I believe that I have mentioned #IsraeliJudaism: Portrait of a Cultural Revolution, the marvelous book by Shmuel Rosner and Camil Fuchs, in several of our podcasts over the years. It’s out in English and in Hebrew, and I highly recommend it if you’re not familiar with it. It’s an intentionally very comfortable read, with very brief chapters, and once you read it you’ll never see Israeli society the same way.
Shmuel Rosner is a researcher, editor and columnist. He is a fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute and an editor of “The Madad” project, which explores politics, society, culture and identity in Israel. He is also a commentator for Kan News (the national public broadcaster). Shmuel was a columnist for the New York Times and before that he was head of the news department at Haaretz. And he is the author of several books, the above-mentioned #IsraeliJudaism among them.
As a fascinating and nuanced observer of Israeli society and Israeli Judaism, I reached out to Shmuel to hear his take on what is transpiring in Israel these days. If the divide is not really electoral reform anymore, but something deeper, like a chasm between Ashkenazim and Mizrahim, what should we do? What policies should we put in place?
The question is wrong, replied Rosner. There is no real divide between the Europeans and the Jews of the Levant. It’s made up, created by politicians for their own agendas. There was much more that he said that surprised me and that left me thinking—I suspect the same will be true for you.
The link above will take you to a brief excerpt of our conversation; the full conversation, along with a transcript for those who prefer to read, is being made available to paid subscribers to Israel from the Inside.
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Music credits: Medieval poem by Rabbi Shlomo Ibn Gvirol. Melody and performance by Shaked Jehuda and Eyal Gesundheit. Production by Eyal Gesundheit. To view a video of their performance, see this YouTube:
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