“You Have Chosen Us from among All Nations”: The Chosenness Concept in Israeli Ultra-Orthodox School Anthologies

ABSTRACT

This article presents a cognitive semantic investigation into the concept of the “Chosen People” in Israeli ultra-Orthodox anthologies. The article opens with a historical-theological review of chosenness and its distinctly separatist stance. The study, based on the understanding that “nationality” is a multilayered concept, identifies four types of separatism: territorial, ethnic, linguistic, and religious. Three of these are identified in ultra-Orthodox school anthologies (territorial, ethnic, and religious) and are explored in detail with anthology text excerpts. The article also includes a comparison of various education streams in Israel (state, state-religious and ultra-Orthodox) to examine how each addresses and is invested in the concept of chosenness. Finally, the article reveals the commonalities in the perception of victimhood that see the Jewish people as a persecuted and tormented minority throughout history.

KEYWORDS:

• Chosenness
• cognitive semantics
• nationality
• school anthologies

Introduction

This article is rooted in the interrelations of Judaism, education, language, and society; it aims to demonstrate how school anthologies reflect the Chosen People concept as one of the central values of ultra-Orthodox society. The article primarily addresses the ways in which chosenness is conveyed through the texts included in ultra-Orthodox education anthologies that regularly instruct pupils to believe in this concept. To be clear, the current study does not focus on the ways the messages conveyed in these texts are absorbed by pupils or the measure to which they identify with stances presented in literary works included in the study corpus. The article opens with a historical-theological review of chosenness and its distinctly separatist stance. The study, based on the understanding that “nationality” is a multilayered concept comprised of five sub-modalities, identifies four types of separatism, as seen in figure 1: territorial, ethnic, linguistic, and religious. Three of these are identified in ultra-Orthodox school anthologies (territorial, ethnic, and religious) and are presented in detail with anthology text excerpts. Finally, the article includes a comparison of various education streams in Israel (state, state-religious, and ultra-Orthodox) to examine how each addresses and is invested in the concept of chosenness.

Figure 1. Multivalued “Nationality” concept.

The “Chosen People”

The “Chosen People” concept first originated in biblical and rabbinic passages that defined the religious covenant between the Jewish nation and God. In the Bible, the act of choosing is depicted as God’s singling out one people, specifically the Jewish people, as His messengers. Later rabbinic commentaries elucidated the view that this choice was a mutual act, meaning that the Jews also committed themselves to God. Another interpretation presented in later sources explains the bond between God and the Jews as arbitrary, a lottery conducted between God and His angels (Bar-On & Paz, 2011, pp. 23–24, 45; Schweid, 2016).

The concept of chosenness established a differentiation and sense of superiority among the Jewish people in their relation to others (Beker, 2013, p. 15), prompting an internal debate among Jewish religious-political movements about the chosenness principle and its validity in humanistic terms, as well as an external dispute between the Jewish people and other religions and peoples regarding the status and rights of Jews in the Diaspora. Christianity, and Islam similarly adopted this principle. The Christian faith commonly espouses that chosenness was transferred from Jews to Christians and that Christianity evolved as a replacement for Judaism, while the Quran includes passages that reference the Jews as the original chosen people, later replaced by Muslims. Thus, chosenness was transformed into a concept embraced by multiple religious groups, whereby each stakes its claim to uniqueness.

In more recent times, chosenness expresses a separatist ethnocentric self-idealization common among many Zionists and Orthodox Jews. While Zionism aspires to establish the Jewish people as “a nation as all other nations,” the Zionist consciousness is still rooted in the idea that the Jews are indeed the chosen people and this stance grounds their relationships with other peoples (Ilani, 2015, p. 134). References to the Jews’ history as singular and unparalleled also reflect the original idea of chosenness, although theological grounds are replaced by a historical approach presenting the Jewish people as a constant victim at the hands of others (Ilani, 2015, p. 135). Scholars observe a continuous shift among right-wing religious Zionists toward isolationism and separatism beginning in the late 1970s while the ultra-Orthodox approach has always been typified by a sectarianism despite the changes it continues to undergo (Finkelman, 2008, p. 205, 209–212, 217; Rosenthal, 2015, p. 78).

In the twentieth century, the concept of chosenness was subjected to scrutiny by some non-Orthodox thinkers. For example, Mordecai Menahem Kaplan (1881–1983), one of the most original religious Jewish theologians in the twentieth century, rejected the belief that Jews are the chosen people on two grounds. First, he claimed that from an epistemological perspective one cannot resolve the concept of chosenness with a God incapable of choice. Second, he claimed that chosenness was a morally repugnant concept from a framework of universal values. Kaplan’s particularism is grounded in a powerful affinity to the Jewish people but he embraced an idea of a universal God (Scult, 2014).

Opposition to the chosenness concept is evident from the early twentieth century, a view further strengthened following World War II as many angrily spurned their faith in God, raising the question: “If we are the chosen people, why did You send us to our deaths?”, juxtaposing the “elected people” ideation with the “exterminated people” reality (Rappel, 2014, p. 316). An indication of the decline of the chosenness concept in Israel is evident in the surveys conducted over the years by the Israeli Democracy Institute. While 64.3% of Jewish Israeli citizens in the 2013 survey agreed with the statement that “the Jews are the chosen people and therefore superior to other nations”, by 2019 only 40% agreed with the statement. Both surveys indicate that belief in chosenness is correlated with higher levels of religiosity. Thus, among ultra-Orthodox respondents, 96.2% in 2013 and 89% in 2019 believe they are members of the chosen people (Hermann et al., 2013, pp. 101–103, 2019, p. 15).

The 2013 survey found correlations among several additional variables and the belief in the chosenness concept: (1) more state-security-focused right-wing political stances indicated stronger belief in chosenness; (2) the younger the respondents, the stronger the chosenness belief; (3) in education background: 49.5% of academically educated respondents stated belief in chosenness compared to 73.7% of respondents with low or partial high school education (Hermann et al., 2013, pp. 101–104). The 2019 survey does not delve into the causes for decline in chosenness belief, but one could hypothesize that the changes that swept Israel, such as the establishment of the center-political parties and potential shifts in respondents’ age and education level led to findings in the 2019 survey that indicated a similar decline trend.

The chosenness concept reflected in the anthologies examined in the current study also support this separatist view. Although not always obvious at first glance, chosenness is evident in ideas often overlooked, such as the ubiquitous use of the terms nochri (foreigner) and goy (nation) that may obscure obvious separatism, but still establish a superior attitude toward other peoples. The pervasive use of such terms in many texts indicates how central they are in public consciousness.

