The Emergence of the Israeli Sephardi Ultra-Orthodox Movement

Abstract

A salient feature of social change among Israeli Sephardim in the past half century is the fading of particular identities rooted in disparate countries of origin. Currently, the fact that some individuals may be of Tunisian background and others, say, of Moroccan, Tripolitanian, or Persian origin is of much less importance to them than it was decades ago in the generation of mass immigration to Israel. The particular identities rooted in countries of origin tend, among secondand third-generation immigrants, to fade into larger categories-Sephardim (or Mizrahim, Middle Easterners) as against Ashkenazim.' Identities rooted in particular countries of origin, such as Ethiopia and countries of the former Soviet Union, are significant mostly for people who are relative newcomers to the country. In this context, the emergence in the past two decades of an Israeli Sephardi ultra-Orthodox movement attracting people of numerous disparate backgrounds is notable. The new religious movement has aroused the interest of the public and of social observers, particularly in the wake of electoral successes of Shas, the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party, since the early 1980s. However, the two phenomena-a Sephardi ultra-Orthodox movement and a Sephardi political party-though related, are not identical. The movement encompasses more socioreligious circles than does the party, whereas the party attracts widespread social circles (in par-

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