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The concept of peoplehood has a double meaning. The first is descriptive, as a concept factually describing the existence of the Jews as a people. The second is normative, as a value that describes the feeling of belonging and commitment to the Jewish people.
Some believe that the concept of Jewish peoplehood is a paradigm shift in Jewish life. Insisting that the mainstream of Jewish life is focused on Zionism, they argue that Jewish life should instead focus on Jewish peoplehood.
Others maintain that the concept of peoplehood, or "Klal Yisrael" has permeated Jewish life for millennia, and to focus on it does not constitute a shift. Jews have been extremely effective in sustaining for over 2,000 years, a sense of joint responsibility towards their people and its members.
At the same time, the concepts of peoplehood and Zionism are not necessarily at odds with one another. The very concept of defining Judaism as a people or a "civilization" suggests a wide variety of values within the context of Judaism.
The origins of Jewish peoplehood
The concept of a distinctive Jewish people or Peoplehood has been part of the culture through the centuries of development of the Bible. Throughout the Torah, Prophets and Writings, Jews are variously referred to as a congregation, a nation, children of Israel or even a kingdom, all implying a connection among people.
The first significant use of the Peoplehood concept was by Mordecai Kaplan, a 20th-century Jewish thinker, who was searching for a term that would enable him to describe the complex nature of Jewish belonging. In his work Judaism as a Civilization, Kaplan sought to define the Jewish people and religion in socio-cultural terms as well as religious ones. Once the State of Israel was founded, he rejected the concept of nationhood, as it had become too closely identified with statehood, and replaced it with the Peoplehood concept.
Kaplan’s definition of Judaism as "an evolving religious civilization" illumines his understanding of the centrality of Peoplehood in the Jewish religion. Describing Judaism as a religious civilization emphasizes the idea that Jewish people have sought "to make [their] collective experience yield meaning for the enrichment of the life of the individual Jew and for the spiritual greatness of the Jewish people." The definition as a civilization allows Judaism to accept the principles of unity in diversity and continuity in change. It is a reminder that Judaism consists of much that cannot be put into the category of religion in modern times, "paradoxical as it may sound, the spiritual regeneration of the Jewish people demands that religion cease to be its sole preoccupation." In the sense that existence precedes essence and life takes precedence over thought, Judaism exists for the sake of the Jewish people rather than the Jewish people existing for the sake of Judaism.
In modern Jewish life
Since 2000, major Jewish organizations have embraced the Peoplehood concept and intellectual interest in the topic has increased. Major organizations such as the Jewish Federations of North America, the JFNA New York Federation, the Jewish Agency for Israel, the Israel Ministry for Education, the Diaspora Museum, the Avi Chai Foundation, the American Jewish Committee and many other smaller organizations are either introducing the Peoplehood concept as an organizing principle in their organizations or initiating high-profile programming with an explicit focus on Jewish Peoplehood.
Natan Sharansky, the Jewish Agency’s chairman, declared that the agency’s traditional Zionist mission had outlived its usefulness. In his new capacity, he has made Israel education and promoting Jewish Peoplehood a priority, particularly among the young.
Alongside the use of the Peoplehood concept by Jewish organizations, there is a parallel growth of intellectual interest in the topic since 2000. The intellectual discussion asks: What is "Jewish Peoplehood"? What are the key characteristics that distinguish Jewish Peoplehood from other concepts?
Areas of agreement
The areas of agreement among Jewish intellectuals writing about the concept of Jewish Peoplehood point to three principles:
The three unifying principles of the Jewish Peoplehood theory:
- A multidimensional experience of Jewish belonging – The concept of Jewish Peoplehood assumes an understanding of Jewish belonging that is multidimensional.
- Rejection of any dominant ideology, which over emphasizes one dimension of Jewishness - Strong ideological frameworks that over-emphasize one dimension of the larger Jewish experience are not an acceptable starting point for understanding how individuals connect to the Jewish People.
- Focus on the nature of the connection between Jews and not on the Jewish Identity - Those concerned with the Jewish Peoplehood concept do not focus on the identity of individuals, but rather on the nature of connections between Jews. The concern is with common elements and frameworks that enable Jews to connect with one another both emotionally and socially.
In combination, these three principles imbue the Peoplehood concept with coherence and offer an added value to organizations that wish to create programs “that build Jewish Peoplehood” in a sustainable and measurable way.
There are several variants of the communitarian position among intellectuals writing about Jewish Peoplehood. The common denominator is the desire to find common ground upon which connections between Jews are built.
The four distinct positions regarding Jewish Peoplehood:
- Peoplehood as a common destiny.
- Peoplehood as a shared mission with an emphasis on Tikkun Olam.
- Peoplehood as a shared kinship and mutual responsibility.
- Peoplehood as an obligation.
For some critics, Jewish Peoplehood is still an amorphous and abstract concept that presents an optional ideological approach towards the Jewish collective. Others wonder if it is too weak a foundation on which to base Jewish collective identity, especially since the vision of Peoplehood is not predicated on having any kind of religious or spiritual identity.
