Scripture and Israeli Secular Culture 303rehabilitated, the tribes taking pride in their diverse origins outside
of Israel and not in those inside the Land of the Patriarchs and in the
literature of that land, that is, the Bible. Today, authentic Arab-like
music has replaced the pseudo-Bedouin melodies that were written
by composers who immigrated from Polish villages.Th e break between the Bible and secular Judaism was reinforced by the
rift between secular and religious Jews over parliamentary coalitions, bat-
tles over Sabbath observance and kashruth laws, and military service, espe-
cially following the Yom Kippur War of 1973, aft er the euphoria following
the Six-Day War of 1967 settled. An abyss opened between settlers who fol-
lowed the ideology of reclaiming all of the biblical land of Israel, who be-
lieved that the beginning of the Redemption was at hand, and secular Jews,
particularly those who supported the peace movement, who do not aspire
to the borders of the biblical promise and who fear any manifestation of
messianic ideology. Th e strength of the religious messianic camp, which
appears smug with self-confi dence, as though it owns a monopoly on Ju-
daism, distanced large portions of the non-Orthodox population from the
Bible and Jewish literary sources. Th e non-Orthodox pulled away from the
Jewish library as though proclaiming, “If this is the true Judaism, then we
want no part of it. ‘To your tents, O Israel.’ ”10
Many among the secular public become anxious in light of those who
draw a direct line between the Bible and contemporary life, who interpret
the Bible with a new, “current events” interpretation. I will mention only
one example, and not the worst: a man who recently phoned in to a radio
talk show, off ering a “Jewish solution” for dealing with Arab terrorism. Th e
caller emotionally recited three verses from Judges (1:5 – 7) about the sever-
ing of fi ngers and toes of Adoni-bezek, the king of Bezek, and of his death
in Jerusalem.
Th e Israeli army gives a Bible to each of its soldiers, as it did forty years
ago. It is the same Bible, from “In the beginning” to “and let him go up”
(2 Chronicles 36:23), but the attached preface has changed, as Yaron Ez-
rachi has noted. In the 1950s, the chief army rabbi, Shlomo Goren, pre-
sented the Bible as a “spring of heroism and salvation,” as “the supreme
source of inspiration,” and “eternal memory,” a spiritual message befi tting
all. In a recent introduction by the chief army rabbi Gad Navon, the Bible
has become the “document that grants ownership to our land, the land of
our forefathers.” To this copy of the Bible has been attached a map “of the
Promised Land of the covenant between the pieces.”11 Th e meaning is clear,