Thesis: Kaplen, The Ethiopian Messianic Jewish Movement of Israel

Kaplan, Jennifer. The Ethiopian Messianic Jewish Movement of Israel: An Evaluative Study for Growth and Sustainability, D.I.S. Thesis. Pasadena, Calif.: Fuller Theological Seminary, 2015.

 

URL: http://search.proquest.com/docview/1754414979

 

Abstract

The journey of immigration and integration of the Ethiopian Jews of Israel is a remarkable story. From traditional society and Torah-based Judaism in Ethiopia to high-tech society and Rabbinic Judaism in Israel, the gap is the largest in Israeli pluralistic society. The results are often low socio-economic status, family crisis, and discrimination. A sub-group of the Ethiopian Jews is the Ethiopian Messianic Jews of Israel, whose identity is further compounded by their faith in Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah. This research investigates the background and growth of their congregations in the missiological context of Israel. The research also investigates the integration levels of their leaders and how this affects the congregations, and draws conclusions regarding the movement’s sustainability for the future.

 

 

 

New Article: Mendelsohn, Israel and Its Messianic Right

Mendelsohn, Barak. “Israel and Its Messianic Right: Path-Dependency and State Authority in International Conflict.” International Studies Quarterly (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqv015

 

Abstract

Why do states responsible for unleashing violent nonstate actors fail to halt them despite rising costs and, at best, marginal utility? I argue that a historical-institutionalist approach helps scholars understand these dynamics. I present five path-dependent mechanisms—change in the balance of power, spiraling perception of threat, ideological shift among the public, state penetration, and weakening of the principle of state primacy—that diminish the prospects of policy reversals. I then demonstrate the usefulness of path-dependency analysis in the case of Israel’s entanglement with the Jewish messianic Right. Applying the theoretical framework sheds light on the process that brought Israel prohibitive costs—undercutting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, undermining the state’s international standing, and weakening the state’s authority and democratic nature—and made policy reversal, in line with the state’s national interest and its responsibilities as a member of the international society, highly unlikely.

 

 

 

ToC: Contemporary Jewry 35.3 (2015)

Contemporary Jewry

Volume 35, Issue 3, October 2015

ISSN: 0147-1694 (Print) 1876-5165 (Online)

In this issue (11 articles)

1. Editor’s Introduction

   Harriet Hartman Pages 189-190

     

2. Russian Jewish Immigrants in the United States

   Barry R. Chiswick, Nicholas Larsen Pages 191-209

3. Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism in Iran: The Effects of Identity, Threat, and Political Trust

   Rusi Jaspal Pages 211-235

    

4. Parochial or Transnational Endeavor? The Attitude to Israel of Adolescents in Australian Jewish Day Schools

   Zehavit Gross, Suzanne D. Rutland Pages 237-261

    

5. Karaite Stories: Narrating Subjectivity in a Marginal Moshav

   Inbal Ester Cicurel Pages 263-284

    

6. Deep Blue: Notes on the Jewish Snail Fight

   Gadi Sagiv Pages 285-313

    

7. Research Updates

    Helen Kim Pages 315-318

    

8. Book Review: Fran Markowitz, Stephen Sharot, and Moshe Shokeid (eds): Toward an Anthropology of Nation Building and Unbuilding in Israel

   Myron J. Aronoff Pages 319-322 

9. Book review: Calvin Goldscheider: Israeli Society in the 21st Century: Immigration, Inequality, and Religious Conflict

   Bruce A. Phillips Pages 323-325

10. Book Review: Adam Ferziger: Beyond Sectarianism: The Realignment of American Orthodox Judaism

    Moshe Krakowski Pages 327-329

11. Book Review: Roberta Rosenthal Kwall: The Myth of the Cultural Jew: Culture and Law in Jewish Tradition

    Barry A. Kosmin Pages 331-332

     

Dissertation: Harel, “The eternal nation does not fear a long road”: An Ethnography of Jewish Settlers in Israel/Palestine

Harel, Assaf. “The eternal nation does not fear a long road”: An Ethnography of Jewish Settlers in Israel/Palestine, PhD thesis, Rutgers University, 2015.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3VD71FW

