David Encaoua · May 2024 · Tribune Juive
Israeli society is going through a period of deep divisions that extend beyond the usual political fault lines. These divisions — between religious and secular Jews, between Ashkenazim and Sephardim, between the advocates of settlement and those of a negotiated peace — may seem incomprehensible through the sole lens of contemporary political sociology.
This is why it is fitting to apply to them a reading rooted in the sources of Judaism itself. The Talmud, the responsa of the Geonim and the Rishonim, and notably the writings of our Encaoua ancestors, teach us that a dispute for the sake of good (“Mahloket le-shem Shamayim”) is fruitful, whereas a dispute for the sake of domination is destructive.
The Sephardic tradition, inherited from Andalusia and the Maghreb, developed a vision of klal Israel — of the community of Israel as a whole — founded on inclusion and dialogue. Rabbi Éphraïm Aln'Kaoua himself, in his Chaar Kavod Hashem, insists on the spiritual unity that transcends differences in practice.
The rift between Ashkenazim and Sephardim is real, but it is often exploited politically. The Sephardim, bearers of a centuries-old tradition of coexistence with the Arab and Berber peoples, bring a particular sensitivity to any reflection on peace in the Middle East.
The religious/secular rift is perhaps the most dangerous. It rests on a fundamental misunderstanding: Jewish identity cannot be reduced to ritual observance. It is also memory, language, culture, solidarity. This is what the long history of the Encaoua family teaches us, for they were at once great rabbis and men of the world.