The Multivalued Nature of “Nationality”

Cognitive linguistics in general, and cognitive semantics particularly, are founded on the understanding that human language abilities stem from capabilities and processes, such as perception, sensory input, processing, storage, and retrieval (Sovran, 2006, p. 13). Cognitive semantic studies focus on the relations between words and concepts and the manner in which they are processed and understood. This is a departure from the traditional semantic investigation approach as it involves all cognitive sciences (Livnat, 2014, p. 133; Sovran, 2006, p. 13).

In cognitive linguistics, categories are mental representations that express human perceptions of the world. A concept may be comprised of several sub-modalities that create a cognitively complex cluster of ideas (Lakoff, 1987). For example, the concept of “nationality” contains five sub-modalities (Zighelboim, 2019, pp. 83–85).

At the center of this star structure is the archetype of nationality, comprised of its various sub-modalities. The categories it generates are not central as they each represent an atypical aspect of this nationality:

• Exclusive territorial modality: Israeli nationality that includes only those Jews that live in the area considered the Land of Israel. This model combines territoriality, represented in the existence of the State of Israel, and the distinct Jewish ethnic group identity component.

• Ethnicity modality: an ethno-Jewish nationality that includes all Jews, regardless of where they live.

• Language modality: nationality founded on the Hebrew language and all Hebrew speakers.

• Religion modality: nationality as a religious-Jewish definition that only includes Jews.

• Inclusive citizenship modality: nationality based on citizenry that includes all Israeli citizens, regardless of religion, race, or origin.

The first four sub-modalities express separatism founded on different factors – territory, ethnicity, language, and religion, while the fifth is inclusive. Their distances from the central theme are not uniform or consistent, with each reliant on a social community adopting the modality at a given point in time. For example, the relation between the Israeli nationality archetype and territoriality changed after World War II. Moreover, among ultra-Orthodox society, the relation of the archetype and Jewish-religious nationality is closer than its ties to Israeli nationality. On the surface, the chosenness concept seems linked to ethnicity, but an in-depth review of school anthology excerpts reveals that the nationality modality enables distinguishing among various types of separatism (religious, ethnic, and territorial). This clarifies the uniqueness of each sub-modality and also the combinations among sub-modalities that comprise nationality.¹

Study Corpus

While this article focuses primarily on anthologies utilized in the ultra-Orthodox school system, it is part of a broader study investigating anthologies for sixth-graders, published between the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 to the present in all Jewish education streams: state, state-religious and ultra-Orthodox. School anthologies include literary works selected by editors for various reasons, including improving Hebrew proficiency in primary and middle schools. They represent varied literary genres and include Bible verses, rabbinic literature texts, short stories, novels, ballads, songs, autobiographical excerpts, plays, journalist articles, and more (David, 2012, p. 79).

Unlike textbooks designed to present a particular topic or subject, anthologies are comprised of excerpts from multiple works (original or revised versions). Editors enjoy tremendous latitude in terms of text selection and redaction. The majority of Israeli elementary schools currently use anthologies of selected children’s literature designed to facilitate language study. While other textbooks are reviewed in their entirety, the literary works of anthologies are selected materials. Some anthologies were published as single editions for a particular age group, while others were initially published in the early years of Israel’s independence and have since been published in revised editions. Additional anthologies were released in age-appropriate series, the category addressed in the current study. These series are not revised or reviewed with any clear regularity; some are revised every four years while others every decade or even four decades. At least one of the original series editors must participate when their series is revised, and there have been many cases in which the entire original editorial staff conducted revisions.

Study materials, including anthologies pupils are exposed to during their first years of school, are a means by which policymakers can educate and disseminate certain values and a tool in the hands of education content editors to determine which values and ideologies are elevated. As such anthologies must be approved by the Education Ministry, the content that they contain is perceived as objective and reliable, raising few doubts as to the social beliefs they nurture among pupils. Furthermore, texts presented in printed anthologies seem like an objective and reliable information source to pupils, impervious to critique, and so are a useful tool for those motivated to disseminate ideas, concepts, and beliefs in a manner that seems irrefutable. As such, Israeli school anthologies reflect the society’s self-ideation and provide a window into the inner working of Israeli establishment to educate its citizens over the generations (Kizel, 2012; Regev, 1992).

The study corpus focused on 396 texts included in three separate editions of the “Yalduteynu” anthology published by the “Beit Yaakov” network of the ultra-Orthodox education stream.² These include the 51 texts in the 1948 publication, an additional 150 texts in the 1988 publication, and finally the 195 texts in the 1997 publication. These “Yalduteynu” editions were designed for ultra-Orthodox girls. It should be noted that the ultra-Orthodox stream provides very different education curricula for their female and male pupils. The curriculum for ultra-Orthodox girls is far more similar to the general state curriculum than the curriculum for boys. Almost all ultra-Orthodox girls’ elementary schools, including the “Beit Yaakov” network, teach core curricula and only dedicate the early morning classes to religious studies. According to Israeli ultra-Orthodox society, such teaching encourages girls to attain both academic excellence and exemplary behavior. Indeed, the ultra-Orthodox education system holds the standard for this sector of society, constituting the arena in which children are socialized into ultra-Orthodox society, both in learning materials and the values and worldviews they receive (Barth et al., 2020, pp. 8–9).³

Teachers generally enjoy a higher status in the ultra-Orthodox system compared to the national religious and national secular systems, and teaching is considered a respected and value-motivated profession and one that also affords economic stability. The percentage of men and women who become teachers in ultra-Orthodox society is very high with 40% of women and 30% of men employed in education, compared to 19% and 5%, respectively in Israel’s non-ultra-Orthodox population (Kasir (Kaliner), 2018). In this sector, teachers have complete autonomy in selecting literary works from school anthologies, but are limited only to those anthologies, merely choosing which selections would suit a certain topic for class.

In addition, the study presents a comparison between the anthologies used in the ultra-Orthodox, state religious, and state secular Jewish educational streams in their approach to the chosenness concept and its separatist implications. For this purpose, 810 texts included in four state-religious anthologies and over 2,500 texts of 11 state-school anthologies were also analyzed, as seen in Table 1. From the overall number of corpus texts, the study focused on five texts that address chosenness. The following includes representative examples of these texts, without bias or any deletions of opposing stances.