 

Abstract

This is an ethnography of Jewish settlers in Israel/Palestine. Studies of religiously motivated settlers in the occupied territories indicate the intricate ties between settlement practices and a Jewish theology about the advent of redemption. This messianic theology binds future redemption with the maintenance of a physical union between Jews and the “Land of Israel.” However, among settlers themselves, the dominance of this messianic theology has been undermined by postmodernity and most notably by a series of Israeli territorial withdrawals that have contradicted the promise of redemption. These days, the religiously motivated settler population is divided among theological and ideological lines that pertain, among others issues, to the meaning of redemption and its relation to the state of Israel. This dissertation begins with an investigation of the impact of the 2005 Israeli unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip upon settlers and proceeds to compare three groups of religiously motivated settlers in the West Bank: an elite Religious Zionist settlement, settlers who engage in peacemaking activities with Palestinians, and settlers who act violently against Palestinians. Through a comparison of these different groups, this dissertation demonstrates that while messianism remains a central force in the realities of Jewish settlements and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it exists these days in more diversified forms than before. In addition, this ethnography illustrates how religion both underlies and undermines differences between Israelis and Palestinians and argues that local communities and religious leaders should be included in peace processes. Finally, by examining how messianic conceptions of time among different groups of Jewish settlers connect to their settlement practices, this study reveals the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be as much about time as it is about space. Accordingly, this dissertation has broader implications for understanding the contemporary role of religion and time within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the political struggles of the Middle East.

 

 

New Article, Amrami, Therapy Versus Messianism in Preparing for the Evacuation of Israeli Settlements

Amrami, Galia Plotkin. “‘Denial or Faith?’ Therapy Versus Messianism in Preparing for the Evacuation of Israeli Settlements.” Anthropology and Education Quarterly 46.4 (2015): 414-30.

 
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aeq.12119
 
Abstract

This article offers an ethnographic account of the professional activities of mental health practitioners, employed by the state’s religious education system. I analyze various models implemented by practitioners for the purposes of preparing pupils for the state-mandated evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza and the West Bank. By focusing on the interaction between psychological and religious-national cultural frameworks I show how practitioners imbue familiar professional concepts with new meanings and create hybrid models of intervention.

 

 

 

New Article: Linfield, Is a Left Zionism Possible?

Linfield, Susie. “Is a Left Zionism Possible?”. Dissent 62.4 (2015): 98-101.

 

URL: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/dissent/v062/62.4.linfield.html/

 
Abstract

The very posing of this question is profoundly dispiriting. It shows how bad (that is, not left-wing) the political situation of contemporary Israel is; how radically the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has deteriorated; and how historically ignorant and blindly anti-Israeli today’s American left is. The short answer is: yes, of course. Zionism has been Leninist, socialdemocratic, liberal, secular, pacifist, anti-imperialist, proletarian, even, until this became impossible, binational. It has also been militaristic, authoritarian, bourgeois, racist, religious, messianic, imperialist, and neofascist.

 

 

 

New Book: Selengut, Our Promised Land: Faith and Militant Zionism in Israeli Settlements

Selengut, Charles. Our Promised Land: Faith and Militant Zionism in Israeli Settlements Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.

 

 

Our Promised Land takes readers inside radical Israeli settlements to explore how they were formed, what the people in them believe, and their role in the Middle East today. Charles Selengut analyzes the emergence of the radical Israeli Messianic Zionist movement, which advocates Jewish settlement and sovereignty over the whole of biblical Israel as a religious obligation and as the means of world transformation. The movement has established scores of controversial settlements throughout the contested West Bank, bringing more than 300,000 Jews to the area. Messianic Zionism is a fundamentalist movement but wields considerable political power.

Our Promised Land, which draws on years of research and interviews in these settlements, offers an intimate and nuanced look at Messianic Zionism, life in the settlements, connections with the worldwide Christian community, and the impact on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Selengut offers an in-depth exploration of a topic that is often mentioned in the headlines but little understood.

