Monday, February 06, 2006

Someone Else Who Gets It

There is a powerful short little post on "Solomonia" titled "A Jewish State, or Just a State?" in which Avraham Shmuel Lewin quotes Aaron Klein on being a yarmulke-wearing Jew in Israel.
Asked to explain the institutionalized anti-religious practices he's encountered, Aaron replies, "It's the new nature of the cultural war in Israel. The great divide used to be the so-called right wing versus the so-called left wing. Essentially, whether or not to give up land to the Palestinians. Now the mask is coming off and the real battle is starting to be waged openly – religious nationalism versus anti-religious post-Zionism.

"More simply, is Israel supposed to be a Jewish state based on religious ideals or will it be a state like all others that just happens to be comprised mostly of Jews? At its core, it is what all the land withdrawals and proposed land withdrawals are about, and it's what my 'yarmulke problems' are about. That is the fight I am witnessing here. The victor will determine the future of Israel and the Jewish people."...
Well worth reading in its entirety!