Introduction
Culture refers to a set of values, practices, goals, attitudes that a group, institution or an organization shares. It also refers to a pattern of beliefs and behavior that emerges through a process of social learning (Jenks, 22). In this paper, I will refer to the Jewish culture. This is the international secular culture of the Jewish people. However, it also includes individuals who identify themselves as secular Jews. The secularism of Jewish culture differentiates it from Judaism.
Currently, Jews have scattered all over the world. However, the largest concentration is in Israel, a Jewish state in the Middle East (Johnson, 8). The Jews live side by side with their Arab neighbors including the Palestinians. Around the world, there are Jewish populations in North America and Western Europe. However, large populations are in the US and Canada. Because of this dispersion of Jews, it is impossible to describe a uniform environment that Jews live in today. The geographical as well socio-economic environments are different depending on the geographical location.
Throughout their history, Jews have migrated from one geographical location to another. According to history, Jewish culture originated in Egypt. This was after Abraham and his family migrated to Egypt in search for food (Johnson, 12). This was in 1522 BCE. The Jews later migrated from Egypt in 1312 BCE and headed for the land of Canaan. This is where the Jews first established their kingdom, the kingdom of Israel. However, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon conquered Israel and displaced the Jews. This took place in 597 BCE. The Jews did not last for long in Babylon. In the year 539 BCE, Cyrus the king of Babylon allowed the Jews to return to Israel (Johnson, 63). In 63 BCE, the Roman Empire occupied Israel. The Jews dispersed and some Jews migrated to parts of Europe, especially Greece and Cyprus. From there, the Jews scattered all over Europe. In 1654 AD, the first batch of Jews migrated to America. Many other Jews followed later. However, with mounting persecution of Jews in Europe, Jewish leaders started toying with the idea of Jews returning back to Israel (Johnson, 137). The first migration to Israel (aliyah) occurred in 1882 AD. This migration continued, albeit with difficulties until the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948. After the formation of the state of Israel, the Israeli government allowed all Jews wishing to settle in Israel to migrate. Hundreds of thousands migrated. However, many Jews currently live outside Israel.
There are various reasons that contributed to Jewish migration. They first migrated to Egypt in search for food. However, they had to leave Egypt after the persecution by the Egyptians. The migration from Israel later was due to military conquest by the Babylonians (Johnson, 74). Later in the famous aliyahs, the Jews migrated back to Israel to escape persecution in Europe especially during and after the Second World War.
Issue Identification
Jews in Israel today have serious difficulties accessing clean water. Currently, the government estimates that there is a water deficit in Israel amounting two billion cubic meters (Mahler, 24). There are several causes of water shortage in Israel. First is drought. Recently, the country has suffered from drought for four consecutive years. The second cause is the rapid rise in population growth. This has raised the demand for water for domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes. Also, the rising standards of living in Israel have increased demand for clean water. There have also been over-utilization renewable sources of water in Israel. This has led to the deterioration of these sources. Subsequently, the supply of water has experienced difficulties. However, the government’s water policy has also worsened the water situation in Israel. The government has been inactive for a long time acting only after the situation has run out of control. The water shortage has had profound, negative impacts on agriculture. Also, the geographical distribution of water sources has been a serious problem. Most of the renewable water sources are in the north of the country (80%). This implies that the south is not self reliant in water. The logistic of supplying the south with water pose another problem.
Because of the rising water shortage, water allocation to agriculture has decreased. This has led to a fall in agricultural production (Mahler, 38). The fall I food production, on the other hand, has reduced food supply. The water problem, therefore, has multiple implications for the Jewish community. It is a critical issue that the government and other stakeholders should address with the urgency that it deserves.
Ethnography
This is a qualitative method that attempts to understand the cultural phenomena reflecting the knowledge and meanings that influence a cultural group’s way of life.
a) Economic Organization
Today, Israel is a market economy that has advanced immensely technologically (Mahler, 12). The country has high-tech industries and service sectors. It also has a modern agricultural system. The key industrial sectors include electronic industries, biomedical equipment industries, metal industries, food processing, transport equipment and chemical industries. Currently, the country is a global leader in telecommunication, software development, diamond cutting, and the development of semiconductors. The country is also a popular, global tourist destination. In the year 2010, the country registered foreign tourists totaling 3.5 million. However, the country is poor in natural resources (Mahler, 35). It, therefore, depends mostly on imports. The imports include petroleum, food, uncut diamond and most of the production inputs Jews use in their industries. However, the country has discovered natural gas deposits. This could reduce the reliance of the country on fuel imports.
