"Jesus Was a Jew": Presenting Christians and Christianity in Israeli State Education

(Hardback)

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Is the historical rivalry between Jews and Christians forgotten in modern Israel Do Jewish-Israeli young people partake in the historic memory of the polemics between the two religions This book scrutinizes the presentations of Christians and Christianity in Israeli school curricula, textbooks, and teaching in the state education system, in an attempt to elucidate the role of relations to Christianity in the construction of modern Jewish-Israeli identity. The study reveals that despite the changes in Jewish-Christian relations, that took place during the 20th century, and despite the change in power relations between Jews and Christians in Israelas expressed in the Israeli control of the most holy Christian sites since the Six-Day War (1967), and in the fact that Christians in Israel are a tiny minorityChristianity is a key factor in the construction of modern Jewish-Israeli identity. The data gathered in this research demonstrate the resounding presence of Jewish exilic notions of Christians and Christianity in today's Israeli education system, its part in the emergence of Israeli religious and national notions, and its role in the construction of modern Jewish identity in Israel.

Reviews

"Jesus Was a Jew" raises a valuable contribution to our understanding of Israeli perspectives of Christianity. The authors' thorough analysis shows how sensitive the issue of Christianity is for the Israeli public even today--much more sensitive than one might have assumed.
This is a valuable study of the representation of Christians and Christianity within the Israeli school system, over the past seven decades. This book shows how study and teaching of the other is actually a means for constructing one's own identity. This sobering research exposes that despite all advances in Jewish-Christian relations, despite profound changes in the teaching of many Churches--especially the Catholic Church, which occupies a primary position in Israeli curricula--and despite the efforts of theologians, historians, and educators, little has changed in how Christianity has been taught. Orit Ramon, Ins Gabel, and Varda Wasserman demonstrate how an 'exile' mentality continues to inform Jewish presentations of Christianity enforcing Jewish identity--religious, national and political. This book demonstrates what price we pay for nationalism and how encountering the other has been substituted by indebtedness to a national narrative and the needs for Israeli identity construction. It is only when the full picture emerges from this analysis that one can begin to reconsider what a true 'independent' and self-assured presentation of Christianity might look like in an age of dialogue. If diagnosis is the first step towards healing, this book makes an important contribution not just to the study of contemporary educational policies in Israel but to the advancement of Jewish-Christian relations.

Author Bio

Orit Ramon is member of the Department of History, Philosophy, and Judaic Studies at the Open University of Israel.

Ins Gabel is member of the Department of Sociology, Political Sciences, and Communication at the Open University of Israel.

Varda Wasserman is professor at the Open University of Israel.