Religious Jewish Research Articles

Collective Narratives and Traditional Values in Meetings to Promote Peace: The Case of Religious Jewish and Muslim Women in Israel

This study examined collective narratives and interactions among religious Muslim women and ultra-Orthodox Jewish women during meetings designed to promote dialogue. The dialogue group consisted of 10 women leaders from each of the two patriarchal communities who met regularly over 3 years (2018–2021); conversations were summarized, recorded, and transcribed by the researchers, and the data were categorized into three themes based on the model developed by Sagy et al. (2002). This model investigates collective narratives of the in-group and the out-group via legitimacy, empathy, and anger. This work revealed several important findings. First, there was meaningful dialogue that occurred between the participants. This dialogue led to better understanding of the collective narratives of others and the ability to identify certain similarities between the groups. In addition, while the women who participated in the dialogue group were familiar with the limitations of gender within traditional society, they also discovered advantages that contributed to a common, respectful dialogue. Finally, the duration of the conversations and the tolerance of the women created trust and a desire to promote neighborly relations. These findings indicate that the presence of women in peace discussions is quite effective and could potentially lead to applicable nonviolent practices.

‘A kindergarten teacher must have 100 eyes and 100 ears!’: Kindergarten teachers' experiences coping with child sexual abuse and problematic sexual behavior

BackgroundChild sexual abuse (CSA) and problematic sexual behavior (PSB) are worldwide phenomena that occur across all ages. Kindergarten teachers' proactive involvement can be crucial to the prevention, disclosure and intervention of CSA and PSB. However, research on their experiences of contending with CSA and PSB remains limited. ObjectiveThis study examines kindergarten teachers' experiences in Israel with the CSA and PSB of their students. Participants and settingSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 teachers: 11 secular Jewish, seven religious Jewish, nine Druze Arab, and four Muslim Arab. MethodsA qualitative analysis was conducted using the interview transcripts as data. ResultsThe analysis revealed three themes illustrating teachers' professional transformations regarding their knowledge of these phenomena: 1) initial shock, uncertainty and sense of responsibility when exposed to CSA and PSB due to missing knowledge, 2) implementation of prevention and intervention strategies regarding CSA and PSB, and 3) embracing a social role to disseminate CSA and PSB knowledge. The findings indicated that the majority of the teachers went from overwhelming shock and fear due to a lack of knowledge in coping with CSA and PSB to a sense of responsibility as a community leader. ConclusionsThe fragmentation of the Israeli education system isolates kindergartens, and the lack of training and education for the teachers left them alone when contending with the CSA and PSB of their students. Nevertheless, the participants exhibited remarkable agency and resourcefulness, gaining the necessary knowledge and acting as knowledge agents within their communities.

Personal and Relational Processes of Repentance in Religious Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Families

Considerable social science research has illuminated religion’s profound and predominantly positive impact on individuals and families. Nevertheless, numerous noteworthy aspects of religion, including repentance, have not been explored in-depth from a social science perspective to understand their psychological and relational processes and implications. Further, the emphasis and importance of repentance across the Abrahamic faiths, combined with calls from social scientists to better understand processes of repentance and seeking divine forgiveness, indicate the benefit of repentance-focused research. Subsequently, we used team-based systematic qualitative coding to conduct secondary analyses of repentance processes in interviews with 127 exemplar US Jewish, Christian, and Muslim families ( N = 218). Analyses explored the: (a) motivations and antecedents of repentance, (b) processes of repentance, (c) resources to aid in repentance, and (d) perceived outcomes of repentance. Additionally, some participants described repentance as negative, neutral, or ineffective. The article discusses psychological and relational benefits of repentance in religious families despite some potentially adverse consequences, highlights implications for practitioners and interventions that incorporate repentance, and suggests topics for future research.

How Religious Jewish and Muslim Students of Social Work Cope in a Secular College

Abstract The social work profession’s worldview, which is expressed through education and practice, is ‘almost exclusively secular in colour and context’. This qualitative study in the phenomenological tradition of ten religious Jewish and ten religious Arab-Muslim students of social work in Israel found that both groups coped similarly with the secularity, despite their ethnic, national and religious differences. Most of them adopted emotion-focussed coping strategies that isolated them from their academic surroundings. The religious students who adopted a problem-focussed strategy opened themselves to new knowledge. Knowing about these strategies may help faculty and other personnel in social work schools not only to be better acquainted with this minority but also to provide an environment that is receptive to and respectful of the religious student.

Afrontamiento religioso espiritual del duelo judío

This article analyses religious and spiritual coping of negative and stressful events such as the loss of a loved one. The study cases of a religious jewish man and a woman- who lost a loved one- is part of my Docthoral Thesis (an exploratory and descriptive study done with religious persons of different creeds), where it was verified that participation in funerary jewish rituals, prayers, meditation, healing, and religious support promote positive effects and physical, psychological, mental and spiritual well- being of religious people who mourn the loss of a loved one

Does religion count for religious parliamentary representation? Evidence from Early Day Motions

ABSTRACTThe article addresses one facet of the representation puzzle, namely substantive minority representation in the UK House of Commons. It examines whether a religious Jewish and Muslim minority background stimulates politicians from these backgrounds to address issues of concern for Jewish and Muslim minority groups in Early Day Motions (EDMs), and compares the effects from identity-based and institutional predictors. The study draws upon previous studies that used low-cost parliamentary activities to assess the impact of gender and ethnic minority identities on the representation of women and ethnic minorities, employing quantitative content analysis and time-series cross-sectional data analysis to examine the content of EDMs sponsored by members of parliament from Jewish and Muslim background (plus a control group) between 1997 and 2012. The analyses test for the effects of religious background and institutional predictors on the likelihood of referring to minority issues. They show that identity-based predictors such as a religious background are vastly inferior to institutional factors, including a legislative role, representing a constituency with a significant proportion of minority population, and the length of parliamentary service, in determining such references.

