One Big Tent Of Jewish

Here are two articles I came across at virtually the same time:

Religious boy ousted from soccer practice

Sukkot strike in Meah Shearim over modesty

I read the first article and thought it was unconscionable that in the Jewish state, a religious boy of 10 would be discriminated against because of his religion. Although he was harassed by young and immature boys, their actions reflect the type of values that parents are instilling in their children consciously or not. It is deeply saddening.

In the second article, the feuding between Haredim (Ultra-Orthodox) over the holiday of Sukkot was yet another example of infighting in Israel. Even among the stronghold religious community of Meah Shearim there is a deep appetite for fractionalization. It is not surprising that there is infighting in this community given their various interpretations of Judaism, but it is another example of how polarized Israeli society is.

Both of these articles express a vice of increasing importance in Israel that threatens to tear their society apart. That vice is communal selfishness. In my opinion, as seen through the ethical tradition of Aristotle, Israeli society places an extreme importance on individualism among differing communities that threatens greater society. This is a war for dominance between each community. Secular against secular, religious against religious, secular against religious, etc. (The permutations are endless) Indeed, it was Maimonides who wrote, "Any person whose character traits all fall in the center, midway between the extremes, is considered wise."

But wait, isn't this the country of kibbutzim (collective communities), socialism, and Jewish brotherhood? Obviously not. Us Jews like to take pride in our tradition with its supposedly special emphasis on community. In the cases above, however, the greater community is not being taken into account, even in the more traditional and religious communities. It appears that all of the various groups view the world through a prism of fear-- fear that their way of life remains eternally threatened by the "other," no matter who they are. This fear brews physically, spiritually, and intellectually segregated communities which further deepens rifts throughout society.

My hope is that all of Israel can learn that their home is one big tent of "Jewish," not a land splattered with communal selfishness where each group battles for dominance.

These articles made me think: are these events likely to occur among our community in the United States?