In the 1990s, “the relative ordinariness of Israel left room for other topics – and spirituality made the most sense”

The mini (and short lived) spiritual explosion… took place in the 90’s, the era of Oslo, of Yitzhak Rabin, of what seemed like real negotiations with the Palestinians. Israel appeared to be on the path of normalization. It was becoming a strong democracy, at peace with its neighbors, still Jewish, but ordinary in every other way, and not threatened. The relative ordinariness of Israel left room for other topics – and spirituality made the most sense. After all, American Judaism seemed to be emerging from its hyper-political phase, the post-Holocaust, post-1967 era, when Israel and the Holocaust dominated our attention. At last, we said, we can turn to matters that will sustain us a spiritual tradition. Or so we thought. But then negotiation collapsed, followed by 9/11, the second intifada, a resurgent anti-Semitism. Iran.

Philip Graubart, “The Victory of Politics Over Spirituality”, The Times of Israel (28 January 2015) [http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-victory-of-politics-over-spirituality/]