 

 

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. The Rise of the Settlements
2. From Zionism to Messianic Nationalism
3. Faith, Culture, and Community Life
4. Inside The Settlements: Portraits, Conversations, and Experiences
5. Judaism, Religious Nationalism, and the Middle East Conflict
A Note on Research Methods
Notes
Glossary
Key Figures
About the Author
Charles Selengut is professor of sociology at Morris College and a former professor of religion at Drew University. He is the author of several books, including Sacred Fury: Understanding Religious Violence.

 

 

New Article: Inbari, Messianic Religious Zionism and the Reintroduction of Sacrifice

Inbari, Motti. “Messianic Religious Zionism and the Reintroduction of Sacrifice: The Case of the Temple Institute.” In Rethinking the Messianic Idea in Judaism (ed. Michael L. Morgan and Steven Weitzman; Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2014): 256-73.

 

URL: https://www.academia.edu/16376952/Messianic_Religious_Zionism_and_the_Reintroduction_of_Sacrifice_The_Case_of_the_Temple_Institute

 

Extract

The obscuring of the question of the Temple Mount by early Zionist messianists, both Religious and secular, invited challenges to the Zionist establishment. Scholem wanted the Zionist messianic myth to develop without a yearning for a Third Temple as part of the end of days. Yet Scholem’s conscious denial of the historical desire could not quash the desire. The growing trend of Jewish prayers on the Temple Mount and the vigorous activities of the Temple Institute, discussed above, suggest that the vision of the Third Temple has emerged as a widely accepted component of contemporary Israeli Jewish messianism.

 

 

New Article: Leon | ‘Ovadia Yosef, the Shas Party, and the Arab-Israeli Peace Process

Leon, Nissim. “Rabbi ‘Ovadia Yosef, the Shas Party, and the Arab-Israeli Peace Process.” Middle East Journal 69.3 (2015): 379-95.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3751/69.3.13
https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/the_middle_east_journal/v069/69.3.leon.html

 

Abstract

One of the prominent religious parties in Israel, intimately involved in political decision-making, has been the Shas party, led by the late Rabbi ‘Ovadia Yosef. This article examines four components of Rabbi Yosef’s political stance: (1) his view of Jewish religious law as a factor that moderates the force of changes of seemingly historical and revolutionary significance; (2) his opposition to radical messianism; (3) his desire to adopt independent positions; and (4) his role in the development of a Mizrahi, ultra-Orthodox stream of Zionism.

 

ToC: Israel Studies Review 30.1 (2015)

 

 

Israel Studies Review, Volume 30, Issue 1, Table of Contents:

Editors’ Note

Editors’ Note
pp. v-vii(3)

Articles

Mapai’s Bolshevist Image: A Critical Analysis
pp. 1-19(19)
Bareli, Avi

Political Indoctrination of Soldiers in the IDF, 1948–1949
pp. 20-41(22)
Hazkani, Shay

 

Outsmarting the Nation, Together: Subversive Virtual Fraternity in the Israeli Men’s Magazine Blazer
pp. 42-65(24)
Fraiberg, Steven; Kaplan, Danny

 

Men and Boys: Representations of Israeli Combat Soldiers in the Media
pp. 66-85(20)
Israeli, Zipi; Rosman-Stollman, Elisheva

 

The Kibbutz between the Past and the Present
pp. 86-100(15)
Gertz, Nurith

 

Kibbutz Landscape and Architecture as Represented in Film and Television: Kibbutz Yakum as a Case Study
pp. 101-129(29)
Har-Gil, Amir; Gitler, Inbal Ben-Asher

Review Essay

Right of Center: Rearranging the Israeli Political Map
pp. 130-143(14)
Peleg, Samuel

Book Reviews

Book Reviews
pp. 144-163(20)

 

ToC: Israel Studies 19.2 (2014)

[ToC from Project Muse; content also available at JStor: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.19.issue-2]

Israel Studies

Volume 19, Number 2, Summer 2014

Table of Contents

Special Issue: Zionism in the 21st Century

Editors: Ilan Troen and Donna Robinson Divine

 