Table 1. Study corpus.

Education streams	Anthology list		Number of analyzed texts	Total
	Anthology title	Author/s and edition publication year
State schools	Mikraot Israel	Massada Publishing. Ariel, Blich, & Persky (1967) (1st edition)	285	2,579
	Grade 6 Mikraot Israel Hadashot	Massada Publishing Persky (1983) (2nd edition)	232
	Grade 6 Mikraot Israel Hadashot	Massada Publishing Peres-Persky (1992) (3rd edition)	218
	Onot velehenot 4# for Grades 5–6	Dani Books. Reshef, Henig-Toledano, & Amir (2010) (1st edition)	205
	Onot velehenot g# Parts I & II	Yavne-Bonus Publishing. Reshef et al. (2014) (2nd edition)	234
	Derech Hamilim – Book 6	Kinneret Publishing. Talitman & Shalita (1996) (1st edition)	252
	Derech Hamilim – Book 6	Kinneret Publishing. Geller-Talitman and Shalita (2005) (2nd edition)	247
	Zoadim Bederech Hamilim – Grade 6	Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir Publishing. Geller-Talitman & Shalita (2014a) (3rd edition)	261
	Mifgashim 6#: Laga’at bamilim lichyot shir	Am Oved Publishing. Cohen (1987)	188
	Chalonot 5–6#: Anthology for State schools	CET and Am Oved Publishing. Ben-Ami, Posner, Gabizon, Shamir, & Shavit (1997)	202
	Al Ktze Halashon – 6# and Meolama shel sifrut	Modan publishing. Korach-Segev, Tal, & Alon (2014a)	255
State-religious	Halichot Israel – Grade 6	Amichai Publishing. Tversky & Malchiel (1968)	165	810
	Patchu et Hasha’ar – Grade 6	Ma’a lot (Ministry of Education and Culture-Pedagogical Administration, Program Division, 1990; 1st edition)	203
	Bisfat Hashurot – Book 6#	Kinneret Publishing. Antman (2005)	186
	Al Ktze Halashon – 6# and Meolama shel sifrut	Modan publishing. Korach-Segev, Tal, & Alon (2014b)	256
Ultra-Orthodox (Beit Yaakov)	Yalduteynu – Book 5# for Grades 5–6	Yeshurun Publishing. Liberman and Cahana (1948) (1st edition)	51	396
	Yalduteynu – Book 6# (revised edition)	Yeshurun Publishing. Liberman and Cahana (1988) (2nd edition)	150
	Yalduteynu (revised edition)	Yeshurun Publishing. Hacohen, Levin, & Liberman (undated^3; 3rd edition)	195

The uniqueness of this study lies in the fact that it is a first-of-its-kind semantic-cognitive analysis of all references to the chosenness concept in the 20 anthologies of the corpus. Examples presented below display a variety of findings. However, this is not a quantitative study, and it makes no claims about whether the sample is representative.

The Separatist Approach in School Anthologies

School textbooks and anthologies contain references to the relations between the collective identity of pupils belonging to that particular group and all others, meaning they establish the distinction between “us” and “them.” Texts and works included in these anthologies represent and support collective identity, thus developing an internal “mental map” among pupils, dictating what and who is similar or dissimilar to them and to what degree (Pingel, 2015, pp. 49, 53).

National identity in Israel can be described as a spectrum ranging from a Jewish-Israeli-nationality directed inward, typified by isolationism (the am segulah, or “chosen people” concept), to a global Israeli national identity directed outward (“a nation as all other nations”). This inherent tension between inclusive and exclusive approaches is at the root of many nationalities and is certainly not unique to Israel. On the one hand, nations are generally geared to acting for the benefit of all people and the preservation of universal ethics and values, yet on the other hand they reflect their individuality when compared to other nations (Gellner, 1994; Yadgar, 2004, pp. 9–12). The ultra-Orthodox anthologies analyzed in this study indicate three categories of separatism – religion, ethnicity, and territory.

Religious separatism

Religious separatism stresses faith and religiosity as the foundations for the chosenness concept, an idea represented in many works of ultra-Orthodox school anthologies. This separatist stance may be directed inward, meaning toward nonreligious Jews, but in the case of chosenness it is focused outward – in relation to other nations. The Yalduteynu anthology published in the late 1990s opens with a chapter titled Amud Torah (Bible Page) and includes “I shall praise the Torah in song,” a liturgical poem written by Rabbi Raphael Baruch Toledano (Hacohen & Liberman, 1997, p. 13).

I will sing a song in honor of the Torah, more precious than gold, clear and pure.

[…]

In sacred trust, God chose His people to be His Chosen.

The opening lines of the poem establish the Torah (the Hebrew Bible) as the primary priority, tying it to the concept of chosenness, thus reflecting the religion modality. God is depicted as the active chooser while the people passively accept His edict. This anthology also presents an excerpt of Kera Satan, a work by N. Emmanuel (Hacohen & Liberman, 1997, p. 111):

God above! Look down from the heavens and see which nation is as we of Israel, the chosen people and sanctified nation. You have commanded that we feast this day with food and drink, and further made Your pledge to us: Those who dine on the ninth day in great abundance are as those who fasted on the ninth and tenth day combined.” And here we come before you after great feasting, cleansed and sanctified as angels … had the nations of the world been commanded to feast, by evening they would have been drunk to insensibility, roaming the gutters and places of filth, subjected to violence and perpetrating violence on others. Shepherd of Israel, see your flock, your blessed congregation, and see the wolves of the world. See those that refine the necessities of eating and drinking to divinity, and those devouring their food, steeped in wine, debased to the level of beasts.

The story presents the supremacy of the Jews as they, unlike other peoples, observe religious laws and days of fasting. Religion is the primary factor here, with Jews representing a humility and spirituality that elevates them to the level of angels. Contrastingly, other nations are reduced to the level of beasts. Furthermore, Jews are depicted as God’s flock, while others are “wolves.” The promotion from human to angel status and the converse demotion from human to animal ties in with the foundational metaphor proposed by Lakoff & Johnson (1980) of “high is up”, a concept that structures the perception of speakers. Following this principle, high is good (with God and the Jews depicted high in the heavens) and low is quintessentially bad (the gutters and beasts).

This up-down polarity also appears in the 1988 edition containing the text “Sabbath inside the Yeshiva” written by M. Meiri (Liberman & Cahana, 1988, pp. 244–247).

