Who invented the Jews? Who invented the Palestinians?
“Sand explained during a newspaper interview his reasons for writing the book: “I wrote the book for a double purpose. First, as an Israeli, to democratise the state; to make it a real republic. Second, I wrote the book against Jewish essentialism.”
Sand explained in the same interview that what he means by ‘Jewish essentialism’ is, in the words of the interviewer, “the tendency in modern Judaism to make shared ethnicity the basis for faith.” “That is dangerous and it nourishes antisemitism. I am trying to normalise the Jewish presence in history and contemporary life,” Sand said.”
On the one hand, Dr Sand’s work has been criticized on all kinds of academic grounds.
On the other hand, as a Neomaimonidean Talmudist and a religious Zionist, I share his concern that “ethnicity” not become the basis for Jewish or Israeli identity.
I am proud to be a member of a nation that defines itself by its laws and its institutions, and not by blood, language, or phenotype.
I am proud to be a member of a nation whose culture is not derived from, and whose society is not organized around, myths of power and supremacy, but whose culture derives from and whose society is organized around the careful, collective reading and discussion of books that are accessible to, and the heritage of, all.
I am proud to be a member of a nation with both native and naturalized paths to citizenship, and both citizen and non-citizen paths to membership and inclusion, and an ethos of mutual support and solidarity regardless of social standing, and therefore does not require the administration of purity tests or the construction of walls to keep out the impure.
I am proud to be a member of a nation that has taught, and learned from, and mixed with, and been enhanced by every other people on this planet, of all “ethnicities” and “races,” to one degree or another. A nation that has preserved, transmitted, created, and shared so many different and diverse ideas about the True, the Good, and the Beautiful, ideas originating in the historical circumstances of members of our nation around the world and across history.
My religious Zionism reflects my understanding of Israelite nationalism, of Jewish peoplehood.
Of the unique covenant which is the political foundation of our society both in the land and in exile.
Of the psycho-spiritual collective organism that was created through that covenant and that has developed and evolved over the millenia since.
Of the cultural imperative to build a society that is just and holy, inclusive and diverse.
As the verse states:
ברב עם הדרת מלך
“In the multitude of the people is the glory of the King”
Dr Sands may have gotten a lot wrong but his mission seems to me – again, as a religious Zionist – to be sufficiently on track to merit giving the points he may have gotten right, careful consideration.
Our nation is an astounding thing, and the marvels have only begun to be revealed. Between shared origins and shared destiny lie many paths through history. Those who were estranged have been brought close, those who were distant now live side by side.
Traditionally, we call this “the ingathering of the exiled,” which might be best described by the American motto:
“From Many – One”
May we merit to see our nation fully revived, the crown restored to its glory, and a just peace in this land.