Who is the Young Israeli Jew?

Abstract

In recent years, many Israeli institutions have begun promoting programs for strengthening the Jewish identity of young Israelis. The motivation is similar to the discourse of Jewish Education found in the Diaspora. The assumption is that living life in the general society is not enough to ensure a meaningful connection between Jews to one another and the Jewish People, hence it is necessary to intervene through the use of educational programming. What exactly is the problem - nostalgia by the older generation for the “good old days” or something else? What are the goals of “Israeli Jewish Education” and how should the contemporary reality of Israeli society, influence those goals? This paper tackles these questions by looking at the popular leisure activities (sports, backpacking, shopping and dance) of young Israeli Jews. Through the prism of leisure activities we look at the ways Jewish belonging is built in everyday life of contemporary Israel and the different experiences of older and younger generations.

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