Hearts overflowing. Exulting. No words can describe the torrent of emotions—and a great sound erupts as all sing together: lecha dodi likrat kala, pnei Shabbat nekabla (Come, my beloved, towards the bride as we welcome the Sabbath queen). The song intensifies, soaring. It uplifts you to a world of praise and exaltation, a world that is wholly the Sabbath. In this outpouring, you devote yourself. In bowing to it, you accept it. You gather the Sabbath inwards, into the depths of your heart … toch emunei am segulah, boi kalah (By the faith of the treasured people, come, O bride) … when you arrive for the Shema prayer it feels as if the entire universe, high and low, all take upon themselves the duties handed from heaven and with whole heart they cry with you: Shema Israel! …

Your heart full, you leave the synagogue and go down to the dining hall. The sounds of prayer still echo in your ears and your thoughts are still entangled in other worlds, more divine …

Humbly, you return to your place, your head bowed near to the table, too reverent to gaze at Shabbat Malchata (the Sabbath Queen), so grand in her majesty before her departure …

Two opposing semantic fields are evident in this excerpt. First, words and phrases that reference elevation, either through individual devotion (overflowing, exalting, erupt), or collective piety (high, chosen people – terms of esteem for the people of Israel; Malchi, 2005). Second, words and phrases denoting devotion (outpouring, bow of homage, below, bowed head). These references to lowering of some kind are reinforced with the actual descent to the dining room after prayers, a clear demonstration of the philosopher Mark Johnson’s (Johnson, 1987) the “Body in the Mind” principle. According to this principle, a sensory image schema emerges in one’s mind in relation to a discrete concept and it is further established and consolidated in reaction to physical and sensory experiences in our world. Meaning, tangible perceptions precede abstract conceptualization and even structure abstraction. Thus, God resides in the heavens above while humans inhabit the mundane world below.

Spiritual supremacy and detachment from the earthly plane are also ideas that appear in the text “Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev advocates for the people of Israel” by H. Hatzair published in the same anthology edition (Liberman & Cahana, 1988, pp. 256–257).

One day, Rabbi Levi Itzhak left for the Rosh Hashana prayers to hear the tekiah of the shofar in the synagogue. On his way, he saw a boy of Israel, a poor child in ragged clothing, his face scowling.

“Are you jealous of the gentiles?” Rabbi Levi Itzhak asked the boy. “They feast on delicacies and dress in elaborate attire. And they do not lack for anything!”

“I do not envy them,” responded the boy, “I benefit more then they, as I am a son of Israel and already know how to pray, adding my voice to the call of Shema Israel!”

“God Almighty,” said Rabbi Levi Itzhak, “Look down and see there is no other nation in the land as your chosen people of Israel … that even this babe, hungry and thirsty and dressed in tatters, can accept it all with love so long as he knows he is of Israel!”

The boy in this story displays remarkable spiritual maturity, rising above the material world of clothes, food, and wealth, holding resolutely to prayer and national unity. This elevates him above members of other nations. This is another example of the Jews being depicted as ranking spiritually higher than other peoples. The excerpt ends with a Biblical reference: “And who is like Thy people, like Israel, a nation one in the earth … ” (JPS, 2 Samuel 7:23) expressing the uniqueness of God and the preeminence of the Jews in comparison to others.

The story “Fatima” by A. Toker, included in the late 1990s edition (Hacohen & Liberman, 1997, pp. 271–273), presents the hostility between the Jewish people and the Arabs on the eve of the 1948 War of Independence, combining the ethnicity and religion modalities:

We must remember, Leah, that “It is known that Esau hated Jacob.” Foolish is the Jew that sees the kindness of foreigners and deludes himself that he is loved by them. They will never love us. This is a law laid down by God in the time of creation. Moreover, the gentile deems himself stronger. Physically more powerful. They are unaware their power stems from our spiritual weakness … when the threat of the gentiles finally materializes, this is the sign we must shake off our indifference, further devote ourselves to observing religious commandments and doing good deeds, and praying to the God Almighty to bring down a terror upon those who wish our destruction …

That night, the Arab armies invaded our land from the north, the south, and even the east. Till this day, the small Jewish community has yet to grasp the great miracles that occurred then, how thousands of Arab outlaws fled and retraced their steps as the thunder of the Jews fell upon them.

The tale depicts foreign peoples, specifically the Arabs, as the Jewish people’s enemies whose hatred for the Jews is rooted in the dawn of history. This establishes the religious grounds for the Israeli-Palestinian and the wider Arab–Israeli conflict. It also establishes a moral self-image of Jews using self-aggrandizement and praise. Thus, throughout the story the Jews are engaged in religious observances and good deeds while the Arabs foment hostilities and war. The Jewish settlement is described as inferior in strength when compared to the Arab armies – smaller, weaker, and passive. In contrast, the Arabs are depicted as a large and powerful foe massing its forces in the invasion of the Land of Israel. This supports the perception of the Jews as victims, focusing on their helplessness in the face of other nations’ belligerence. God is the savior, safeguarding His chosen people.⁴

This trust in God’s protection is also evident in M. Berman’s poem Lishnat Hasheva (To the Seventh Year) of that same edition, illustrating how faith and confidence in God are vital to observing Shmita (a “sabbatical year” when fields are left fallow; Hacohen & Liberman, 1997, p. 253),

Thee, the seventh year, we shall welcome

In arms of security and the bosom of faith …

The workers of the land will return from their toil,

Their hearts sure in the knowledge that they observe the seven …

You bore the message in boldness and spirit,

And all follow confidently in Your footsteps …

And your treasured people shall see, the chosen people will

demonstrate:

Blessed are the faithful, blessed are those that trust in God

The root letters B-T-H (trust, reliance) that appear throughout the poem express the trust in God, linked to the semantic field of faith (security, bosom of faith) and ending with the rewards of fidelity (blessed are they). The parallelism at the end (your treasured people shall see, the chosen people will demonstrate) links the fields of sight and sound, a reference to Mount Sinai when the Jews saw and heard the call and were selected as the chosen people.

Religious separatism is characterized by an up-down polarity that provides a mental map in which the Jews are spiritually superior to other peoples, one demonstrated through a self-aggrandizement that is related to the God in heaven who selected the Jews and awarded them their high status. Spirituality is also mapped on an up-down scale, with Jews ascending to the level of angels while other nations are reduced to beasts. In some works, the ethnic modality is also tied to the social superiority of Jews engaged in good deeds and of higher spiritual awareness when compared to the other, war-mongering nations of the world.

