Peoplehood

As former campers and staff members, we learned at camp that Israel was quintessential to Jewish identity and peoplehood; that it was a safe haven for Jews and the ultimate place to experience Jewish history, language and culture.

Peoplehood is both the source of the traditional Jewish attitudes that disfavor interfaith marriage and what makes it hard for partners from different faith traditions to feel a sense of belonging in Jewish communities.

We have failed to teach the history—the pain of living without a homeland—the very reason for our Peoplehood.

What ensues is a text which is at best, simply sloppy and overly simplistic; at worst, it’s a work that reads Jews out of the narrative of the land’s history, and indeed, rejects the notion of Jewish peoplehood.

Cyrus saw the restoration of the temple as necessary for the restoration of the religious practices and a sense of peoplehood after a long exile.