Religion in Israel: secularization Israeli-style bends rather than fights religious regulations

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http://religion.info/english/articles/article_604.shtml#.UUtJu6Wlo20

Richard Cimino - Religion Watch
20 Mar 2013

Israel may remain an officially Jewish state, with no “church”-state separation, and with an orthodox majority with a presence in politics and strong religious attachments, but the country is experiencing a “secularization below the radar,” said Guy Ben-Porot, a political scientist at Ben-Gurion University at a recent meeting at Columbia University in New York.


Young people at Jaffa Gate, in Jerusalem (© Susan Law Cain | Dreamstime.com).

Ben-Porot, whose presentation was based on his new book Between State and Synagogue (Cambridge University Press), said that religious and rabbinical authority is declining in Israel because of demographic changes and as secular and non-orthodox Israelis are finding novel ways to skirt laws and observances involving the Sabbath, kosher food, and marriage. He said that many of these changes are “not on the books or official” and are not related to promoting a secular ideology or engaging in politics.

The conflicts between secular and religious Israelis grew especially in the 1980s and 1990s with the formation and growing influence of orthodox political parties. Secular and other non-Orthodox Israelis attempted to use political means or to appeal to the liberal Supreme Court to battle such influence was largely unsuccessful, according to Ben-Porot. Rather it has been the changes in Israel's population and in Israelis' lifestyles that may pose the biggest challenge to traditional religious influence.

The influx of immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU) during the last two decades has added to Israel's secular climate since many of these newcomers are defined as non-Jewish by the orthodox (largely because of having non-Jewish mothers). Since their marriages cannot be certified by orthodox authorities, many of these FSU Israelis citizens go to Cyprus to have their wedding ceremonies. Cohabitation, which has tripled in 15 years in Israel, has also been a way of circumventing religious marriage laws.

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