Introduction: (Special issue, Israel Studies, 19.2)

pp. v-xi

Ilan Troen, Donna Robinson Divine

Articles: Zionist Theory

Cultural Zionism Today

pp. 1-14

Allan Arkush

Bi-Nationalist Visions for the Construction and Dissolution of the State of Israel

pp. 15-34

Rachel Fish

Culture: Literature and Music

Nostalgic Soundscapes: The Future of Israel’s Sonic Past

pp. 35-50

Edwin Seroussi

Cultural Orientations and Dilemmas

Remember? Forget? What to Remember? What to Forget?

pp. 51-69

Tuvia Friling

The Kibbutz in Immigration Narratives of Bourgeois Iraqi and Polish Jews Who Immigrated to Israel in the 1950s

pp. 70-93

Aziza Khazzoom

Politics and Law

Zionism and the Politics of Authenticity

pp. 94-110

Donna Robinson Divine

Law in Light of Zionism: A Comparative View

pp. 111-132

Suzanne Last Stone

Economics and Land

Some Perspectives on the Israeli Economy: Stocktaking and Looking Ahead

pp. 133-161

Jacob Metzer

Competing Concepts of Land in Eretz Israel

pp. 162-186

Ilan Troen, Shay Rabineau

Israel’s Relationship with Its Neighbors and the Palestinian Arab Citizens

The Arab Minority in Israel: Reconsidering the “1948 Paradigm”

pp. 187-217

Elie Rekhess

Israel’s Place in a Changing Regional Order (1948–2013)

pp. 218-238

Asher Susser

Religion and Society

Messianism and Politics: The Ideological Transformation of Religious Zionism

pp. 239-263

Eliezer Don-Yehiya

The Ambivalent Haredi Jew

pp. 264-293

Yoel Finkelman

---

Contributors

pp. 294-296

Reviews: Inbari, Messianic Religious Zionism Confronts Israeli Territorial Compromises

Inbari, Motti. Messianic Religious Zionism Confronts Israeli Territorial Compromises. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

 

Reviews

• Brill, Alan. “Motti Inbari on Messianic Religious Zionism and other Fundamentalists.” The Book of Doctrines and Opinions: Notes on Jewish Theology and Spirituality, October 30, 2013.
• Tuten, Eric E. “Religious Worldviews and Evolving Political Realities.” H-Net Reviews (for H-Judaic), November 2013.
• Munson, Henry. “Review.” Politics, Religion & Ideology 14.4 (2013): 584-587.
• Newberg, Eric N. “Review.” Nova Religio  18.4 (2015): 112-114.

Cite: Shpiro, The Intellectual Foundations of Jewish National Terrorism

Shpiro, Shlomo. “The Intellectual Foundations of Jewish National Terrorism: Avraham Stern and the Lehi.” Terrorism and Political Violence 25.4 (2013): 606-20.

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09546553.2013.814502

Abstract

The Lehi, a fringe Jewish paramilitary group created in 1940, conducted a
concerted terrorist campaign against the British authorities in
Palestine during and after World War II, proclaiming that its activities
were undertaken in the name of national liberation. Lehi was founded
and led by Avraham Stern, also known as “Yair.” Scholar, intellectual,
and poet, Stern developed a fundamental ideology of national and
messianic Jewish terrorism, which became the ideological basis not only
for the work of the Lehi, but also for later Jewish terrorist activism.
The present article examines the intellectual foundations of Lehi
terrorism and how its intellectual and ideological principles influenced
Lehi’s most controversial activities—internal terrorism and the
execution of its own members. In conclusion, the author traces the
impact of Stern’s intellectual legacy on later generations of Jewish
terrorists.

Cite: Durbin, Christian Zionism as American Redemption

Durbin, Sean. “‘I am an Israeli’: Christian Zionism as American Redemption.” Culture and Religion 14.3 (2013): 324-47.

 

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14755610.2012.758161\

 

Abstract

This article argues that discourse used to define and understand Israel
by prominent American Christian Zionists is a discourse of national
idealisation. Drawing on Durkheim’s (2008)
notion of symbols as sources of social solidarity, I argue that this
imagined Israel reflects conservative social and military values that
are shared among Christian Zionists and their supporters – values which
many in this broad category see the United States failing to uphold.
Following this, I show how one of America’s most prominent pastors –
John Hagee – and his organisation – Christians United for Israel – have
taken on the role of a contemporary Jeremiah, criticising the American
government for not adequately supporting Israel. This article concludes
by considering how Christian Zionists are calling America to renew and
align itself with God by ‘blessing’ Israel, and acting like Israel.

