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4. Behavioral and Phenomenological Jewishness
- State University of New York Press
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4 Behavioral and Phenomenological Jewishness ELIHU KATZ Sociological surveys on sensitive issues cause their readers-enlightened ones as well-to ask, "Is this us?" and "Is this me?" "How do its findings compare with my own image of everybody else and of where I stand in relation to the rest?" The Guttman Report on "Observances and Beliefs" did exactly that. It evoked interest in every quarter-probably more than any previous empirical study of Israeli society-and challenged its readers to compare their images of the Jewishness of Israelis and of themselves against the findings obtained from a representative national sample. Confronted with such evidence, not everybody immediately suspends disbelief or abandons his/her prejudgments in favor of the evidence of the study. This is as it should be. Many people were surprised by the study'S findings, others disputed its interpretations, while still others raised questions about its methodology. This book gives them voice; it also offers an opportunity to the authors of the report to respond. This chapter, then, is an effort by one of the study'S authors to contribute to a dialogue with its commentators and critics, friendly and unfriendly , understanding and misunderstanding. It expands and presents again elements of the study-going beyond specific findings-so as to make clear where contemplation of our findings has led us, what we have profited from our critics, and thus where we agree and disagree with them.' It also restates the design of the study, and several of its findings, in order to address certain questions that have arisen in the press and in public discussion. In the course of responding to queries and criticisms, this chapter can also give insight into the attention, even the passion, that the study 71 72 Katz aroused. It will reveal, I believe, that some of the questions addressed to the study, and some of the unease that accompanies them, are not strictly about the study itself but are philosophical and personal questions about Judaism and Jewishness. Thus our study reawakened gnawing problems such as: Who is a Jew? Are ethnicity and religion disconnectable in Jewish identity? IsJudaism a religion of performance or belief, or both? What is a secular Jew? If one can be a nonreligious Jew, why is Jewishness incompatible with assuming another religion? Is Zionism-or living in Israel -a religious commandment? Is Judaism open to change? Is there room for selectivity in observance or should such "inconsistency" be condemned ? Some of these questions were actually put to our sample of respondents , but, manifestly, public opinion need not be accepted as a normative guide. The survey caused readers to ask themselves why they perform certain religious practices when they are avowed secularists, just as it caused persons who consider themselves observant to ask why they selectively perform some behaviors and not others. In short, the study aroused dissonance at a personal level, which is well portrayed in the angry outburst of a distinguished colleague, who said, "How dare you call me religious when all I do is not eat pork?" To which I replied, "We don't call you anything . You may define yourself as you please. All we have done is to note that, for some reason, you are observing an explicit commandment of the Torah." The professor thought for a while, plagued by the malaise of dissonance that we had brought upon him. "Okay," he muttered with annoyance , "from now on, I'm going to eat pork!" WHAT THE STUDY DOES: THE RESEARCH DESIGN The Guttman Institute was commissioned by the Avi Chai Foundation to map the extent of religious observance among Israeli Jews. The emphasis was on observance-that is, performance. We also examined some of the reasons for observing or not observing with respect to certain specific observances such as hosher food, but observance itself was its focus. Along with observance, we also surveyed various kinds of religious belief. How was this done? To put the matter succinctly, one might say that we (1) "sampled" religious observances, that is, with the help of expert scholars, we chose a set of typical ritual behaviors that are prescribed or proscribed by the religious tradition and (2) asked a representative sample of adult Israeli Jews whether and to what extent they observed each of these behaviors and with what frequency. In addition, we (3) asked respondents to characterize themselves as "strictly observant," "observant to a great extent," "somewhat observant," and "not observant at all." [3.87.209.162...