454 A History of Judaism
28 Nisan should be observed as ‘The Day of the Shoah [Holocaust] and
the Ghetto Revolt’, to commemorate both the Holocaust and the heroic
but unsuccessful uprising against the Germans by the Jews of the War-
saw Ghetto in April to May 1943. Ambivalence in the early years of the
state about commemoration of the destruction of European Jews rather
than of the achievements of those who fought explains the determin-
ation to avoid a day of simple mourning, but since the late 1970s special
ceremonies, such as the lighting of candles, and new liturgies have been
developed to mark what has become known more generally as ‘the Day
of Holocaust and Heroism’.^21
Of the festivals, those which have most captured the enthusiasm of
secular Israelis are Lag BaOmer, widely celebrated with bonfires and fire-
works, Hanukkah (with an emphasis on heroism) and Purim, which is
celebrated with carnival processions known as adlayada, from the tal-
mudic injunction that a man should revel on Purim ad dela yada (‘until
he does not know’ the hero from the villain in the story of Esther (see
Chapter 10)). Children wear masks and crowds flood the streets, but,
despite the rabbinic injunction to drink wine, drunkenness is not com-
mon. The Bible Quiz held on Independence Day was in the early years of
the state a national obsession among the secular, to whom this recollec-
tion of an essential part of their primary education was both nostalgic
and nationalistic. Along with excavation of biblical- period sites, Bible
study was much encouraged by Prime Minister David Ben Gurion as an
important element in building a sense of national identity linked to both
the land and Jewish origins, but without the layers of religious develop-
ment within Judaism over the intervening two and a half millennia. The
quiz continues, but Israeli secular passions have moved on, and a distinc-
tive national Israeli identity of its own has emerged in which the Jewish
past from before the twentieth century plays little part. Attempts are
being made under the rubric of ‘Secular Judaism’ to introduce secular
Israeli youth to a diaspora Jewish religious heritage which to them feels
alien or even, if they view it as leading inexorably to the lifestyle and
views of the ultra- religious, obnoxious and threatening.
The establishment of a Jewish identity for secular Jews in multicul-
tural western diaspora societies is more difficult – hence the demographic
uncertainties noted at the start of this chapter. Since synagogue com-
munities of all denominations rely on private subscription rather than
state subvention to ensure the upkeep of buildings and fund the salaries
of rabbis, many communities will accept into their membership any
who apply, although usually only provided that they can be classified as