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Framing Conflict: Why American Congregations Cannot Not Talk about Israel

Contemporary Jewry volume 39, pages 497–522 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

Israel has unified American Jewish communal life for much of the 20th century. However, early in the 21st century, Israel may no longer serve as a source for Jewish unity but of division, and American Jews are increasingly having a difficult time talking about Israel inside of their institutions. This phenomenon has become something of a truism, yet there has been no in-depth case study that explores why this is the case. This article seeks to fill this gap. Over the course of 46 interviews with 55 members of a non-Orthodox congregation in the San Francisco Bay Area, we explored why this community found it so difficult to talk about Israel. Contrary to popular perception that would have predicted that Israel would play a central role in this community, it played hardly any role at all. Using Erving Goffman’s theory of frame analysis, we identified three frames that explain the relative absence of Israel talk. Congregants have absorbed the “problem frame,” which holds that talking about Israel would be potentially divisive and toxic, despite the fact that none of the congregants experienced conflict. They mobilized two other frames – the “resource frame” and the “local frame” – which are in conflict with one another. The “resource frame” holds that Israel is an important and beloved resource for identity, community, and practice. Yet, the “local frame” prioritizes more immediate issues or concerns above the more abstract commitment to Israel. The resultant tension between Israel as an abstract resource for Jewish identity and the more immediate ways in which people operationalized their commitments, suggests that beneath the problem frame lies a tension that is less communal than personal.

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Notes

  1. For example, see the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation’s funding guidelines, which lay out expectations with respect to grantees’ attitudes toward the State of Israel, including BDS. https://jewishfed.org/federation%E2%80%99s-israel-funding-guidelines. Also see Hillel International’s similar Israel guidelines with respect to “standards of partnership” for organizations seeking to partner with campus Hillel. https://www.hillel.org/jewish/hillel-israel/hillel-israel-guidelines.

  2. The name of the congregation is a pseudonym as are the names of all individuals quoted or identified in the article.

  3. Interview with the author(s), August 24, 2017.

  4. Rob Gordon, interview with the author(s), August 24, 2017.

  5. Ed Rothberg, interview with the author(s), September 6, 2017.

  6. Interview with the author(s), August 24, 2017.

  7. Naomi Miller, interview with the author(s), August 31, 2017.

  8. Fania Kremberg, interview with the author(s), August 30, 2017.

  9. Rose Lerman interview with the author(s), August 31, 2017.

  10. Morgan Wise, interview with the author(s), August 23, 2017.

  11. Shlomo Hartman, interview with the author(s), August 27, 2017.

  12. Naomi Miller, interview with the author(s), August 31, 2017.

  13. Interview with the author(s), September 5, 2017.

  14. Interview with the author(s), September 5, 2017.

  15. Robert Goodman, interview with the author(s), August 29, 2017.

  16. Interview with the author(s), August 24, 2017.

  17. Interview with the author(s), August 28, 2017.

  18. Fred Davidson, interview with the author(s), August 28, 2017.

  19. Uri Davidson, interview with the author(s), August 27, 2017.

  20. Mort Kaplan, interview with the author(s), August 31, 2017.

  21. Seb Smith, interview with the author(s), September 3, 2017.

  22. Seb Smith, interview with the author(s), September 3, 2017.

  23. Hannah Gardner, interview with the author(s), September 5, 2017.

  24. Edith Spiro, interview with the author(s), August 24, 2017.

  25. Interview with the Author(s), August 24, 2017.

  26. Hannah Gardner, interview with the author(s), September 5, 2017.

  27. Max Dieson, interview with the author(s), September 3, 2017.

  28. Seb Smith, interview with the author(s), September 3, 2017.

  29. Naomi Miller, interview with the author(s), August 31, 2017.

  30. Krystal Moser, interview with the author(s), August 27, 2017.

  31. Ella Shipton, interview with the author(s), August 22, 2017.

  32. Ella Shipton, interview with the author(s), August 22, 2017.

  33. Interview with the author(s), September 5, 2017.

  34. Interview with the author(s), August 22, 2017.

  35. Interview with the author(s), August 23, 2017.

  36. Interview with the author(s), August 29, 2017.

  37. Interview with the author(s), August 29, 2017.

  38. Robert Goodman, interview with the author(s), August 29, 2017.

  39. Batya Gregson, interview with the author(s), August 29, 2017.

  40. Levi Gur, interview with the author(s), August 31, 2017.

  41. Morgan Wise, interview with the author(s), August 23, 2017.

  42. Helen Dubkov, interview with the author(s), August 24, 2017.

  43. David Benjamin, interview with the author(s), August 23, 2017.

  44. Shlomo Hartman, interview with the author(s), August 27, 2017.

  45. Steven Dubler, interview with the author(s), September 7, 2017.

  46. Elizabeth Cohen, interview with the author(s), August 22, 2017.

  47. Kate Horton, interview with the author(s), August 29, 2017.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, 485 Lasuen Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Ari Y. Kelman

  2. Durham University, Durham, UK

    Ilan Zvi Baron

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  1. Ari Y. Kelman
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  2. Ilan Zvi Baron
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Correspondence to Ari Y. Kelman.

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Kelman, A.Y., Baron, I.Z. Framing Conflict: Why American Congregations Cannot Not Talk about Israel. Cont Jewry 39, 497–522 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12397-019-09305-2

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Keywords

  • Israel
  • Congregational studies
  • American Jews
  • Diaspora
  • Zionism
  • Frame analysis
  • Synagogue
  • Politics