Judaism and Modernization: The Case of the Religious Kibbutzim

Abstract

This is a study in the sociology of Judaism as a religious culture. The analyses of historic Judaism by Werner Sombart and Max Weber imply that this religion bears a strong modernization potential, but this has not been substantiated by empirical examination. This paper seeks to demonstrate the actualization of this potential, as suggested directly by Sombart and broadly and obliquely by Weber, through modernizing movements that arose within rabbinic Judaism. The orthodox kibbutz federation in Israel is singled out as a case study for demonstrating such actualization, by virtue of the socialist structure of its settlements and its outstanding economic success. It is contended that it is primarily the political ethic of Judaism that impels this religion toward modernization.

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