Amichai Chikli: 'Even Youth Losing Their Jewish Identity Are At-Risk Youth'

"My father was born and raised in Tunisia," Amichai Chikli (36), married with two children living in Kibbutz Hanaton in northern Israel, tells me at the start of our conversation, in a tone reserved for significant, identity-shaping stories. "I once asked him if he wanted to go on a roots trip to Tunisia, and he replied absolutely not. During the conversation, my father mentioned he still remembers the violent riots incited by their Arab neighbors after the Six-Day War, as they shouted at them: 'Itbah Al Yahud' (Slaughter the Jews) in a growing and threatening rhythm."

"When the crowd approached my grandfather's house," Chikli continues to reveal a difficult hour for his family, "grandfather poured oil on the stairs leading to their building and informed the family that if the mob reached them, he would burn the house. Thank God it did not end that way. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here—or more accurately, wouldn't be at all."

Only One Knew 'Yedid Nefesh'

This story about saving his family is vivid and present in Chikli's consciousness, taking him back to his childhood days. "I grew up in a traditional home," he shares, "until fourth grade I studied in a state religious school, then until seventh grade at a secular high school in the Misgav region, and in high school, I attended Alliance school in Jerusalem.

"During my high school years, I was immersed in both the religious and secular worlds, which instilled in me a profound and shaping familiarity with these two realms. After high school, I did a preparatory year, where I found the strength to engage in education, the desire to establish my own academy, and a great curiosity and thirst for learning, with a genuine will to help the people of Israel."

Which channels did you direct these desires and intentions towards?

"After the preparatory program, I enlisted and served in the Golani Brigade. Towards the end of my military service, I got married, and we decided to live in the north. I really wanted to continue doing good things, so we established the academy. The idea of establishing an academy was born thanks to the initiative of several officers from the brigade, including myself. We started preparing many young people from Herzliya for the army, in physical, mental, and cognitive aspects.

"I quickly realized that although the youth from Herzliya were very talented, their ambition to succeed in the army was very personal and achievement-oriented, lacking a desire to contribute to the state or the Jewish people. Moreover, they lacked a connection to their Jewish identity.

"During this period, I understood that in Israel, there are actually two peripheries. There is a socio-geographic periphery and an identity periphery. These young people from Herzliya are entirely an identity periphery. Even youth losing their Jewish identity are at-risk youth, at risk of losing identity—the Jewish identity. People think at-risk youth are only poor youth who might turn to crime.

"After understanding this, I wanted to do something for the stronger segments of secular society. I realized that if this group continues as is, it will distance itself from its Jewish identity, the same identity the people of Israel have preserved for so many years. Moreover, if it continues like this, it might disconnect further from the ultra-Orthodox, national-religious public, and the weaker groups, as all three are traditional or more."

By the way, do you see it appropriate to make distinctions in this matter between Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews?

"Certainly. There's a lot to expand on this topic, but briefly, I'll say that Mizrahi communities did not experience such a severe crisis around the issue of education, for example, and so there are many traditional Mizrahi origin individuals. But for Ashkenazi people, it's a completely different story. Due to several reasons, a situation arose where generation after generation grew up without a connection to tradition, leading them to question—what is our relation to the Jewish matter? What is our relation to Jewish tradition? This has resulted in a very significant distance.

"So my challenge was to act for this matter—to act so that even people who do not keep Torah and mitzvot would feel a strong connection to Judaism. It wasn't easy at all because there's a serious and real problem in this regard. The following story can illustrate this.

"One of the Shabbatot we held at the academy, just before Kabbalat Shabbat, I told the group: 'Let's sing Yedid Nefesh,' and I just started singing. A few seconds passed, and I realized I was singing alone—no one joined. I asked them: 'Is there anyone here who doesn't know the song Yedid Nefesh?' There was embarrassment and general silence. So I said: 'Let's do the opposite—who knows it?' It's not pleasant to say, but we're talking about 50 trainees, and only one knew, and he was a new immigrant.

"Many people don't know this, but secular youth's familiarity with Judaism is almost nonexistent. It's a huge challenge, and recently it's become an even bigger challenge because there's a lot of negative discourse about Judaism following the 'dathing' campaign, etc. Nonetheless, we repeatedly discover that the general public is actually open to these things."

