Reading through other language logs and looking at the comments on my previous posts sparked my interest in researching heritage loss in Israel. I learned about it in high school history class, but I did not approach the topic back then the same way I do now. Hearing about language and cultural loss in America got me thinking about my Israeli roots. Do immigrant families lose their languages over the years in Israel like they do in the US? In my own family, there are descendants of immigrants from all over the world. My mother immigrated from Iran with her three sisters, my grandparents from my dad's side immigrated from Central Europe after WWII, and my cousin's wife immigrated with her family from Russia. One of my cousins (her dad has Moroccan roots and her mom is from Russia) that is now about to turn 7 years old grew up speaking Hebrew with her dad and his side of the family, and Russian with her mom and her side of the family. When she grew older, she was able to understand Russain perfectly, but she refused to answer back in Russian. She only responded in Hebrew. I can't fully understand why she refused to talk in Russian but reflecting back on my experience growing up with bilingual friends, they would never speak their native language around the school and when their parents talked to them in that language they would be very embarrassed.
In the first two decades after the state of Israel was founded (in the 50s and the 60s) the government acted to shape and create one homogenous Israeli identity from multiple cultures; a melting pot (כור היתוך). Unlike other countries that experienced melting pots (the US for example) it wasn't a natural process, but a forced one. It was an official government policy. New incoming immigrants, especially from Eastern Europe (Mostly former Soviet Union) and Mizrahi Jews (Middle Eastern and North African Jews) were affected by this policy. The melting pot policy intentionally ignored the existence of another culture in these immigrants, as those cultures were perceived outdated. The new society that the government was aiming to achieve was mainly based on the existing culture of Central European Jews that immigrated before. The two main approaches to shape the Israeli identity were through the education system and the IDF.
There is a lot of criticism surrounding this topic. Those who criticize the policy mainly focus on the harsh ignorance of other cultures besides Central European culture that was mainly targeting Jews that came from Muslim countries and are still affected by the cultural oppression. Some argue that this policy was needed in the founding years as it shaped the future of the Israeli identity and society as a whole.
In my opinion, as much as forming an Israeli society and identity was needed especially in the founding years, the way it was achieved through should have been different. Until this very day, Mizrahi Jews and former Soviet Union descendants are expected to oppress the culture they grew up with just so they can fit into the Central European culture that is still dominant in Israel. Israel should have embraced the variety of cultures and use it to its advantage rather than treating it as those people should have been "fixed" and "re-modeled". My 7-year-old cousin does not have a clue yet about this part of the history but unknowingly, she is diminishing her cultural Russian roots.
Work cited:
1. https://lib.cet.ac.il/pages/item.asp?item=20485
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melting_pot#Israel
In the first two decades after the state of Israel was founded (in the 50s and the 60s) the government acted to shape and create one homogenous Israeli identity from multiple cultures; a melting pot (כור היתוך). Unlike other countries that experienced melting pots (the US for example) it wasn't a natural process, but a forced one. It was an official government policy. New incoming immigrants, especially from Eastern Europe (Mostly former Soviet Union) and Mizrahi Jews (Middle Eastern and North African Jews) were affected by this policy. The melting pot policy intentionally ignored the existence of another culture in these immigrants, as those cultures were perceived outdated. The new society that the government was aiming to achieve was mainly based on the existing culture of Central European Jews that immigrated before. The two main approaches to shape the Israeli identity were through the education system and the IDF.
There is a lot of criticism surrounding this topic. Those who criticize the policy mainly focus on the harsh ignorance of other cultures besides Central European culture that was mainly targeting Jews that came from Muslim countries and are still affected by the cultural oppression. Some argue that this policy was needed in the founding years as it shaped the future of the Israeli identity and society as a whole.
In my opinion, as much as forming an Israeli society and identity was needed especially in the founding years, the way it was achieved through should have been different. Until this very day, Mizrahi Jews and former Soviet Union descendants are expected to oppress the culture they grew up with just so they can fit into the Central European culture that is still dominant in Israel. Israel should have embraced the variety of cultures and use it to its advantage rather than treating it as those people should have been "fixed" and "re-modeled". My 7-year-old cousin does not have a clue yet about this part of the history but unknowingly, she is diminishing her cultural Russian roots.
Work cited:
1. https://lib.cet.ac.il/pages/item.asp?item=20485
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melting_pot#Israel
Dear Inbal,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your language log--about you, your family, and your shared history of Israel. Upon reflection, it often offers a new perspective, maybe one you hadn't considered previously, just as you describe their parents' embarrassment when speaking their native language around others. And I like how you follow, and tie everything back up with this theme of self-reflection tied in with age, as you mention your seven year old cousin who is unknowingly "diminishing her cultural Russian roots". I agree with you, that forming that society and identity was important for the people, but the way in which they went about that, was not right. Just because there are a lot of differences, doesn't mean there is anything wrong with those differences! Still to this day, differences are stigmatized, and as in this situation, they acted far too late. Now, other cultures are being thrust under the bushes, hidden, to possibly disappear forever, one day. I think educating and talking to your cousin as an older mentor would help just in the slightest, in changing that narrative of lost culture and identity, while attempting to claim a new one!