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Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- 1 Introduction -- 2 The Sociology of Religion and the Study of American Jews -- Jewish Commitment and Religious Behavior -- The Theoretical Tradition -- Beyond Institutions -- Religious Ritual -- Religious Myth -- Religious and Secular -- Conclusions -- Notes -- 3 Religious Extremism -- Why Study Religious Extremism -- Defining Religious Extremism -- Expansion of Religious Law -- Social Isolation -- Cultural Rejection -- The Limits of Religious Extremism -- Explaining Religious Moderation -- The Rise of Modern Jewish Extremism

It is concluded that - at the risk of oversimplification - one can devide the (Jewish) Israeli population in accordance with conceptions of the state. In the eyes of one set of Israelis - comprised primarily of secularists, Ashkenazim, professionals - the state is an entity distanced from its citizens; the state must justify itself in terms of the services it provides the individual. The second group - comprised primarily of the religious, Sephardim, the less educated - views the state as an extension of the Jewish community ("kehilla"); the state represents the power and authority of the Jewish people, or at least the Jewish people in the "Land of Israel". (DÜI-Hns)

The central thesis in this essay is: religion certainly is an important factor in accounting for Israeli ultra-nationalism but it alone is insufficient to explain the phenomenon. The author explains the affinity of religious Zionists and Oriental Jews for ultra-nationalist policies by their desire to legitimate themselves, enhance their integration into Israeli society and even claim leadership by overidentifying with the nominal values of the civil religion. (DÜI-Hns)