Journals Information
Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 4(1), pp. 37 - 42
DOI: 10.13189/sa.2016.040106
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Reflections of an Atheist Jew
Leonard Mars *
School of Social Sciences and International Development, Swansea University, UK
ABSTRACT
I was not born nor raised an atheist Jew. My identity was formed by various factors among them family background; geographical migration; British education; secular Zionism; anthropological study and research. These factors were the precipitates of two earlier modern revolutions that transformed the modern world and that affected both Jews and non-Jews, namely the French Revolution which was political, and the Industrial Revolution which was economic. For Jews the French Revolution split the hitherto fused elements of religion and ethnicity into their component parts whilst the Industrial Revolution gave rise to urbanisation and increasing individualism. Jews were faced with a choice of various identities; various permutations were adopted, some apparently paradoxical such as Jewish atheist. In this article I examine the interaction of these factors and document how a single case study, my own, exemplifies but one response to the question of modern Jewish identity. Other Jews have chosen different options. For example, my research in post-communist Hungary has shown that former communist Jews have embraced a number of options. Some founded a Reform Synagogues; others became Hasidim; yet others assumed modern Orthodoxy; a few became Zionists; most, however embraced secular Jewish culture.
KEYWORDS
Family, Migration, Identity, Religion, Ethnicity, Anthropology
Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Leonard Mars , "Reflections of an Atheist Jew," Sociology and Anthropology, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 37 - 42, 2016. DOI: 10.13189/sa.2016.040106.
(b). APA Format:
Leonard Mars (2016). Reflections of an Atheist Jew. Sociology and Anthropology, 4(1), 37 - 42. DOI: 10.13189/sa.2016.040106.