Ethnic Separatism

Judeo-ethnic identity is comprised of two key concepts and their interrelations: Yahadut (Judaism) and am (nation). The latter appears in these anthologies as a purely positive reference to a large assembly or congregation with a common history. It contrasts to the often-negative reference to goy (nation), creating the distinction between Jews and non-Jews, with Jews presented as the chosen people, distinguished above other nations. This sense of supremacy and detachment from others is expressed in the story “Shattered Childhood” by S. Shleimer, also published in the 1990s anthology edition (Hacohen & Liberman, 1997, pp. 322–325):

Kurt slept through the ride across Germany. He slowly opened his eyes, but immediately shrunk back in his seat when he noticed the Nazi guard striding towards him. But the guard approached a little boy, fragile in appearance, wearing round metal-rimmed glasses. “Open your suitcase!” he roared … “Quickly!” screamed the Nazi, ignoring the boy’s difficulty to obey. He tried opening the lock, but his small hands shook uncontrollably. Kurt saw the boy’s panic and dread and turned to help him, but the guard shoved him aggressively so that he stumbled and almost fell. “Return to your seat. Your time will come soon enough!” growled the Nazi at him.

With disdain in his eyes, Kurt returned to his seat in measured steps. He knew he was a son of the chosen people, while the guard a descendent of a barbarian tribe. He would suffer justice in the end.

The chosenness concept expresses an ethnic distinction, exemplified here by describing the Nazi as belonging to a “barbarian tribe” while Kurt and the boy are “sons of the chosen people.” Kurt and his young friend are depicted as fragile, trembling, stumbling, and fearful, while the Nazi demonstrates violence toward others – rudely pushing the child, screaming, and yelling. Here, the sense of superiority is coupled with victimhood. The belief in the just cause of the Jews and their chosenness status emerges in many works included in ultra-Orthodox school anthologies, specifically when subject matter relates to difficult and trying times. One example of this is “Rabbi Katriel the Shamash,” a story by Z. Schachnowitz that appears in recent editions of the Yalduteynu anthology (Hacohen & Liberman, 1997, pp. 24–25; Liberman & Cahana, 1988, pp. 14–16).

Darkness and gloom enclose everything … only one voice, a hoarse voice, can be heard. Only one voice wakens you from sleep … “Israel, blessed people, arise, arise for God’s work!”

That is the voice of Rabbi Katriel, the shamash (synagogue manager), fulfilling his duties with utmost devotion … slowly, the doors open and the street fills with people whose ears have heard his call and now rush to the synagogue aglow with light … Rabbi Katriel stands on the doorway of one of the houses and seems anxious. He stands there, undecided and wondering: “Is the man behind this wall a person who studies at night? Or perhaps this Jew went to bed late and wishes to continue sleeping?” … “if he does not wish to rise early,” thinks Rabbi Katriel, “what am I to do? A Jew is always a Jew, whether or not he is a member of Ahavat Torah” … But this was a fateful time, as Rabbi Yonah, one of the students, left his apartment on the first day of Cheshvan and was replaced with a new tenant, Ivan, a crude and vulgar gentile known as a hater of Israel.

“Israel blessed people!” calls the shamash in a pleading tone under the sleeping Ivan’s window … Rabbi Katriel does not give up, as usual. He knocks on the blinds and continues to implore in song. And this time, yes, this time a dog’s bark can clearly be heard, followed by the sound of approaching steps. Rabbi Katriel stands frozen, thinking to flee, to get away, but before his legs can carry him a bony hand clamps down on his neck and begins raining blows on his head. Then, painful kicks follow, accompanied by fierce cursing. The world seems to dim, and then blackens completely. Silence … he picks himself up and begins treading heavily, trembling, and shaken, towards the synagogue. Every step is agony, every movement an effort.

But in the distance are the dazzling lights of the synagogue aglitter with warmth and friendship … and inside, beside long tables, are hunched all those dedicated Jews that awoke to his call. His heart fills with joy and mirth, his pain abates. He looks up to the heavens with bright eyes and whispers: “God Almighty, look down upon us and see your chosen! See how we differ from the nations: these have kicked me, hurt me, battered me badly for disturbing their sleep, while your loving sons awake gladly each day from their beds … look and see the difference!”

Ivan represents members of other nations, depicted as violent, barbarian, and aggressive enemies. Rabbi Katriel is subjected to verbal and physical violence from Ivan, just as the Jewish people is the victim of other nations. The story is told through two opposing semantic fields: darkness, denoting violence and fear (dark, dim, blackens, silence) and light, the embodiment of religion (aglow with light, dazzling lights, aglitter with warmth). Rabbi Katriel rouses Jews from sleep and darkness to lead them to the luminous synagogue; his role as shamash is indirectly tied to light. Although the religious context is obvious in this story, it essentially focuses on the Jews as an ethnic group, as in the phrase: “A Jew is always a Jew” – even when they do not observe religious rules or pray. The chosenness concept in this story underlines the uniqueness of the Jewish collective when compared to other nations, with Jews depicted as full of vigor and life and others as vicious and unrefined. A complex mental map is formed, whereby Jews are spiritually situated above others but are concurrently victims of their violence and physically inferior.

These works reveal a sense of victimization at the core of the ethnicity modality. Jews are presented as small, delicate, fearful, and quiet. In contrast, other peoples – the goys – are vulgar, brutal, aggressive, and loud.

Territorial Separatism

Over the years, the terms am bechira (people of choice), am nivchar (chosen people), and am segulah (treasured people) underwent a process of secularization and began to express a historical justification for the settlement of the Land of Israel and establishment of the Jewish State (Sand, 2008). However, in ultra-Orthodox school anthologies the territorial sub-modality is tied to religion and includes a call to immediate action to fulfil the covenant with God. The demand to return to the Land of Israel, to the collective’s territory, is apparent in the words of Joel Moses Salomon as he promoted the founding of Petah Tikva: “Come, brothers, to the settlement in the Holy Land,” a statement that inherently rejects life in the Diaspora (Hacohen & Liberman, 1997, p. 261; Liberman & Cahana, 1988, pp. 126–127).