The country has also tremendously developed its agriculture. Currently, the country is a world exporter of horticultural products (Mahler, 34). It is also a global leader in the development of agricultural technology. Interestingly, most of the land in Israel is not arable. Most of the land is arid. Also, there is a shortage of water for irrigation. However, agriculture takes a last position from the industrial and the service sectors. Currently, agriculture contributes a paltry 2.5% of the country’s GDP. The country practices two types of agriculture, the kibbutz and the moshav. The Jews developed these farming systems on migrating back to Israel.
b) Social Organization
Jewish culture has had a strong influence on the social life of Jew. However, because of migrations, this grip has abated a little. Traditionally, the parents would organize marriages for their kids (Biale, 26). The parents of the boy would betroth a girl for marriage to their son. The children, therefore, had no influence on whom they married. Also, Jews could traditionally marry their close relatives. However, these trends have changed in the modern times. Most of the young people nowadays chose their marriage partners. There has been a lot of influence from western liberal thinking on young Jews. However, there is still a lot of respect for parental advice. Most young people will seek guidance from their parents on the issue of marriage. Interestingly, the young people will refrain from marrying those spouses that their parents reject. Marriage is of enormous significance to Jews even today. Many Jews consider marriage sacred and have considerable reverence for it. This could perhaps explain the low rate divorce among Jews.
On the other hand, Jewish families remain largely patriarchal (Torstrick, 39). The man is the head of the family. However, there have been substantial changes from the traditional family concept. Traditionally, the man considered his wife as part of his property. Currently, the Jewish woman has immense freedom. The key differentiation between man and the wife is roles rather than power balances. However, unlike before, the modern Jewish woman has economic power. She makes money alongside the husband. Key decisions, however, remain the husband’s call.
Jews retain strong kinship ties (Biale, 12). However, urbanization has introduced pressures on the Jewish kinship ties. This is because of the competitive industrial life that leaves little time for social life. Regardless of this, Jews still strive to maintain ties with family members. Also, parents teach their children about their kinship. Therefore, as children grow up, they have a clear knowledge of their family line.
c) Political Organization
Israel practices liberal democracy in politics. The people elect the government by universal suffrage. The country also has liberal constitution that guarantees every Jew the immense freedoms. Jews do not practice a uniform religion. Most of the Jews, however, practice Judaism. The rest practice Christianity or are atheists. Jews have a fractious relationship with their Arab neighbors. The bone of contention mainly is the question of land. Historical differences and religion have also played a significant role in destroying the Jew’s relationship with their neighbors. In fact, Israel has fought several wars with her neighbors.
Proposal Paper
Problem Statement
Culture is an evolving aspect of societies. Culture can change because of several reasons. The reasons can also be internal or external. However, some cultures resist change more than others. In the case of my culture, it has experienced various changes. This paper will evaluate the changes that have taken place in the Jewish culture. It will also analyze the causes of these changes.
Methodology
I will rely solely on secondary sources of data. This is because there is a lot of information on the topic that other people have collected. Also, there is no sufficient time to collect primary data. I will collect information from books, articles and other publications. The data will also be qualitative. This is because cultural study is mostly a qualitative subject.
Annotated Bibliography
Jenks argues that culture is the values or practices that differentiate a group from another (Jenks, 22). He adds that culture gives identity to a person or a group of persons. Jenks also states that societies pass cultural traits from one generation to the other through a form of learning. Therefore, a person becomes aware of his cultural identity through learning from members of his community. Jenks also argues that cultural differences could lead to conflict among various communities (Jenks, 146).
Schein, on the other hand, argues that culture is prone to change. He posits that time and space are the key cause of cultural change (Schein, 126). As time passes by, some cultural values become obsolete. The community, therefore, rejects these cultural traits and adapts new ones. Also, geographical movement of communities may lead to change in their culture. Schein opines that migration bring the community into contact with other cultures. The community might willingly adopt the culture of the new community. This would occur if the migrating community views the new culture as superior. Also, the new community might force the migrating community to change their culture through violence (Schein, 143).
