ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to represent the state of art in its field, but as the organ of the Israel sociological society it is also an outlet for suitable work of as many members of the society as possible. It discusses a religious variant of the pioneering socialist movement that was dominant in Israeli polity in the early years of the state. The book describes that Judaism in Israel is different, in various nuanced ways, from Judaism elsewhere. It illustrates the most salient manifestation of Israel's civil religion, the complex of state ceremonies that marks the late spring, and which includes Holocaust Day, Remembrance Day, and Independence Day. The book analyzes the religiosity of aged Sephardic women. It exposes a variant of Judaism that was never documented prior to the recently developed sensitivity in social science to the lives of women.
