality. Every individual within the nation is endowed with a unique personality; however, the ability to act as an individual is granted to him or her by the people that raise and educate him. Consequently, the individual must be held responsible for the future of the nation. Tension exists between the communal “I,” which society demands, and the individual fulfillment of one's self. However, if the responsibility over the collective is to be maintained and if we are to survive as a nation than we must produce creative personalities to serve the community and ensure that the community does not conflict with individual achievements. Only when the collective responsibility disappears does the conflict between the majority and the individual become destructive to both the community and its individuals — widening social differences and deepening the alienation between people. The cornerstone of education is the forging of traditional, cultural values that shape the personality of the individuals. These values are transmitted through the family, community, and educational institutions. What does this tradition, — which forms the personality of the individual within his collective — entail? First of all, it is the language that engenders a person's attachment to his or her collective and identification with past generations. The power of these ties is predicated on the richness of the language. Second, a consciousness that generates a presence of communal responsibility that is built and represented by the individuals. It has a physical presence that is expressed in symbols and by institutions, as well as by communicative and memorial ties. Third, attachment to the canonical writings: the Bible, oral commandments, the unwritten laws, the tradition evinced in the prayer books, and the observance of the Sabbath and festivals . Fourth, classical national texts and writings that on the one hand emerge from the original canonical books and from current cultural texts on the other, as well as a synthesis of the two that manages to retain both their individuality and independence. Fifth, a circle that combines current day culture, as expressed in contemporary writings and art, with the written laws, oral laws, and customs. These are the components of Jewish identity and culture. We are surprised that the Jewish people continue to exist on the basis of these elements in the various communities of the Diaspora. Why are we surprised? The main common language (if one exists at all) is English, not Hebrew. Sadly enough, the Hebrew that is commonly spoken in Israel does not encompass much of the memories and strata of the nation's culture. In addition, the modern language does not provide the reader with the tools to understand the sources and canonical writings, or even current publications. Similarly, even in the observance of customs — the Sabbath and holy days — there is a considerable gap between declarations of their importance and their actual observance by individuals. This is true both in Israel and the Diaspora. All these influence the people's attachment and loyalty to the State of Israel, the Jewish people, and Jerusalem . Despite all this, the Jewish nation has not disappeared. There are forces that bind, if not all the people, at least some...Each one of these forces binds only a select sector of the Jewish people in the Diaspora. Efforts have been made by general Jewish organizations to deepen our collective roots. Similarly there is a sense and comprehension of a common fate and fortune, which is predicated primarily on the memories of the Holocaust. However, the direction is clear: there is a need to awaken and reestablish Jewish cultural values in the family, community, and countries in which we reside. As we have mentioned, this is an educational imperative, but not in the narrow framework of the school (when we mention educational bodies, we refer to institutions from kindergarten to the ulpan , or university). When other sources of culture are inactive, unsupportive, or fail to provide the necessary foundation, the school will not fulfill the obligation which the family and the community themselves do not wish to fulfill. Under these circumstances, the message (teachings) of the school will appear to be foreign, isolated, and even negative. There is no alternative to the family and the community as agents of nation al culture . We must see to it that the family and community are well aware of their role and obligations. The common core curriculum of educational institutions in both Israel and the Diaspora must be revived so as to forge a common language for all the Jewish people, a language with which to evoke, study, and teach our common cultural heritage, which dates back to our origins and not just to the days and memory of the Holocaust. The school will once again become a place in which we study together. The time has come to reestablish a shared Jewish identity and culture. This must be done as soon as possible, as “ the time is short and the work is abundant...” A full version of this conference can be found in the book of the Forum or in the website of Prisedent House: www.president.gov.il |