ToC: Israel Affairs 19,3 (2013)

Israel     Affairs, Vol. 19, No. 3, 01 Jul 2013 is now available on Taylor & Francis Online. This new issue contains the following articles: Original Articles ‘We     need the messiah so that he may not come’: on David Ben-Gurion’s use of     messianic language Nir Kedar Pages: 393-409 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799864 Beyond     a one-man show: the prelude of Revisionist Zionism, 1922–25 Jan Zouplna Pages: 410-432 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799871 Another     Orient in early Zionist thought: East Asia in the press of the Ben-Yehuda     family Guy Podoler Pages: 433-450 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799866 Jerusalem     in Anglo-American policy in the immediate wake of the June 1967 war Arieh J. Kochavi Pages: 451-467 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799865 A     farewell to arms? NGO campaigns for embargoes on military exports: the case     of the UK and Israel Gerald M. Steinberg, Anne Herzberg & Asher Fredman Pages: 468-487 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799869 The     politics of ‘over-victimization’ – Palestinian proprietary claims in the     service of political goals Haim Sandberg Pages: 488-504 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799868 Equality,     orthodoxy and politics: the conflict over national service in Israel Etta Bick Pages: 505-525 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799862 The     establishment of a political-educational network in the State of Israel:     Maayan Hahinuch Hatorani Anat Feldman Pages: 526-541 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799863 Between     the dream and the reality: vocational education in Israel, 1948–92 Nirit Raichel Pages: 542-561 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799867 The     influence of mergers on the capital market Tchai Tavor Pages: 562-579 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799870 Book Reviews 1973:     the way to war Raphael Cohen-Almagor Pages: 580-582 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778094 Land     and desire in early Zionism David Rodman Pages: 583-584 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799881 Israel     in Africa, 1956–1976 David Rodman Pages: 584-585 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799899 Zion’s     dilemmas: how Israel makes national security policy David Rodman Pages: 586-587 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799882 Should     Israel exist? A sovereign nation under attack by the international     community David Rodman Pages: 588-589 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799885 The     role of US diplomacy in the lead-up to the Six Day War: balancing moral     commitments and national interests David Rodman Pages: 589-590 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799886 The     wars of the Maccabees: the Jewish struggle for freedom, 167–37 BC David Rodman Pages: 590-592 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799887 In     the aftermath of Operation Pillar of Defence: the Gaza strip, November 2012 David Rodman Pages: 592-593 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799888 The     future of the Jews: how global forces are impacting the Jewish people,     Israel and its relationship with the United States David Rodman Pages: 593-595 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799889 The     lives of ordinary people in ancient Israel: where archaeology and the Bible     intersect David Rodman Pages: 595-597 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799890 Israel     vs. Iran: the shadow war David Rodman Pages: 597-599 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799883 The     triumph of Israel’s radical right Evan Renfro Pages: 599-601 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.799884

Cite: Lipshitz, Messianic Moments in Hanoch Levin’s Drama

Lipshitz, Yair. “The Clown’s Lost Twin: Messianic Moments in Hanoch Levin’s Drama.” Modern Drama 56.2 (2013): 232-49.

 

URL: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/modern_drama/v056/56.2.lipshitz.html

 

Abstract

During the last decade of the twentieth century, leading Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin has returned several times to the issue of redemption and the figure of the Messiah, both heavily laden with political-theological meanings in Israeli culture. The article explores Levin’s messianic moments as an alternative to the prominent Israeli discourses regarding messianism. Instead of entirely debunking the Jewish messianic tradition, as other Israeli playwrights of the period have done (and while scathingly criticizing it), Levin recharges this tradition with new political and theatrical meanings. Levin’s drama includes a line of weak, seemingly “failing” Messiahs and, through them, asks questions about the conceptualization of dramatic time and the power structures of spectatorship, within and without the theatre.