ABSTRACT
Surveys in the 1970s showed that, in the Jewish population as a whole, the connection with Israel was predominant. Since the Six-Day War, which had aroused a surge of solidarity in the Diaspora population, the reference to Israel had become important along with the need to defend the State whose right to exist seemed challenged. This was the most widespread expression of Jewishness, as much for those who practiced regularly as for those whose specifi c religious practices had become essentially symbolic, reduced to the observance of Yom Kippur and Passover. Among the more observant, Israel occupied a central place; many envisaged an aliyah, which they saw as the necessary consequence of their strict practice and the fulfi llment of the hope of return. A great many so-called “Kippur” Jews or Jews who were completely ignorant of tradition, saw Israel as a revenge against Hitler’s plan and a source of dignity for all Jews, whether in Israel or in the Diaspora. Nevertheless, different sympathies could be observed linked to the ideological cleavages of the period. Rightwing Zionists and leftwing Zionists, unconditional supporters of Israel and critical ones, as well as anti-Zionists, militants supporting the Diaspora culture, taking inspiration, to varying degrees, from the Bund;1 a wide spectrum of opinions expressed a more or less strong tie with Israel, and a more or less critical one. These differences of opinion still prevail and are regularly expressed, particularly whenever there are new fl are-ups in the Middle East. The reference to Israel has become all the more pronounced as, in the last thirty odd years, a great number of politicians have put it in the forefront of public attention.2 In 1979, Community leaders managed to organize, with great public success, “Twelve hours for Israel,” with Israel as the focal point; then, ten years later, “Yom Ha Torah” (Day of the Torah) highlighted
the religious dimension of identity in a similar way. In the 1970-1980 surveys, we already noticed that a small minority of the population, the new practicing Jews, had returned to more demanding and fervent Jewish practices.3 Thirty years later, how are Jewish identifi cations expressed and how do the practices of the citizen fare in the face of a religious resurgence that is supported by the traditionalism of offi cial organizations and the activism of certain groups?
