Diaspora in the homeland: homeland perceptions regarding diaspora Jews in Israel's discourse around its collective identity

Homeland-construed perceptions of the diaspora can yield valuable insights into the discourse around the homeland's collective identity. I illustrate this claim using the debate surrounding the Kotel Compromise, a government plan designed to regulate pluralistic and non-Orthodox Jewish prayer a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ethnic and racial studies Vol. 45; no. 14; pp. 2770 - 2791
Main Author: Abu, Ofir
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Routledge 26.10.2022
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Subjects:
Boundaries
collective identity
Denominations
Diaspora
Discourse
Group identity
Hebrew language
homeland
Identity
Israel
Jewish people
Judaism
Legislatures
Monopolies
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Orthodox Jews
peoplehood
Perceptions
Prayer
Religion
Religious orthodoxy
ISSN:0141-9870, 1466-4356
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Homeland-construed perceptions of the diaspora can yield valuable insights into the discourse around the homeland's collective identity. I illustrate this claim using the debate surrounding the Kotel Compromise, a government plan designed to regulate pluralistic and non-Orthodox Jewish prayer at the Western Wall (Kotel in Hebrew). This plan has recently become a subject of contention between the State of Israel, where Orthodox Judaism has an institutional monopoly, and Diaspora Jews, many of whom identify with non-Orthodox Jewish denominations, such as Reform and Conservative Judaism. Drawing on protocols of the Knesset (Israeli parliament), I show how the different participants in this debate used their perceptions of Diaspora Jews not only to reaffirm external boundaries relating to Jewish peoplehood, but also to reconstruct internal boundaries relating to Judaism as religion. This paper suggests that analyzing homeland perceptions of the diaspora can widen our understanding of the construction of homeland identities and boundaries.
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ISSN:0141-9870
1466-4356
DOI:10.1080/01419870.2021.2018004