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''Hiloni'' ( he, חִלּוֹנִי), plural ''hilonim'' ( he, חִלּוֹנִים; "secular"), is a social category in
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, designating the least religious segment among the Jewish public. The other three subgroups on the scale of Jewish-Israeli religiosity are the ''
masortim Masortim ( he, מסורתיים, lit. "traditional eople, also known as ''Shomrei Masoret'', , "upholders of tradition") is an Israeli Hebrew term of self-definition, describing Jews who perceive and define themselves as neither strictly reli ...
'', "traditional"; '' datiim'', "religious"; and ''
haredi Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
m'', "ultra-religious" ("
ultra-Orthodox Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
"). In the 2018
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics ( he, הלשכה המרכזית לסטטיסטיקה, ''HaLishka HaMerkazit LiStatistika''; ar, دائرة الإحصاء المركزية الإسرائيلية), abbreviated CBS, is an Israeli government ...
' survey, 43.2% of Jews identified as ''hiloni''. Although considered "secular", many of them do practice
bris The ''brit milah'' ( he, בְּרִית מִילָה ''bərīṯ mīlā'', ; Ashkenazi pronunciation: , "covenant of circumcision"; Yiddish pronunciation: ''bris'' ) is the ceremony of circumcision in Judaism. According to the Book of Genesis, ...
for baby boys; Bar and Bat Mitzvah for adolescent boys and girls (although only boys have an Aliyah la-Torah at a
synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
); an Aliyah la-Torah at a synagogue for men prior to their
weddings A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marria ...
; celebrating major
Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...
and
Jewish holidays Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstre ...
; and a fewer number of them even keep
kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
at various levels. However, it is quite noteworthy to mention the affinity of most secular Jews to
rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
s and
mohel A ( he, מוֹהֵל , Ashkenazi pronunciation , plural: , arc, מוֹהֲלָא , "circumciser") is a Jew trained in the practice of , the "covenant of circumcision". Etymology The noun ( in Aramaic), meaning "circumciser", is derived f ...
s of
Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
(Israel's
Rabbanut The Chief Rabbinate of Israel ( he, הָרַבָּנוּת הָרָאשִׁית לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Ha-Rabbanut Ha-Rashit Li-Yisra'el'') is recognized by law as the supreme rabbinic authority for Judaism in Israel. The Chief Rabbinate Co ...
). The things that do set the most distinction between them and religious Israeli Jews: lack of daily religious-related wardrobe such as
yarmulke A , , or , plural ), also called ''yarmulke'' (, ; yi, יאַרמלקע, link=no, , german: Jarmulke, pl, Jarmułka or ''koppel'' ( yi, קאפל ) is a brimless cap, usually made of cloth, traditionally worn by Jewish males to fulfill the c ...
(except for during major Jewish holidays' evenings at a family home, and while having an Aliyah la-Torah for males at a synagogue prior to a Bar Mitzvah or a wedding); not observing the
Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...
on Saturdays; and not attending synagogue for either Shabbat or Jewish holiday prayers.