Come, dear brothers, come and be part of this magnificent enterprise! Gather, God’s fearful, men of the Torah, whose hearts and souls yearn for the homeland of our forefathers! … Waken waken, be brave, people of Zion and Jerusalem, because God is with us! …

How pleasant are the sun’s rays, while our hearts desire is shrouded in darkness! And how can we cherish the beauty of flowers on the hills of the world when Israel lays barren? …

The day will come for the people of Zion scattered across the far reaches of the world; God’s vineyard has yet to be cleared of the brambles and thorns …

When will we hear the great voice of the people who cannot bear it any longer … awaiting the day they may lay down in the gardens to pick the wildflowers blooming by streams? …

We shall bring skilled people for the work ahead from our brothers across the seas so that they may settle the Holy Land and dispel its desolation.

The Jews are presented as a brotherhood called to come back to their ancestral homeland, the territory promised to them on Mount Sinai. Returning to their land is akin to returning to the bosom of family, and this single act brings God’s support. Homecoming to the Land of Israel is drenched in sunlight, while life in the Diaspora is depicted as gloomy. The entire text is littered with phrases and terms that denote emptiness (yearning, desolation, brambles, thorns) juxtaposed with images of life (wildflowers, gardens, streams).

In Jewish tradition, the chosenness concept was crystalized on Mount Sinai when God chose the Jewish people and established His covenant: “Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples. Indeed, all the earth is mine.” (JPS, Exodus 19:5).

This was the moment when God promised the Land of Israel to His people. In return, the Jews committed to living by God’s laws and the Ten Commandments. This event reflects the connection between ethnicity, religion, and territory. (A prior mention of chosenness appears in the story of the Covenant of the Pieces in the book of Genesis (15:18–21), a tale of God appearing before Avram and making a unilateral covenant with him in which he was promised that his descendants would inherit the Land of Israel.)

One example of this combination of ethnic, religious, and territorial sub-modalities is evident in “Pesach Night” by Isaac Breuer, published in a 1948 ultra-Orthodox anthology (Liberman & Cahana, 1948, pp. 100–101):

Year after year this night returns in the life of Jews, the night on which fathers tell sons the meaning of being Jewish. That night, the warm breath of a vibrant, strong, and courageous nation can be heard, still resounding with the sad and agonized tone of a people tormented and harassed … this is the night of Passover, the eve of the people of Israel … “In every generation, everyone is obligated to see themselves as though they personally left Egypt.” Because the tale is told from father to son, at that moment he is no longer a lone Jew, weak, spending decades in some distant land. No, he is a representative of his people, perpetuating his national history. The father demands his sons heed him, but the command is not his own. It is the command of a nation of its people… “All must know,” declares the Jewish nation on the eve of Passover, “Remember, children, we are not a nation like others. We were the chosen of God and we were led out of Egypt, we were given His Torah, we were made His nation and brought to the Land of Israel.”

The Jews in the text are presented as a people of contradictions – on the one hand, thirsting for life and filled with valor and strength, but on the other hand they are sad, suffering, tormented, and persecuted. The contradictions are later resolved with the reconciliation between the individual and the collective. It is the unity of individuals congregating to become a nation that gives the nation its strength and continuity. The people are presented as a collection of individuals with a shared history and an identity formulated through religious/faith-based values. The metonymic use of the individual to represent the collective signifies that collective values supersede individual values. Thus, each individual who is a member of the people is also its representative. God is depicted as a chooser, and the Jews proudly proclaim their status as the chosen. The text ends with a line that incorporates all the sub-modalities discussed in this paper: “given His Torah,” “made His nation” and “brought to the Land of Israel.” Religion is represented with matan Torah (the giving of the Torah), ethnicity is represented with the consolidation of individuals into a nation, and territory is reflected in the immigration and settlement of Israel.

The territory modality is not truly detached from the other modalities, indicative of its relative minor significance as a facet of nationality. The Land of Israel is portrayed as mother and family and associated with light, while the Diaspora is shrouded in darkness. This modality reveals the discrepancy between Jews as victims (dispirited, weak, harassed, and silent) and Jews as heroes, full of life and vigor. It establishes a mental map of the lone Jew positioned inferiorly in relation to other nations, while the Jewish collective discards its victimhood with a sense of dominance appropriate to the chosen people.

Comparing Anthologies of Various Jewish Education Streams

In ultra-Orthodox schools, the Chosen People concept is evident in many anthology texts, some of which do not directly focus on faith or religion. Instead, chosenness is conveyed implicitly and explicitly and in varied ways, with the common denominator in the texts being a fundamentally separatist stance establishing that Jews are not only different from, but superior to other nations. State-religious schools deal with chosenness openly by including sources central to the foundational beliefs and values of religious Zionist society. In these, chosenness appears explicitly. In Sfat Hashurot (Language of Lines), the anthology used in the state religious education stream, each chapter begins with several quotes from Jewish sources. For example, the chapter “I shall give thee a goodly land” opens with several biblical citations refencing the covenant between God and the Jews (Antman, 2005, p. 136).

And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. (JPS, Genesis 17:7-8)

The covenant between God and the Jewish people is mentioned in more than Bible quotes. It also appears in the extra-biblical texts, although in this educational stream although the allusions tend to be more indirect when compared to the biblical verses. The sense of exclusivity evident in State-religious school anthologies is presented as resistance to assimilation of Jews with other peoples in a desire to preserve Jewish uniqueness. However, unlike ultra-Orthodox anthologies, it contains no explicit references to superiority or superior status.

One example of this is the story “A spring and carob at the cave entrance” (Antman, 2005, p. 136):

For twelve years, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son, Rabbi Eliezer, hid in the cave […] studying the Torah night and day. Finally, they heard a voice call out: “My sons, my beloved, come out from the cave, and go forth to teach Torah to the people of Israel that have been scattered among the nations and have forgotten their faith.” Rabbi Shimon arose and said: […] I vow that Your Torah will never be forgotten among Your people, as You have promised that is will always remain in our memory and would forevermore among our sons and their sons.

The poem “Birth of a Song” by Naomi Shemer also appears in the religious-Zionist anthology Patchu et Hasha’ar (Open the Gate). Shemer describes the songwriting process when composing “Jerusalem of Gold.” Here the separatist and superior stance is also clear, particularly relative to the Arabs (Ministry of Education and Culture-Pedagogical Administration, Program Division, 1990, pp. 198–201):

In the days that followed, I would play the song for every visitor, as was my custom. One day, I played it for Rivka Michaeli, who asked: “And what about the Old City?”

