Whose+Country+Is+This,+Anyway

pages 285-321
 //Riding a bus down King George Street in Jerusalem recently, I hadn't particularly noticed the young woman in the back of the bus who sat down next to the Haredi (Ultra-orthodox) Jew since he, in his black hat, black coat, and long beard, and she, in her sandals, skirt, and sleeveless top, were part of a typical scene that included soldiers on leave, a babushka-capped grandmother, five-year-olds with knapsacks, and an occasional American-looking rabbi late for an appointment. It was only after the young woman quietly asked the Haredi to please close the window that I lifted my eyes out of the newspaper and watched him turn to her rather matter-of-factly with the words "Would you please lengthen your sleeves?" "Mister," the woman said, her voice rising to match her indignation, "the open window is bothering me!" The Haredi seemed nonplused. "Madame, the bare arms are bothering me," he responded. Her face was now grim and determined as she slowly extracted every single syllable from her mouth and planted them into every ear on the bus: "Are they my arms or your arms?"// –Rabbi Shlomo Riskin in the //Jerusalem Post// May 20, 1988

The four groups of Israelis:
**Secular and nonobservant Israelis–** "those who really built the new state of Israel" 50% of the population, serve in the army, celebrate Israel's Independence Day, children attend "state-run secular schools" (Friendman 286). This group "came to to Israel in part as a rebellion against their grandfathers and the Orthodox synagogue– oriented ghetto Judaism practiced in Eastern Europe... For the secular Zionists, being back in the land of Israel, erecting a modern society and army, and observing Jewish holidays as national holidays all became a substitute for religious observance and faith... [s]cience, technology, and turning the desert green were their new Torah" (Friedman 286). "These are traditional or modern Orthodox Jews, who fully support the secular Zionist state but insist that it is not a substitute for the synagogue. They see the state and the synagogue and a way of life according to the precepts of the Torah as all being compatible. They believe that the creation of Israel is a religious event, and that Judaism, when reinterpreted for the twentieth century, can flourish in a modern Jewish state" (Friedman 286). The menfolk dress “in the dark coats and fur hats worn by eighteenth-century Eastern European gentlemen” because they are trying to recreate old life in Israel (Friedman 287). “They also prefer to speak Yiddish, the language of Eastern European Jews, not Hebrew” and they also don’t celebrate Israel’s Independence Day. They want to serve in Israeli parliament in order to make Israel more religious “and in order to obtain state funds to support their own private educational network of yeshivas” (Friedman 287).  The Haredim attempt to "re-create" the "great eighteenth, nineteeth, and twentieth century ghettos of Eastern Europe" because they believe that "the pinnacle of Jewish life and learning" occurred during that time and in a place "isolated from the Gentile world surrounding them" (Friedman 287).
 * Religious Zionists (Group 1)**– 30% of the population, "serve in the army", celebrate Israel's Independence Day, children attend "state-run religious educational institutions" (Friedman 286).
 * Religious Zionists (Group 2)** of a “more messianic bent” (Friedman 286)– “These messianic Zionists, who make up about 5% of the Jewish population, form the backbone of the Gush Emunim Jewish settler movement in the West Bank… The state, in their view, is a necessary instrument for brining the Messiah, and Israel’s politics, defense and foreign policies should all be devoted to that end” (Friedman 286-[[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/UserDaniel575_Har_Hatzofim.jpg width="239" height="185" align="right" caption="A Haredi Jew, photo credit: wikipedia.com" link="@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UserDaniel575_Har_Hatzofim.jpg"]]7).
 * Ultra-Orthodox, non-Zionist Jews/ Haredim**– about 15% of the Jewish population, "although they are highly observant, do not see in the reborn state of Israel an event of major religious significance. They believe that a Jewish state will be worth celebrating religiously only after the Messiah comes and the rule of Jewish law is total” (Friedman 287).

How they interact in Israel:
Each group believed that "the others would wither away," so no attempts were made to "hammer out a consensus about the meaning of the state of Israel [or] the land of Israel for the Israeli people" (Friedman 288). This makes for a very diverse setting, including, in Israel,, "the only Jewish gay bar and the only Jewish surfing shop" (Friedman 288).  (This is a clip that I had to, first of all rip from Google Videos, since our wonderful school thinks we're responsible enough to have open study hall, but not to search pictures and videos, then I had to record it using sketchy software, then I had to record the sound separate and finally I had to align the sound and the video... Was it worth it? Oh and you can hear my mom talking at the end.... Perfect)
 * 1988 Elections–** "involved twenty-seven different parties competing for 120[| Knesset]seats" (Friedman 288)

Election Advertisements included: – "Coupons... promising a blessing in the voter's name... that the voter should have //health, a long life, happiness, and success in a////ll endeavors//" (Friedman 288)  – "[A] television advertisement promising blessings and //many sons//" in exchange for votes and also threatened that opposition "[would] //be punished by the Holy One blessed be He//" (Friedman 288) – "[P]ostcards with the picture of a dead Moroccan Jewish holy man, the Baba Sali, an Israeli equivalent of Father Divine... on the back of the postcards was printed: //'There is no doubt that from the heavens Baba Sali is blessing all those who support and vote for// Agudat Yisrael'" (Friedman 289) – One ad "show[ed] the not particularly appealing head of an ultra-Orthodox Jew, with long sidelocks, above the headline: HE IS FREE FROM ARMY SERVICE AND HARASSING YOU AT THE SAME TIME" **Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music** in Tel Aviv– "Jews just wanna have fun" is the motto

**Interactive Sites: ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> [|What Kind of Jew Are You?]Quiz <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Friedman, Thomas. //From Beirut to Jerusalem//. Toronto: Collins Publishers, 1989.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">