The proponents of Canaanism, a movement developed by nationalist immigrants to the British Mandate, on the other hand, rejected "Jewish peoplehood", saying that Judaism is a religion, not a nation. Canaanists such as Yonatan Ratosh described themselves as "Hebrews", using an explicitly non-religious self-description. They felt that Judaism, as a religion, was not rooted to the land of Israel as Hebrew ethnic identity.
- Peoplehood Now, sponsored by the NADAV Foundation, editors: Shlomi Ravid, Shelley Kedar, Research: Ari Engelberg, Elana Sztokman, Varda Rafaeli, p.11
- The Peoplehood Papers IV, edited by Ravid S., United Jewish Communities, Kol Dor, The Jewish Peoplehood HUB, Tel Aviv, 2009, p.37
- The Peoplehood Papers III, edited by Ravid S., Serkin T., United Jewish Communities, The International School for Jewish Peoplehood Studies at Beit Hatfutsot, Tel Aviv, 2008, p.20
- Making Peoplehood Work: The Institutional Challenge, Dr. Shlomi Ravid, The Peoplehood Papers II, edited by Serkin D,. Kol Dor, The International School for Jewish Peoplehood Studies at Beit Hatfutsot, Tel Aviv, 2008 , p.27
- *Emanuel S. Goldsmith, "Salvational Zionism and Religious Naturalism in the Thought of Mordecai M. Kaplan"
- The Peoplehood Papers I, edited by Corbin K., Fram Plotkin A., Levine E., Most G., United Jewish Communities, New York, 2007, p.38
- *Genesis 17:7/8
- *Esther 3:8
- *The Haggadah
- *Talmud Shevuot 39a
- A Framework for the Strategic Thinking about Jewish Peoplehood, Kopelowitz, E. and Engelberg A., Platforma, Jerusalem, 2007, p. 4
- Mordecai M. Kaplan, Judaism as a Civilization, New York: Macmillan, 1934, p.345
- Peoplehood Now, p.13
- A Framework for Strategic Thinking about Jewish Peoplehood, p. 4
- Embattled Jewish Agency To Promote Identity Over Aliyah, Gal Beckerman
- A Framework for Strategic Thinking about Jewish Peoplehood, p. 7
- A Framework for Strategic Thinking about Jewish Peoplehood, p.9-10
- A Framework for Strategic Thinking about Jewish Peoplehood, p.13-14
- Cf. "Two Brief Introductions to Hebrew Canaanism" by Ron Kuzar. URL accessed 15/03/2013
- See also James S. Diamond, Homeland or Holy Land?: The "Canaanite" Critique of Israel, John Wiley & Sons, 1st Ed., 1986.
- A Framework for the Strategic Thinking about Jewish Peoplehood, Kopelowitz, E. and Engelberg A., Platforma, Jerusalem, 2007
- Peoplehood Now, sponsored by the NADAV Foundation, editors: Shlomi Ravid, Shelley Kedar, Research: Ari Engelberg, Elana Sztokman, Varda Rafaeli
- The Peoplehood Papers I, edited by Corbin K., Fram Plotkin A., Levine E., Most G., United Jewish Communities, New York, 2007
- The Peoplehood Papers II, edited by Serkin D,. Kol Dor, The International School for Jewish Peoplehood Studies at Beit Hatfutsot, Tel Aviv, 2008
- The Peoplehood Papers III, edited by Ravid S., Serkin T., United Jewish Communities, The International School for Jewish Peoplehood Studies at Beit Hatfutsot, Tel Aviv, 2008
- The Peoplehood Papers IV, edited by Ravid S., United Jewish Communities, Kol Dor, The Jewish Peoplehood HUB, Tel Aviv, 2009
- Jewish Peoplehood in an Age of Globalization, Dr Ami Bouganim, The Research and Development Unit of the Department of Jewish-Zionist, Education, 2007
- Are we ready for Jewish Peoplehood?, Moty Cristal, 2007, YNet News
- Peoplehood in the Bible
- Peoplehood in Rabbinic Texts
- Embattled Jewish Agency To Promote Identity Over Aliyah, Gal Beckerman, The Jewish Daily Forward, March 2010
- The Case for Jewish Peoplehood: Can We Be One?, by Erica Brown, Misha Galperin, and Joseph Telushkin, 2009
- Jewish Peoplehood: Change and Challenge, (Reference Library of Jewish Intellectual History) by Ezra Kopelowitz and Menachem Reviv, 2008
- The Future of Jewish Peoplehood, by Arthur Waskow (1977)
- Policy publications on Jewish peoplehood at the Berman Jewish Policy Archive
- Jewish Peoplehood Resources, NADAV Foundation
- Dynamic Judaism: the essential writings by Mordechai M. Kaplan, Edited and with Introductions by Emanuel S. Goldsmith and Mel Scult
- Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan
- Jewish Peoplehood Index
- Be'chol Lashon – In Every Toung
- Peoplehood Research Blog
- Jewish Peoplehood HUB
- Envisioning Jewish Peoplehood
- The International School for Jewish Peoplehood Studies (SJPS)