Well, I said, if you particularly want it … and I added the central verse:

[…] The market-place is empty

And no one frequents the Temple Mount

In the Old City […]

And no one descends to the Dead Sea

By way of Jericho

Many days later, I heard that Amos Oz was angry at those lines. Actually, not so many days had passed. One day after the end of the war, Oz wrote in the “Davar” newspaper (I am paraphrasing): “How is ‘the marketplace empty? In fact, it is full of Arabs!’ … and other remarks regarding the Temple Mount and the route through Jericho. Some time elapsed until I got word of his article, and I was infuriated […]

I want to say openly and to all the following: Indeed, in my eyes, a Jerusalem barren of Jews is a city bleak and bereaved. Moreover, the Land of Israel empty of Jews is a desolation. And more: the entire world, should it ever (God forbid) become devoid of Jews, would be a black hole in the universe.

The remarks of Amos Oz reflect a humanistic-egalitarian approach countering the view of Jews as separate and better than others. Shemer’s approach is clear from her reaction to Oz’s critique. The necessity of a Jewish presence in Jerusalem, and in the entire world, does not directly engage the chosenness concept but it reflects an exceptionalism that views Jews as an important and distinguished nation elevated above others. Without the Jews, Jerusalem is a city “bereaved and barren,” a “wasteland,” and the world is a “black hole in the universe.”

In state school anthologies, chosenness is conveyed in an ironic tone, suggesting skepticism rather than support, as evident in the poem “Of All the Peoples” by Natan Alterman (Cohen, 1987, pp. 268–269) for his Haaretz newspaper editorial in response to reports on the extermination of the European Jews. It constitutes an inditement against the Christian world standing silently by as atrocities were perpetrated across Europe:

The iron axe fell day and night,

and the holy Christian Father of Rome

did not leave his hall with the icons of Christ

to stand one day in the pogrom […]

and it is You that will deliver us from the hands of these killers

and from those that kept silent

Throughout the poem, Alterman employs irony to disparage a Jewish-national identity that is grounded in chosenness when God’s choice in the poem is for the Jews to die.

God of our forefathers, we knew

That You chose us from all Your children,

Loved us and treasured us.

And You chose us of all children

To be killed before Your throne.

Here, in a bitter sarcastic tone, the Jewish people are presented as the chosen people destined to be killed. The metaphors employed in the poem – “God, our father,” the Jews termed the “chosen children of God” – further emphasize the criticism and anger at the sacrifice of a father choosing to give up a beloved son. This example from the state school anthologies is not exceptional, but representative of doubt and critique of the chosenness concept in these texts.

A diachronic examination of state-religious school anthologies reveals that anthologies published between the late 1980s and the mid-1990s make no mention of the Righteous Among the Nations, except for a minor citation in the story “Suddenly Alone in the World,” which describes the life of Yaakov Ben-Sira (Ministry of Education and Culture-Pedagogical Administration, Program Division, 1990, pp. 154–165). It includes a story of an unnamed non-Jewish woman who saved his life by claiming he was her son, thus protecting him from the German officer demanding to see his papers. However, this is not a major element in the tale, nor are the Righteous Among the Nations, who were only included in anthologies published since the mid-1990s in the context of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

In contrast, Haim Hefer’s maqama “Righteous Among the Nations,” included in both state and state-religious schools (Antman, 2005, p. 111; Geller-Talitman & Shalita, 2005, p. 245, 2014, p. 261; Reshef et al., 2014, p. 29), expresses a profound gratitude to those that saved Jews during the Holocaust or hid them for long periods at the risk of their own lives and that of their families, for nothing in return:

I try to think, and listen, and question: What would I have done in their place? Had I been in that ocean of hatred, facing a world afire and collapsing, would I have hidden a member of a foreign people? […]

I see them living in these dual worlds, oppressed by invaders, and there, and that time, torn between courage and fear, they choose to act for the weak […] choose to be in the image of God, the spirit that lies in the heart of people, to be the last hope embracing the despairing. In that horrendous war, it is they who stood day after day in the battle, it is they who remained the righteous of Sodom, it is thanks to them that the world was not ravaged. They, in the chronicles of a murdered, shot, and slain people, were the pillars of mercy and grace, the pillars upon which the world stands. In the face of that heroism, still a mystery to us, we, the Jews, bow our heads in gratitude.

Hefer credits the Righteous Among the Nations for their central role in the survival of the Jewish people and is thankful, depicting the morality of those non-Jews, peoples who chose to aid the Jews: “All this, only because people must always treat others as people.” The linguistic root A-M-D (standing, to stand) is repeated throughout the work in reference to those non-Jews, those who: “stood day after day in the battle,” who were “the pillars of mercy and grace … upon which the world stands” when faced with a “world afire and collapsing” and thanks to which “the world was not ravaged.” This work by Hefer employs the image of Jewish victimhood and its characteristics: Jews are portrayed as weak, desperate, crushed, shot, and killed.

Prior to the trial of Adolf Eichmann (1961), Holocaust memory in Israel was dualistic; victims, who went like “lambs to the slaughter,” were contrasted with those who valiantly rose to rebel against the Nazis. In the wake of the public’s exposure to the trial testimonies, public sentiment began shifting to identify with the victims. This process accelerated in the 1980s. The contrast between the atrocities and bravery of those who faced them began to blur, increasing the sense of solidarity of the Jewish nation with other nations, replacing the “the entire world is against us” attitude (Gutwein, 1999, pp. 7–52). In recent decades, the Israeli Jewish public’s sense of victimhood and persecution has been based on collective Jewish historical memory, one engrained through Holocaust remembrance. Israeli Jews’ victim mentality remains a factor influencing the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; the Israeli Jewish public sees itself as a victim, justifying use of force against the Palestinian people (Gan, 2014, p. 20, 20; Zrubavel, 1994, pp. 90–91). These sentiments reflect the separatist mentality evident in all major Israeli education streams: state, state-religious, and ultra-Orthodox.

Gershon Shaked’s autobiographical story, included in state school curricula (Peres-Persky, 1992, pp. 15–19), describes how he immigrated alone to Palestine during World War II. The story ends with Shaked’s view of victimhood, one that mirrors much of public sentiment at the time, with Jews depicted as subjects of persecution from time immemorial. He connects the Jewish persecution during the Holocaust to the hostilities they face as a minority in the Middle East:

That boy never overcame his fears. The dread of the one certainty collapsing, that of the Land of Israel […] This fear, in my view, is greater that the fear of enemies in their homes facing us and among which I and my friends lived as a battered minority, who are now in the street outside this house bent on making us again a battered minority.

