Continuity and Change: A Study of Two Ethnic Communities in Israel

In this detailed 1978 study, Professor Rita J. Simon examines two significant ethnic communities in Israel: one of ultra-Orthodox Jews, and the other of Israeli Arabs. The Jews form a tiny but cohesive group with a strong sense of pride in their heritage and values. The Arabs, who comprise thirteen percent of the total population of Israel, occupy a politically and culturally sensitive position within that state. The author argues that despite these and obvious other cultural differences the two communities are akin in their separateness from the mainstream of Israeli society. She presents explanations of how and why both groups maintain cultural values and social patterns that prevent their assimilation into and acceptance by the broader society. Continuity and Change is significant as a study of contemporary social conditions in Israel, of sources of conflict within that society, as of implications that these conflicts have for the future.