Rich Cohen often writes books about eccentric Jews: Brooklyn mobsters, World War II resistance fighters, and even his own family (he is the disinherited grandson of the inventor of Sweet ‘n’ Low). His latest book, “Israel Is Real” (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux) is what Cohen calls a love letter to the Jewish state. But the Forward’s senior columnist J.J. Goldberg insists that Cohen has written a tragedy. They spoke recently in the Forward’s studio about Israel of past, present and future, its false messiahs and how the Jewish state is like the Third Temple.
Produced by Allison Gaudet Yarrow.
The Forward welcomes reader comments in order to promote thoughtful discussion on issues of importance to the Jewish community. In the interest of maintaining a civil forum, the Forward requires that all commenters be appropriately respectful toward our writers, other commenters and the subjects of the articles. Vigorous debate and reasoned critique are welcome; name-calling and personal invective are not. While we generally do not seek to edit or actively moderate comments, the Forward reserves the right to remove comments for any reason.
Copyright © 2013, Forward Association, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Cleveland Kidnapping, Elizabeth Smart and Us
Tracing the Jewish Origins of the Holy Ghost
Ethical Kosher Seal Stalls Amid Orthodox Opposition
Baby Boomers’ Rocky Road to Jewish Love
'War' With Ultra-Orthodox at Kotel? Bring It On
You've successfully signed up!
This is a great interview. There is so much rich material. However, after a listen, the main thing I remember is the beginning part, in which the author and the interviewer talk about the role in Zionism of Jewish physicality. The very establishment of the State of Israel is an outward, physical expression of a legacy that had been left after the destruction of the Temple. That's why the author refers to the state as the third Temple. And yet a crucial part of the Zionist project, the ingathering of the exiles, remains unaccomplished, and in this sense, the realization of the Zionist project has yet to take place; the restoration of ancient pride is only partly realized.
The author talks about the internalization of anti-Semitism by European Zionists, who wrote, among other things, that the degenerate, neurasthenic Jew needs to be renewed. This is the ambiguity of the Zionist project. The goal of restoring ancient pride only makes sense if there is something otherwise to be ashamed about. And this presupposes that authors such as Herzl and Nordau felt shame about the European condition of the Jews, as though they had brought it on themselves. It's what we call, in shorthand, blaming the victim. So Zionism echoes the ancient Jewish rite of blaming collective misfortune on the people's sins, even as it casts then-contemporary introspection as a negative quality of over-intellectualized Jews.
In short, Zionism can't escape the dynamics of Judaism. This makes Israelis just one of the family. And family comes before ideology.
I wonder if Rich Cohen has understood the very basic term "Jewish". In order to make a point about a "Jewish democracy", he uses the term "Christian democracy". In short, despite the fact that he has studied the history of the Jewish people, he has the very common American Jewish confusion about peoplehood. Most American Jews today think that their peoplehood is American, and their religion is Jewish. This may be fine for them - but it is a mistake to assume that this is the identity of other Jews. The identity of Jews throughout history has been that their peoplehood is Jewish, and Judaism is their religion. Judaism, since it is a religion, can be compared to Christianity or to Islam - but the Jewish people can be compared to the Armenian people or to the Greek people. This is why you find a book in the library entitled "The History of the Jewish People" together with another book entitled "The History of the Russian People". Obviously, you'll never find a book entitled "The History of the Protestant People". Jews and Protestants are not parallel terms - but the Jews, the Arabs, the Greeks and the Danes are.
So, Israel wishes to be a Jewish state, and Israel wishes to be a democratic state. A Jewish state is parallel to the Estonian state or the Polish state. It is a state that is meant to express the right of self-determination of the Jewish people. The Jewish state, like the Finnish state or the Latvian state, wishes to run its life on democratic principles.
It would be worth reading carefully this week's editorial. The Forward has called for Hebrew literacy in America. Generally, American Jews shrug their shoulders when they hear a call for serious Hebrew studies. They don't understand its importance. A Jew who speaks a Jewish language understands peoplehood. His Jewish language defines for him instinctively that he has a collective identity with others who speak his language. A Hebrew (or Yiddish) speaker would never misunderstand the term "Jewish democracy". I very much enjoyed the interview with Rich Cohen, but I have a feeling that he doesn't read Hebrew (or Yiddish) books. His perceptions of Jewishness have an American English point of reference (i.e. the Jews are merely a religious community). The focus of the interview was about Israel, and in the Land of Israel the Jews are a people (not a religious community).