Gillespie, however, considers the media to be the most significant factor behind cultural change. She singles out the TV as the cause of cultural erosion among the youth. She asserts that some TV programs like soaps influence the way youths behave. Therefore, the modern youth is more likely to be under the influence of the TV than his ethnic culture (Gillespie, 76).
Inglehart and Pippa argue that cultural change brings with it fundamental changes in the family life. They assert that cultural change is the factor behind the emancipation of the woman. The two insist that it would not be possible to achieve gender equality without cultural change. They view culture as the reason behind gender inequality. As such, some cultural traits have to disappear for the society to achieve gender equality (Inglehart and Pippa, 24)
According to Weinstein, cultural change is a result of technological advancement and urbanization. Jay is of the opinion that technology has had a profound impact on social organization (Weinstein, 56). It has led to change in social roles and responsibilities. Technological advancement has also led to globalization and cultural integration. Therefore, communities have lost most of their cultural identity. Weinstein also sees urbanization as a key factor in explaining cultural change. According to him, urbanization has brought people of different cultures together. People have, therefore, developed social ties with people from different cultures. This has eroded the value of an individual’s culture. Most people in the urban areas have, subsequently abandoned their culture.
In his book, “A History of the Jews,” Johnson describes in detail the history of the Jewish people. He begins with the father of the Jewish nation, Abraham. He describes the Jewish enslavement in Egypt under Pharaoh and their miraculous escape (Johnsohn, 34). He also describes the Jewish conquest of the Canaanites and the formation of the kingdom of Israel. Johnson also explains the factors behind the conquest of the Jews by the Babylonians (Johnson, 212). He gives an informative account of the dispersal of the Jews and the subsequent formation of the state of Israel. Johnson’s work is not merely a chronological account. He goes to lengths to explain each period of Jewish history. More importantly, Johnson describes all the migrations of the Jewish people from the time of Abraham to the last aliyah.
According to Mahler, the Jewish people have overcome formidable difficulties to build their country. From a ragtag state in the 1940s, Israel is today a global power (Mahler, 67). The country supplies 95% of it food needs despite having only 20% of its land as arable. It is also a leading exporter globally of fresh agricultural product. Also, the country is a global leader in technology and industrial innovation. Currently, the country is the 24th largest economy in the world. The UN has ranked it 15th globally in achieving the human development index. The country mostly relies on exports to boost incomes. It has, therefore, signed free trade agreements with the US and Europe. It is also a member of the OECD.
a) Cultural Changes
Jewish culture has evolved over time. The contemporary values of the Jewish people are different from the traditional values. For example, family structures and kinship ties have changed. The parents have less control over their children’s future than before. Also, the position of the Jewish woman has shifted substantially. The Jewish woman today has social and economic autonomy. Traditionally, the Jewish woman could only engage in household chores and other minor activities. However, the modern Jewish woman engages in full time economic activities. They even work in the military. Also, kinship ties have loosened over time. Traditionally, Jews took exceptional pride in their family lineage. They would even settle according to family ties. However, the situation is different today. Families have members scattered all over the globe. Also, there is more openness in the Jewish community than before. People can discuss such issues as sex openly a thing unheard of before (Biale, 10). These are a few indicators of the cultural erosion of the Jews.
b) Causes of Cultural Change
Several factors have led to the decay in the Jewish culture. The first one is migration and displacement (Schein, 128). Throughout history, the Jewish people have traversed the Universe. During their migrations, they encountered people of different cultures. Some of the communities would force their cultures on the Jewish people, for example, the Babylonians. The Babylonians attempted to suppress the Jewish culture by forcing the Jews to practice the Babylonian culture and religion. However, this cultural change was sometimes voluntary. For example, the Jews borrowed terribly much about freedom and gender equity from the Europeans. The Jews also borrowed capitalism and democracy from the Europeans. The Jews migrating from Europe came with new farming methods, new industrial methods and new social values.
Time has also been a key factor in promoting cultural change among the Jews. Changing times brought about new ways of doing things (Schein, 130). With change in socio-economic activities, there occurred changes in the social structure. There have been tremendous changes in the economic activities of the Jews. Traditionally, Jews were farmers. It was the duty of the husband to feed the family by taking care of the farm and the cattle. The woman only tended household chores. However, time has brought with it capitalism and industrialization. The modern woman has to work now alongside the man. Time has, therefore contributed to the change in the Jewish social structures.
