Israeli law as a Lieu de mémoire (et d'oubli): remembering and forgetting Jewish law in modern Israel

• Autores: Nir Kedar
• Localización: Erinnern und Vergessen / coord. por Oliver M. Brupbacher, Nadine Grotkamp, Jana Osterkamp, Tilmann Röder, Stefan Ruppert, David Sörgel, 2007, ISBN 978-3-89975-595-4, págs. 196-212
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • This paper deals with the intrincate ways in which Israeli law treats Jewish law. Law has always been an important lieu de mémoire, that preserves social conventions, and gives them additional validity, authority and importance. But at the same time, it is also a lieu d'oubli that persuades (and sometimes even forces) us to abandon other norms that are now considered "non-law". The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and the formation of Israeli law involved many decisions of remembrance and abandonment. One of the most critical decisions was whether to remember of forget Jewish law, whether to turn Jewish law into the law of the land or to relegate it to oblivion. After a brief introduction of Jewish law and some of the problems of its integration into modern law, the paper discusses the complex ways in which Israeli law deals with Jewish law: rejecting it in principle, but embracing it symbolically. The paper concludes by showing that the dynamics of remembering and forgetting Jewish law parallels the difficulty of defining the essence of Jewish law and Judaism, and their relevant roles in Israeli social life.