Despite these challenges, according to Chikli, there are five keys that can reach the hearts and minds of those who do not keep Torah and mitzvot with Jewish content. While he expands on them articulately and clearly, it is evident he greatly believes in their potential to influence. "The first key is experiential," Chikli elaborates. "Shabbat reception, Havdalah, holidays, etc. These things, through the effect of experience they bring, create a bigger connection than any text or lecture in the world.

"The second key is Jewish psychology. When speaking with people about traits like anger, jealousy, humility, etc., and bringing them teachings from Pirkei Avot or 'Orchot Tzadikim,' they penetrate easily. In this case, people don't necessarily feel they are being taught Torah, so there is hardly any resistance.

"The third key is the historical-Jewish key. Talking about shared consciousness experiences. This can be done, for example, by a tour of Masada. Just for example. Then a person feels himself as a link in the chain of generations, as part of something greater and longer. The connection to the great Jewish story is a very significant key through which we can reach people's hearts with Jewish content.

"The fourth key is viewing Judaism as a worldview and philosophy. Here, for example, involves engaging in a Hasidic worldview of the world or studying the books of Rabbi Sacks and other Jewish philosophers. The subjects discussed here are, for example, the role of the state, the role of a person, what morality is, and so on.

"The fifth key is the meeting key. When secular people meet the Haredi public, the national-religious public, travel to Hebron, Bnei Brak, to Jerusalem, it can really change the entire picture. How well does the average secular person really know the Haredim, and how much does he hear about them through the media? When you meet, you discover the people truly. And that adds another layer to the desire to know Judaism in greater depth."

60% Identify as Jewish and Israeli

In times like these, when the country is tumultuous from what seems to be one of the peaks of the orchestrated and timed campaign against everything related to Israeli tradition in recent times, it is impossible not to talk with a figure like Chikli about the secular forum people and the like. The Tel Aviv Municipality's decision to cancel the 'Messiah in the Square' event by the Chabad movement, which was eventually overturned by the district court, brought the claims of those wishing to remove Judaism from public spheres in Israel to absurdity.

"The secular forum is indeed a phenomenon happening on the margins," says Chikli, "but it is a symptom of something much broader. A symptom of changes in what is called the 'Israeli-Jewish conflict.' It is an undercurrent worth paying attention to. This conflict arose because most of us carry within us two identities—Jewish and Israeli. We can liken each to a circle. So we have two separate circles, but there is definitely a wide area of overlap. That is, there is a close connection between the circles.

"Three years ago, a survey by Bina Institute revealed that 60% of the public define themselves as Jewish and Israeli, without any contradiction between these two identities. 25% said they consider themselves more Jewish than Israeli. And only 13% claimed they are more Israeli than Jewish.

"This implies that until three years ago, the significant majority in Israel was in the middle, which means there is a shared story for the critical mass in Israeli society. In practice, this creates cultural resilience. Currently, this overlap area is shrinking. Although it is shrinking at the margins, in its extremity, it is shrinking. All we try to do at Tavor Academy is to expand the overlap area. That even if there are differences among people, for instance regarding actual observance of Torah and mitzvot, there will still be inclusion and social cohesion."

Moreover, according to Chikli, there are several more problems with the secular forum he wishes to point out. "One of the biggest problems with the secular forum people and the like is that they seemingly speak on behalf of many non-religious people. But the truth is those people have no anti-Judaism, unlike those activists in these forums.

"The moment they say that secular equals anti-Judaism, it can sound very tempting to people who don't live around this issue, aren't immersed in it, or engaged in it. And then, suddenly, many secular people, automatically, oppose Judaism. If this perception takes hold, it can cause very significant damage.

"Another thing about the secular forum," Chikli says, "is that it is entirely clear it comes with a political package deal. Today the Jewish story goes hand in hand with the Zionist story. It's true that you can support Zionism without being Jewish or religious, but being a Zionist is also being part of the Jewish story, believing in the right of the Jewish people. And the moment the Jewish story is undermined, the Zionist story is also automatically undermined.

"A large part of human nature, as it is, is that people are story people. Humans are storytellers. Communities are built on stories—the things that enter consciousness. The story of the Jewish people is strong and true, and therefore the moment the tradition is lost, the whole society will also be lost."