Transformations in Religious Zionist ‘Lived Religion’ through the Lens of Guidance for Singles

Abstract

In this article, I compare the findings of two ethnographic studies on prolonged singlehood in the Religious Zionist community. The first was conducted in the 2000s, and the second more recently. In the present article, I examine the changes in guidance and advice for singles offered by Religious Zionist organizations and authority figures. My goal is to explore the developments in this area, which encapsulate various Religious Zionist attitudes and ideologies, and reflect changes in both the worldview and in the ‘lived religion’ of Religious Zionism. The most significant transformation is to do with the search for a partner. During the 2000s, counselors and mentors attempted to expedite the process by making it more ‘rational’, explaining to singles that love is irrational, and they need not ‘fall in love’ with their partner before deciding to marry him/her. However, by the 2020s they were characterizing the search for love as a spiritual journey of self-discovery. In contrast to this transformation, gender essentialism remained a central message conveyed to singles over the past decades. The study also found that counseling in the 2020’s has a more forgiving and accepting attitude towards deviations from halacha in the realm of premarital sex, without abandoning the ideal of shmirat negiah (refraining from touching). The findings indicate that processes of individualization are transforming the discourse among many lecturers and persona within Religious Zionism. These prominent voices reflect the influence of psycho-therapeutic and New Age spiritual discourses, alongside ongoing efforts to offer an alternative to the prevailing feminist discourse on gender. Contrary to prominent claims in the literature that individualization processes in the religious sphere necessarily lead to the adoption of pluralistic views and a loss of belief in divine revelation and absolute truths, the research’s findings point to the existence of religious arenas where individualization occurs even among conservative religious groups.