The concept of 'assimilation' was previously perceived as a danger to Jewish existence and as a disaster for a family whose sons and daughters married a non-Jewish spouse. The data on assimilation rates in countries around the world would have wounded the Jewish heart, and aroused deep feelings of pain over the multitudes of young men and women who are lost to the people of Israel and assimilated among the nations.
However, as the years passed, the severity of the assimilation slowly diminished.
Many Jews seem to have become accustomed to seeing it as part of the reality of life in the modern world, especially as trends have increased that place the individual above the group and obscure the importance of the people and their feelings of belonging to them.
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We have our holidays.
Thank God, the assimilation rates in Israel are incomparably lower than in the wider world, but this is mainly because the vast majority here are Jewish, and naturally there are more chances for Jews to marry Jews than Gentiles. But if we examine the awareness regarding the importance of maintaining Jewish continuity and the rejection of assimilation, we will discover that the situation in Israel is far from heartwarming.
The media, literature, cultural institutions, academia, etc., constantly broadcast messages of 'equality' and the breaking down of barriers between peoples. There are elements working in various ways to suppress the word 'Jews' and replace it with 'human beings', because nowadays it is not 'politically correct' to speak of 'Jews'. Many members of the younger generation do not understand the meaning of Jewish identity. Marriage with non-Jews does not seem like a terrible thing to them. The word 'assimilation' does not arouse concern in their hearts. After all, 'we are all human beings', and it does not matter whether you are Jewish or non-Jewish.
Unfortunately, there are factors that lead to cognitive assimilation, and one of the manifestations of this is the desire to incorporate the holidays of the Gentiles into our holidays. The problem is that many in the public no longer realize how absurd and absurd this is. But it is truly no less outrageous and jarring than a situation where family members gather to celebrate their parents' golden wedding anniversary, and someone suggests incorporating the neighbors' wedding anniversary into the celebration...
The same absurdity is the attempt to squeeze the Russian holiday - 'Novi Gud' - into our existence. The communist regime cut off millions of Jews from their religion and their roots, and as a result they were dragged into adopting Russian culture and the holidays of the Russian people.
But with the immigration to the Land of Israel, it is time to return to the world of Jewish concepts, abandon the foreign holidays and celebrate our holidays with full joy and experience.
A link in the Jewish continuum
Spiritual assimilation is also behind the alienation from the land. When one disconnects from Jewish identity and Jewish history, why not disconnect from the historical parts of the Land of Israel? If one does not feel a commitment to the tradition of generations, but rather creates a new people and a new identity, one can be content with Tel Aviv.
Jewish identity is precious to us, and we must be aware of the danger of blurring and fragmentation. It is our duty to ensure the strengthening of the original Jewish identity and to understand its importance, so that we all become another link in the Jewish continuity, which begins with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and passes through the Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Torah to the entry into the Land of Israel, the two Temples, the exiles we exiled, and to the true and complete redemption soon in our own day.
