Between State and Synagogue
The Secularization of Contemporary Israel

Guy Ben-Porat explores the evolving tensions between the liberal component in Israeli society and the constraints imposed by religious orthodoxy.

Guy Ben-Porat (Author)

9781107003446, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 25 March 2013

284 pages, 13 b/w illus. 14 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.5 kg

'This book provides useful information about the politis of the Israeli religious-secular divide and its evolution in recent decades. It is also timely in terms of the broader debate about the place of religion in Western democratic societies. Ben-Portat posits an important distinction between secularism and secularization … Recommended. General readers, undergraduate students, graduate students, and research faculty.' D. Schwan-Baird, Choice

A thriving, yet small, liberal component in Israeli society has frequently taken issue with the constraints imposed by religious orthodoxy, largely with limited success. However, Guy Ben-Porat suggests, in recent years, in part because of demographic changes and in part because of the influence of an increasingly consumer-oriented society, dramatic changes have occurred in secularization of significant parts of public and private lives. Even though these fissures often have more to do with lifestyle choices and economics than with political or religious ideology, the demands and choices of a secular public and a burgeoning religious presence in the government are becoming ever more difficult to reconcile. The evidence, which the author has accrued from numerous interviews and a detailed survey, is nowhere more telling than in areas that demand religious sanction such as marriage, burial, the sale of pork, and the operation of businesses on the Sabbath.

Figures and tables
Preface and acknowledgments
1. Unpacking secularization
2. Israel: from status quo to crisis
3. The state of marriage: regulating and de-regulating love
4. Burial: a matter of lifestyle
5. Pig on the plate: from 'white steak' to pork
6. Live and let buy: bargaining for Sabbath
7. Conclusions
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Political control & freedoms [JPV], Political ideologies [JPF], Judaism [HRJ]