The media have also played a prominent role in changing Jewish values. The advent of the TV and the internet meant that Jews could access western media products. By consuming the media products of the west, the Jews also borrowed the western culture (Philipsen, 47). A compelling example is fashion. Currently, the most popular mode of dress among the Jews is the western style. Jews have also borrowed the western family structure. Marriages are today on the basis of love rather than kinship ties. Also, the Jewish woman demands the freedoms and privileges of the western woman.
Urbanization and globalization have also affected culture in a huge way (Weinstein, 54). With technological development, industries have emerged. These are both national and multinational. People travel far and wide in search of jobs. In so doing, they leave their kinship and start leaving with people from other cultures. Either subconsciously or knowingly, they borrow some cultural traits from other people. Israel has industrialized tremendously. The industries have disrupted the people’s way of life through migrations and movements. This has led Jews to abandon their culture and adopt new cultures (Torstrick, 30).
c) Solutions
The adoption of foreign culture is not entirely a dreadful thing. This is more so since it has led too social progress of the Jewish people (Inglehart and Pippa, 64). The rejection of subversive culture has, therefore, been immensely beneficial to the Jewish people. However, parents need to monitor their children to prevent them from consuming damaging content from the media. This is because the media can expose the children to harmful content like pornography. The Jews also need to accommodate the culture of their Arab neighbors to enhance peaceful co-existence (Jenks, 146).
Human Face
I have a close friend by the name David. His elder brother’s name is Joseph. Joseph was working in Europe with a prestigious law firm. The parents were still living in Israel. On his 28th birthday, Joseph decided to surprise his parents. He was going home to celebrate his birthday with his family. He had been abroad for slightly over one year. The parents made extensive preparations for their son’s home coming. Everybody was full of anticipation. The meals were in plenty and Joseph’s father had slaughtered a symbolic ram. Joseph was to arrive on the eve of his birthday. He smiled throughout the flight as he looked across to the surprise he was taking to his parents. Unbeknown to him, his parents too had a surprise for him.
The parents had organized for a neighbor to pick him from the airport in the family car. As they approached the family house, all the people present ran to meet Joseph. Everybody was calling out Joseph’s name. On alighting the vehicle, scores of family and friends carried Joseph on their shoulders. Joseph was talking, trying to tell them something, but the noise was drowning his hoarse voice. They took him to the house where his parents were waiting. His mother hugged and kissed him with tears rolling freely on her face. His father too was full of tears. They were happy to see their son. When everything was settling down, a black woman entered the door. Joseph’s mother rose and confronted the black woman angrily hurling insults at her. She could not understand who had invited her. The woman was too shocked to talk. When Joseph found his voice, he explained that the woman was his fiancée from England. Everybody was dumbfounded. They could not understand why Joseph was not marrying a fellow Jew. The issue raised a fierce war of words between Joseph and his parents. It was then that Joseph’s parents revealed to him that they had already chosen a fiancée for him. The quarrel that followed was so fierce that Joseph left with his fiancée in a huff. He was not able to reconcile with his parents until after six years. The parents, however, still treat Joseph's wife with suspicion.
The sad story is a clear of a clash between cultures. Joseph’s parents held on to the old culture where the parents reserved the right to choose a spouse for their children. Joseph, on the other hand, believed that a person has the right to make decisions about his future without undue interference from the parents. Also, Joseph’s parents could not accommodate a person from a different culture in their family. This almost led to the breaking of the family. I empathized with Joseph and always prayed for him. Luckily, his parents realized their mistake later.
Reflection
Writing this paper was an extremely challenging experience. At the first instant, I thought it was going to be easy given that I was to research on my own culture. However, the realization that I did not possess adequate information hit me. Straight away, I thought of collecting primary data. I attempted using the internet to interview Jews using my blog and social networking sites. However, this failed miserably. Most of the respondents did not possess adequate information on the subject. Then I thought of carrying out physical interviews. To achieve this, I created a sample of people I believed possessed information on my topic. These included lecturers and other senior people from the neighborhood. This also failed. Most people gave me appointments which would delay the onset of my research. That is when I decided on using secondary data for research. I logged into the internet and searched books and articles on the topic. This strategy proved immensely helpful. I was able to gather more information than I could use. I resulted to short listing materials with the most valuable information. If I had extra time, though, I would collect primary data. This would have given me more satisfaction than using secondary data. Going forward, I will be able to employ the knowledge I acquired in research writing in other classes in the future.