Definitions

In the Israeli parlance, ''hiloni'' is used to identify Jews who observe fewer traditional practices than the other, more religious, Jewish subgroups (apart from that, the term may also be used as a derogatory epithet by observant Jews, or to be associated with
secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...
).Charles Liebman, Yaacov Yadgar.
Secular-Jewish Identity and the Condition of Secular Judaism in Israel
'. Rutgers University Press, 2009. Definition: p. 2, beliefs and practice: p. 10-11, 30.
Between 2002 and 2018, among Jewish adult respondents to ICBS polls, self-identified ''hilonim'' numbered between a maximum of 45% in 2005 and a minimum of 41.4% in 2009. In 2018, the figure was 43.2%. Though ''hiloni'' literally means "secular", many scholars noted it is problematic in translation. Professor Yoav Peled preferred to render it as "nonobservant." Kenneth D. Wald and Samuel Shye commented that: The demarcation between the ''hiloni'' category and the nearest, the ''masorti'' or "traditional", is highly porous. Surveys demonstrated that it is not reliant on objective levels of belief or ritual observance, but mainly on socioethnic lines:
Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
Israelis, either native or post-Soviet immigrants, tend to describe themselves as "secular" even when they observe or believe quite substantially, and
Mizrahi ''Mizrachi'' or ''Mizrahi'' ( he, מזרחי) has two meanings. In the literal Hebrew meaning ''Eastern'', it may refer to: *Mizrahi Jews, Jews from the Middle East * Mizrahi (surname), a Sephardic surname, given to Jews who got to the Iberian P ...
and
Sephardi Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
Israelis usually regard themselves as "traditional" regardless of lifestyle and conviction. Among Mizrahim and Sephardim, those who aspire to emulate the European-descended also tend to adopt the label ''hiloni''. Nevertheless, some MENA-descended Jews, such as those who emigrated from Iraq and Algeria, have labelled themselves as ''hiloni'' for other reasons, likely since they had been highly influenced by European colonial powers and certain aspects of enlightenment. Many surveys offer to the ''masortim'' the sub-category of "not very religious/tending to ''hiloni''". Between 2002 and 2018, those who identified as such in ICBS polls, ranged from a minimum of 21.4% to a maximum of 28.4% of the entire sample, or roughly two-thirds of all ''masortim''.ICBS 2018 Survey
p. 82 (76).
Israeli social scientists measure levels of religiosity/secularity among Jews in terms of practice, not faith, and use the category of "totally nonobservant" to identify the completely secular. In the 2009 Guttman Center survey, the most comprehensive on the matter, 46% of all respondents reported they were ''hiloni''. About 16% of the entire sample, virtually all of them ''hiloni'', stated they were "totally nonobservant". Almost all the rest of the ''hiloni'' were "somewhat observant", and a negligible minority stated "observance to great extent". As many ritual behaviours, like setting a doorpost amulet, are part of Jewish-Israeli lifestyle and lack an overt religious connotation, the "totally nonobservant" often perform some. In the 1999 Guttman survey, only a third of them did not practice any of the ten common rituals studied.Charles S. Liebman, Elihu Katz, ''Jewishness of Israelis, The Responses to the Guttman Report''. SUNY Press, 2012. pp. 66, 130-131. At the other end, Yaacov Yadgar and Charles Liebman estimated in 2009 that about 25% of the ''hilonim'' are highly observant, on par with the more religious subgroups. In matters of faith, four surveys between 2009 and 2019 imply that on average, 60% of the ''hiloni'' respondents believe in God, 20% are convinced
atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
, and 20% do not believe but "sometimes think God exists". Pertaining to other supernatural notions, the Guttman surveys and other polls show that a considerable share hold various such: between 25% to 36%, believe that God revealed the Law and precepts at Sinai, that a higher power guides Jewish history, that the Jews are a chosen people and that there is a soul that survives death. Only disbelief in the
Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
and the
World to Come The world to come, age to come, heaven on Earth, and the Kingdom of God are eschatological phrases reflecting the belief that the current world or current age is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world, age, or par ...
closely correlates with self-identification as ''hiloni''. Denominational identification, as known among American and other Western Jews, is mostly irrelevant in the Israeli context (''hilonim'' have no equivalent category in the American Jewish community). Yet, when asked in the 2015
Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...
survey of Israeli society, 23% of the ''hiloni'' respondents identified as Orthodox, 5% as
Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...
and 2% as
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
. 64% did not identify with any particular movement. While ''hilonim'' are often hostile to the state rabbinate, fear the growth of the ''
haredi Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
'' populace, and oppose further religious legislation in Israel,
secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...
in the common sense of the word is rather rare in the country. Orthodoxy plays a central role in defining national identity, and religious issues like
conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...
are regarded as crucial by the vast majority. When "separation of religion and state" is used in the Israeli context, it is mostly understood as a wish to abolish the many laws curtailing personal freedom, not actual separation. This innate tension led to a state of affairs dubbed by Professor Stephen Sharot as "secularization without secularism": since the 1990s, the demand of both ''masorti'' and ''hiloni'' Israelis for consumer activity on the
Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...
(technically illegal), non-
kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
food and the like, considerably liberalized the public sphere, but barely affected religious legislation and did not introduce principled secularism into the political arena.Guy ben-Porat, ''Between State and Synagogue: The Secularization of Contemporary Israel''. Cambridge University Press, 2013. pp. xi-xii, 37, etc.


See also

*
Secularism in Israel Secularism in Israel shows how matters of religion and how matters of state are related within Israel. Secularism is defined as an indifference to, rejection, or exclusion of religion and religious consideration. In Israel, this applies to the ent ...
* Irreligion in Israel *
Religion in Israel Religion in Israel is manifested primarily in Judaism, the ethnic religion of the Jewish people. The State of Israel declares itself as a "Jewish and democratic state" and is the only country in the world with a Jewish-majority population (see ...
*
Jewish secularism Jewish secularism refers to secularism in a Jewish context, denoting the definition of Jewish identity with little or no attention given to its religious aspects. The concept of Jewish secularism first arose in the late 19th century, with its ...
*
Masortim Masortim ( he, מסורתיים, lit. "traditional eople, also known as ''Shomrei Masoret'', , "upholders of tradition") is an Israeli Hebrew term of self-definition, describing Jews who perceive and define themselves as neither strictly reli ...
*
Dati Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, the ...
*
Yoram Kaniuk Yoram ( or ) is a name derived from Jehoram (), meaning "Jehovah is exalted" in Biblical Hebrew, which was the name of several individuals in the Tanakh; the female version of this name is Athaliah. Notable people with the name include: *Yoram A ...


References


External links

*Barbara S. Okun,
Seculars in a Religious Society: Fertility of Jews in Israel
'. Submission to the EAPS Conference, October 2011. *Adam Ferziger,
Religion for the Secular: the new Israeli rabbinate
'. Journal of Modern Jewish Studies. Vol 7, No. 1, March 2008. {{Jews and Judaism Demographics of Israel Social history of Israel Hebrew words and phrases