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4 Self-definition and halakhah Apostasy and Jewish identity Self-definition and halakhah T he halakhic definition of Jewishness is one of the prime factors fashioning the Jew’s understanding both of himself and of his environment. The halakhic attitude towards those Jews who voluntarily embraced Christianity, or who were forced to accept that religion, shaped the disposition of those Jews who remained Jews as against those who became Christians. While the halakhic literature contains decisions deriving, by and large, from explicitly halakhic considerations
3 Theological confrontation with Christianity’s success Apostasy and Jewish identity Theological confrontation with Christianity T he success of the Christians in defeating the Muslims in the Holy Land, conquering it and establishing a Christian colony there, particularly in the Holy City of Jerusalem, was a harsh blow to the Jews from a theological viewpoint. The theological difficulty, which emerged during the course of the twelfth century, became a central issue, one which also affected the status of voluntary converts to Christianity. The Jewish sources
the course of the twelfth century and became far more complex, requiring a different sort of arrangement. During the course of the First Crusade (1096), the Jewish communities that were under the protection both of the emperor and of the bishops, who served as his representatives at the head of cities, were subjected to murderous attacks. The Christians violently forced Jews away from their religion and compelled them to become Christians; those who refused were either murdered or killed themselves as martyrs.1 One of the leaders of the Jews called upon the emperor
of the Nazi holocaust in which everyone would agree that the majority of victims were Jewish, but no one would mention anti-Semitism or the history of violent persecution against Jews, thereby implying that it was ‘natural’ for Jews to be victims. Without mention of a tradition of oppression of women,the implication for the sixteenth century is that of course women would be
devote his time to education. However, one month later, a change in the rabbi’s plans became evident. 16 Kahane rented an office in Jerusalem and initiated the formalities necessary to allow the Jewish Defence League to operate in Israel. 17 At that time, the Israeli political establishment did not consider Kahane as a threat of any kind. In fact, the opposite was true: Kahane came over as a warrior liberated from the ‘Jewish ghetto mentality’ image of Jews in the Diaspora. The violent actions for which he and his followers were noted in the US
like me, often had strong misgivings over the malleable interpretation of the concept of a defending democracy held by the people of this country. I had grave doubts especially over the restrictions imposed upon those citizens, whether Arabs or Jews, secular or religious, left-wing or right-wing, who aspired to realise their basic rights within a democratic governmental system and who struggled to organise their cause into political action. The leaders of this country are accustomed to explain that the high price paid by a democracy which more than occasionally
points, particularly in the judicial sphere. As befits a movement which champions liberal values and is not affiliated with any particular political bloc, the Association has intervened on behalf of members of all protesting groups, no matter whether they are Arabs or Jews, secular or religious, left-wing or right-wing. In fact, it has even made efforts to protect the civil rights of Jewish settlers in the occupied territories and members of the Kach Movement. 40 The achievements of ACRI underscore the vital importance of civil society type II groups in terms of
regulations within Israeli borders – especially with regard to Jews – is uncommon and has been carried out only with the approval of the highest levels of the executive authority (the cabinet or the minister of defence). 2 Section 9 of the Law and Administration Ordinance, 1948, which authorises the executive authority to suspend, revoke or alter parliamentary legislative measures in cases of emergency. 3 Parliamentary emergency legislation. 19 For the purposes of this discussion
majority of the Jewish population in Israel at the time. Many immigrant Jews came from Arabian, North African and Eastern European areas and, in the main, from countries which lacked democratic distinctions. 12 Perhaps an even more significant part was played by the Zionist ideology, revolutionary processes and massive construction enterprises in Israel, all of which demanded universal consolidation around collective myths and national ideals. 13 The concrete result of the subordination of civic studies to ethno-national dictates was evident in
In this study, the various aspects of the way the Jews regarded themselves in the context of the lapse into another religion will be researched fully for the first time. We will attempt to understand whether they regarded the issue of conversion with self-confidence or with suspicion, whether their attitude was based on a clear theological position or on doubt and the coping with the problem as part of the process of socialization will be fully analysed. In this way, we will better understand how the Jews saw their own identity whilst living as a minority among the Christian majority, whose own self-confidence was constantly becoming stronger from the 10th to the 14th century until they eventually ousted the Jews completely from the places they lived in, England, France and large parts of Germany. This aspect of Jewish self-identification, written by a person who converted to Christianity, can help clarify a number of