Another finding revealed in the diachronic analysis of anthologies is that in the last two decades the state and state-religious educational systems have included works that present the Jewish people and other nations on an equal basis. One example of this is Dan Almagor’s poem Yom Yavo (The Day Will Come; Antman, 2005, p. 276; Geller-Talitman & Shalita, 2005, p. 99, 2014, pp. 144–145).

The day will come, the day will come

It draws near on its path

When no man is demeaned

For his race or color

The earlier edition of this anthology, published in the mid-1990s, did not include this poem. It also lacked additional texts that called for creating an egalitarian society in Israel, such as Tsafrira Shaham’s “Why must women fight for the same rights as men?” (Geller-Talitman & Shalita, 2005, pp. 112–113, 2014, pp. 110–111).

An enlightened society respects people’s differences, working to create equal opportunities for all.

Other examples of an egalitarian and sympathetic approach to other nations can be found in anthology chapters dedicated to promoting a more equitable civil society. A chapter entitled “Good Neighbors” includes stories of daily contact between Israeli Jews, Arabs, and Druze (Cohen, 1987, pp. 231–246). Another chapter – “May all Opposites Connect” – in a state school anthology published in 2005 calls for a comradeship of nations (Geller-Talitman & Shalita, 2005, pp. 96–118), as does “Spirit of Unity” published in the more recent 2014 edition (Geller-Talitman & Shalita, 2014, pp. 96–131).

Naturally, each education stream seeks to reinforce the values they espouse. This is supported by the comparison of anthologies revealing the overt and central preoccupation with chosenness in ultra-Orthodox schools and the more skeptical and critical approach of state schools. However, cognitive semantics enable identifying key concepts and entrenched patterns evident in writer’s attitudes. Thus, analysis demonstrated that the victimhood and isolationism at the core of chosenness manifest in all Israeli education streams: state, state-religious, and ultra-Orthodox

Summary

The phrase “Chosen People” is only included in ultra-Orthodox anthologies as a positive reference, despite its negative connotations when tied to nationalism. The general attitude presented in ultra-Orthodox schools is that of Jews as the chosen people, creating a mental map among young pupils that is inherently hierarchical, positioning the Jews above the gentiles. Figure 2 presents a summary of these findings in a schematic representation of this mental map.

Figure 2. Top-bottom mental map.

The semantic fields presented in grey ellipsis signify opposites (up/down, light/dark) used to differentiate between Jews and gentiles, between the Land of Israel and the Diaspora, and between the individual Jew (inferior and victimized) and the Jewish collective (superior to other nations). Added to this polarity, the map exposes the connections between concepts within the semantic fields, providing select examples of investigated works. The angel-human-beast rating mentioned in various works demonstrates the dynamic shift among semantic fields. Thus, the Jew may ascend to the level of angels while the gentile descends to the level of beasts. Another shift between fields is evidenced in the distinction of individuals from the collective, whereby the Jewish collective is empowered, elevated above others and the lone Jew stands weak and helpless against the attacks and humiliation committed by other nations.

The separatist stance evident in ultra-Orthodox anthologies is not surprising. But this study delves into the manner and reasons for the consolidation of that stance in school curricula, formulating the mental map shaping ultra-Orthodox pupils. Moreover, each of these separatist stances reveals additional findings. Religious separatism reflects a sense of superiority and pretension whereby Jews are spiritually elevated while other peoples are portrayed as inferior. Contrastingly, ethnic separatism expresses the victimhood of Jews, their physical weakness when faced against a strong and vicious attacker. Territorial separatism does not provide a stand-alone stance and instead is a supportive factor of other separatist stances. The importance of territory stems from its ability to resolve differences between religious and ethnic motivations. That is, when Jews feel part of a collective then they are strong and superior and when they are alone, they become victims. The message to pupils is unequivocal: “It is not good for a (Jewish) person to stand alone”. Thus, children formulate the centrality of belonging to a collective through both religious and ethnic dimensions.

A comparison with state and state-religious anthologies reveals several significant insights. First, state-religious schools reference the chosenness concept, but (unlike ultra-Orthodox curricula) this ethnic-religious superiority is directed solely at the Arab population and not does address all non-Jews. Second, both state and state-religious anthologies include texts expressing appreciation for the actions taken by non-Jews to shelter Jews (specifically the Righteous Among the Nations) during the Holocaust. Third, over the years anthologies have been amended to present a more moderate separatism, including an increasing number of works that address equality among all nations. This study reveals the complex conceptual structure of chosenness, indicating the connections between chosenness and victimhood. This view is evident in all Jewish education streams – state, state-religious, and ultra-Orthodox, and has been an element of Jewish history throughout the ages.

Addressing the separatist viewpoint is important, particularly when it is implicit and implied rather than openly displayed. The deeper such attitudes are hidden, the more profoundly entrenched they are, and their speakers less aware of that entrenchment. When school anthologies only present one narrative, specifically a narrative that reinforces the boundary between self and other, this creates long-term impact on Israeli society, reinforcing its existing rifts and schisms. Contrastingly, anthologies that present a balance of diverse viewpoints and avoid dogmatic adherence to a single narrative nurture a more liberal and egalitarian perspective.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

¹ For example, the names used to describe the national territory, as they appear in these anthologies, demonstrate variance among the five sub-modalities: “Holy Land” and “Land of Zion” reflect the religion modality, “Land of Israel” – ethnicity, “Land of Hebrews” – language, “State of Israel” – exclusive territoriality, and “State of all of its citizens” – inclusive citizenship. Cognitive semantics is based on the understanding that choice of certain concepts and their preference over alternatives is not random or meaningless. Such choices influence how we map the world around us; this is particularly relevant when young children are the recipients of such views, as they lack adult critical skills.

² According to data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, 30.1% of Jewish pupils in the education system attended ultra-Orthodox schools. Ultra-Orthodox education began even prior to the establishment of the State of Israel with the founding of “Beit Yaakov” in Tiberias and it is the most separatist and sectarian education system currently in the country.

https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/doclib/2020/4.shnatoneducation/st04_07.pdf

³ The anthology was published in the early 1990s but no precise publication year is cited.

⁴ It is noteworthy that a Zionist tenor is evident in the text, as well as acknowledgment of the importance of land settlement and the desire to establish a Jewish state in the Land of Israel. One of the central reasons for the resistance of ultra-Orthodox Jews to Zionism stemmed from their rejection of a a nation-state that made the Jews just another among myriad nations, stripping them of their unique status.