By
– January 10, 2012
In The Others Within Us, Bar-On, a professor of psychology at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, explores the delicate interrelationship between personal and collective identity, specifically, the “Israeli identity” shaped in the early years of the State of Israel.
Through interviews with Israelis of three generations, Bar-On shows how the mostly secular European Jewish majority in Israel see themselves, in relation to their past and to what he calls “the others” in society. The term “others” refers, on one hand, to groups who seek to harm the Jewish people, and on the other hand, to the “others within us,” either Diaspora Jews or Jewish immigrants to Israel from North African or Arab countries. Bar- On claims that feelings and attitudes toward “others” influence the development of personal and national identity.
The European majority sought to create a uniform identity, the “sabra,” with the expectation that Jews in Israel would shed their differences. Today, the idea of a uniform identity is disintegrating. This is a complicated yet significant phenomenon, one that Bar-On hopes will encourage better communication between different groups in Israeli society.
The Others Within Us gives the reader meaningful insights into Israeli society. It is, however, colored by the author’s political beliefs, and the reader needs to be aware of this. Bibliography, index.
Miriam Kates Lock is a writer and translator living in Efrat, Israel.
