Prominent Israeli college professor and sociologist Eva Etzioni-Halevy lectured to more than 100 students Monday night on the split between religious and secular Jews.
UF Hillel brought Etzioni-Halevy in for Jewish Awareness Month. UF is tied with the University of Maryland-College Park for the most Jewish students enrolled at a public university with about 7,000.
UF is tied for the top spot with the University of Maryland-College Park for Jewish enrollment in a public university, according to 2006 figures from the national Hillel Web site.
Etzioni-Halevy, a professor at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel, has written more than 15 books focusing on religion in Israel. She called attention to the fact that Jewish culture is deeply rooted in religion and, due to the widening split between the religious and the secular, the culture is diminishing.
"Besides being a multicultural society, I claim that Israel is a divided society," Etzioni-Halevy said.
The religious side, or the "right" side, wants Jewish law to manifest itself within government while the secular side, or the "left" side, wants a complete separation between church and state.
"How much division can there be in society before the society breaks apart?" she asked. Religious and secular Jews continue to move into separate neighborhoods. The two groups are also sometimes educated in separate schools and pick spouses with similar religious backgrounds, she said.
"They never get together until they meet in the army," Etzioni-Halevy said, in reference to the mandatory military service required of all Israeli citizens.
New generations are growing up in different social spheres, she added. Also, the customs associated with the Sabbath are not as closely followed.
Sabbath, traditionally a day of complete rest for Jews, has become less observed by some. For example, most malls are now open during Sabbath, Etzioni-Halevy said. Even Jewish history taught in classrooms has changed, she said.
"The memory of the Holocaust is less and less important in holding Jewish society together," Etzioni-Halevy said.
Jake Miller, a third-year political science student, was interested in Etzioni-Halevy's viewpoint.
"I thought that it was interesting to get the perspective from someone inside Israel, who has lived the Israeli experience," Miller said.