Terrorists, their motives, and their victims as perceived by Israeli Jewish and Arab children and adolescents

This paper examines how terrorists, their motives, and the possible implications of terrorist acts are perceived by Israeli secular and religious Jewish and Christian Arab children and adolescents. Content analysis was conducted on the responses of 471 elementary and high school students to a semi‐structured questionnaire. Although complexity of thinking increases from elementary to high school for all groups, the magnitude of this increase depends on nationality, religiosity and issue. Political perceptions crystallize during the transition from elementary to high school, creating both greater differences between Arab and Jewish students concerning the perceptions of motives and possible solutions to the conflict, as well as less nationalist, one‐sided perceptions of the victims. Moral, practical, and educational implications of the findings are discussed.

Genetic Testing in Israel: An Overview

In Israel, genetic screening and testing are widespread and are on the rise. The socialized medical system, the governmental National Program for the Detection and Prevention of Birth Defects, the central registry of genetic disorders, and the availability of medical genetic units influence the extensive utilization of genetic services. Israeli society is a complex one-ethnically, religiously, and culturally diverse, comprised of Jews of many ethnic backgrounds, as well as Christian and Moslem Arabs, Druze, and Bedouins. Multiple founder mutations have been documented in these various ethnic populations, often down to the level of specific villages or tribes. Although carrier screening and prenatal diagnostic testing are well established in the general population, the rejection of pregnancy termination by many religious communities often prevents participation in testing. Culturally appropriate genetic programs have been initiated in religious Jewish and non-Jewish communities in an attempt to overcome cultural barriers and reduce the frequency of severe genetic diseases nationwide.

Giving Up Something Good for Something Better

The concept of sacrifice was formerly a key variable in theorizing about religion and society. Secularization theory and conceptual models equating sacrifice with cost have reduced its usage and apparent relevance, although it continues to be of interest in anthropology and religious studies. Research on sacrifice has been neglected in the social sciences, especially in studies of religiosity and families. Seventy-seven religious adolescents in 55 religious Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Mormon families in New England and northern California were interviewed about whether they felt they had been asked to make sacrifices for their faith as they were growing up. This article discusses how contemporary religious youth view the sacrifices they make for religious reasons. Adolescents reported sacrifices in five domains: societal expectations, popular culture, comforts and pleasures, time and activities, and peer relations. Youth gave the following reasons for being willing to make sacrifices: connecting to a higher meaning or purpose, connecting to God, connecting to the faith tradition or community, fulfilling expectations, feeling affective benefits, and avoiding problems.

Teacher and principal perceptions of student victimization and the schools’ response to violence: The contributions of context on staff congruence

Consistency in staff awareness and response is a key programmatic centerpiece in most school violence prevention and intervention programs. Staff consensus on the definition of violence, the behaviors that constitute violence, the extent of the problem, and how to deal with violent situations are often the cornerstone of evidence-based programs. Nevertheless, little is known theoretically or empirically about the staff and school variables that shape principal and teacher consensus in recognition of the problem or the response to violence. To explore these issues, this study drew on a nested national sample of Israeli schools (1352 teachers; 186 principals and schools) to explore staff and school correlates of the extent of congruence in staff reports of awareness of and response to school violence and victimization. We drew on Rasch analytic techniques to measure the extent of staff congruence about frequency of student victimization, risky behaviors and school response. Overall, student-reported risky behavior accounted for congruence in staff reports of student victimization and risky behavior and was consistent across Jewish and Arab school systems. Staff reports of student victimization and risk shaped the school's response violent events, but important differences were observed across Jewish and Arab school systems. For example, the findings suggest that above and beyond all the school contextual factors, staff in religious Jewish and Arab schools reported less student victimization and less school response to violent situations. Implications for practice, theory, and future research in the school violence literature are discussed.

Parental religious affiliation and survival of premature infants with severe intraventricular hemorrhage

To evaluate the association between parents' ethnic/religious affiliation (secular Jewish, religious Jewish, ultra-orthodox Jewish, Muslim Arabs) and survival of premature infants with severe intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH). Survival of 102 infants (birth weight<or=1500 g) born at the Hadassah hospitals in Jerusalem from 1 January 1996 through 31 December 2005, who sustained severe IVH and who survived over 48 h, was assessed in relation to their parents' ethnic/religious affiliation and accounting for relevant clinical and demographic variables. There were 38 cases of demise among 72 infants with IVH grade IV (52.8%), and 4 among 30 infants with IVH grade III (13.3%). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis accounting for relevant perinatal variables, the odds for mortality compared to the reference Arab group was significantly lower only with regard to ultra-orthodox patients (odds ratio, OR=0.06; 95% confidential interval, CI=0.00 to 0.80; P=0.033). In a logistic and in the Cox stepwise regression analyses with religion as forced in variable, comparing infants with IVH grade IV of religious and ultra-orthodox Jewish families with those of secular Jewish families, the OR/hazard ratio (HR) for mortality were OR=0.10; 95% CI=0.01 to 0.06; P=0.017, and HR=0.37; 95% CI=0.16 to 0.85; P=0.019, respectively. No significant difference between the groups was demonstrated when infants with IVH grade III were analyzed apart. Parental religious affiliation may be influential on the outcome of premature infants with severe brain damage.