The revival of ethnic identities among immigrants is a phenomenon that is on the rise in the modern and postmodern era. This article discusses the renewal of Ruz-e-Bah celebrations, which are traditional spring celebrations of the Iranian Jews, and highlights unique processes of ethnicisation in Israel. The study is based on diverse qualitative research methods, including content analysis, participant observations and in-depth interviews that were analysed from a phenomenological perspective. The article concludes that the ceremonies appear to serve as a collective ethnic “definitional ceremony” for these immigrants, in which crossing between ethnicity, culture and identity takes place, and in which cultural syncretism evolved. The Iranian immigrants exhibit a dual identity rooted in ethnic uniqueness on the one hand, and Israeliness on the other hand, which originates in their sense of otherness. Through the ritual practice, they stood up for their right to ethnic otherness within the national space.
Alba, R., & Nee, V. (2003). Remaking the American Mainstream. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674020115
Anoegrajekti, N. et al. (2018). Banyuwangi Ethno Carnival as Visualization of Tradition. Cogent Arts and Humanities, 5, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2018.1502913
Atzmon, Y. (2001). History of Taking Responsibility. In Y. Atzmon (Ed.), Will You Hear My Voice? Representations of Women in Israeli Culture (pp. 134-152). Hakibbutz Hameuchad and Van Leer Institute. (In Hebrew)
Barth, F. (1969). Introduction. In F. Barth (Ed.), Ethnic Groups and Boundaries (pp. 9-38). Little Brown.
Bar-Yuda, M. (1990). Inclusion of the Ethnic Holiday in the Israeli Culture. In R. Sharett (Ed.), The Ethnic Holiday in Israel (pp. 29-32). Hamiphal Le’rikudei Edot (Enterprise for Ethnic Dances). (In Hebrew)
Bauman, Z. (2000). Liquid Modernity. Polity Press.
Bourdieu, P. (2005). Questions in Sociology. Resling. (In Hebrew)
Brettel, C., & Nibbs, F. (2009). Lived Hybridity: Second Generation Identity Construction through College Festival. Identities, 16, 678-699. https://doi.org/10.1080/10702890903307142
Butler-Kisber, L. (2018). Qualitative Inquiry, Thematic, Narrative and Arts-Based Perspectives. Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526417978
Chase, S. (2005). Narrative Inquiry. In N. Denzin, & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), The Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 651-679). Sage.
Croucher, S., & Kramer, E. (2017). Cultural Fusion Theory: An Alternative to Acculturation. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 10, 97-114. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513057.2016.1229498
Da Matta, R. (1984). Carnival in Multiple Planes. In J. Macaloon (Ed.), Rite, Drama, Festival, Spectacle (pp. 208-240). Institute for the Study of Human Issues.
Darieva, T. (2011). Rethinking Homecoming: Diasporic Cosmopolitanism in Post-Soviet Armenia. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 34, 490-508. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2011.535546
DellaPergola, S. (2016). Thoughts about a Core State and Jewish Identification. Immigration (Hagira), 5, 159-186. (In Hebrew)
Dolma, D. (2017). Survival and Revival of Tibetan Ethnic Identity in India. Social Affairs, 1, 1-23.
Eilam-Gindin, T. (2011). The Good, the Bad and the Universe. Broadcast University Library. (In Hebrew)
Eisenstadt, S. N. (2000). Multiple Modernities. Daedalus, 129, 1-29.
Elias, N. (2010). Media Uses as Practices of Visibility and Invisibility. In E. Lomsky-Feder, & T. Rapoport (Eds.), Visibility in Immigration (pp. 161-191). Van Leer Institute. (In Hebrew)
Ezri, M. (2001). Who of You from All His People. Hed Arzi. (In Hebrew)
Glazer, N., & Moynihan, D. (1970). Beyond the Melting Pot. MIT Press.
Goldstein, J. (1985). Iranian Ethnicity in Israel. In A. Weingrod (Ed.), Studies in Israeli Ethnicity (pp. 237-258). Gordon and Breach.
Gordon, M. (1964). Assimilation in American Life. Oxford University Press.
Hall, S. (1991). The Local and the Global: Globalization and Ethnicity. In A. D. King (Ed.), Culture Globalization and the World System (pp. 19-39). Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-11902-8_2
Hever, H. et al. (2002). Orientals in Israel. Van Leer Institute. (In Hebrew)
Hunt, S., & Lightly, N. (2001). The British Black Pentecostal “Revival”: Identity and Belief in the “New” Nigerian Churches. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 24, 104-124. https://doi.org/10.1080/014198701750052523
Huntington, S. (2004). Who Are We? Simon and Schuster.
Joppke, C., & Rosenhek, Z. (2002). Contesting Ethnic Migration: Germany and Israel Compared European. Journal of Citizenship, 43, 301-335. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003975602001121
Juergensmeyer, M., & Clark-Roof, W. (2012). Encyclopedia of Global Religion (Vol. 2, pp. 1250-1252). Entry: Syncretism by S. Mayaram, Sage. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10581839
Karamehic-Oates, A., & Karamehic-Muratovic, A. (2020). Borders and Integration: Becoming a Bosnian-American. Washington University Global Studies Law Review, 19, 327-349.
Keyes, F. C. (1981). The Dialectics of the Ethnic Change. In F. C. Keyes (Ed.), Ethnic Change (pp. 4-30). University of Washington Press.
Lamont, M., & Molnar, V. (2002). The Study of Boundaries in the Social Sciences. Annual Review of Sociology, 28, 167-195. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.28.110601.141107
Leopold, A. M., & Jensen, J. S. (2004). General Introduction. In A. M. Leopold, & J. S. Jensen (Eds.), Syncretism in Religion (pp. 2-12). Routledge.
Levitt, P. (2001). The Transnational Villagers. University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520926707
Lomsky-Feder, E., & Rapoport, T. (2013). Israelis in Their Own Way. Magnes. (In Hebrew)
Mizrachi, H. (1959). The Jews of Persia. Dvir. (In Hebrew)
Myerhoff, B. (1982). Life History among the Elder. In J. Ruby (Ed.), A Crack in the Mirror (pp. 99-117). University of Pennsylvania Press.
Myerhoff, B. (1986). Life Not Death in Venice: It’s Second Life. In H. Goldberg (Ed.), Judaism Viewed from within and from without (pp. 143-171). State University Press. https://doi.org/10.9783/9781512806434-006
Nagel, J. (1996). American Indian Ethnic Renewal. Oxford University Press.
Netzer, A. (2006). The Land of Israel and Its Jews. In H. Saadon (Ed.), Iran (pp. 9-12). Ben-Zvi Institute. (In Hebrew)
Netzer, A. (2010). The Jews of Iran. In G. Alon (Ed.), Zionism and Its Regions (pp. 311-359). Shazar Center. (In Hebrew)
Paganoni, A. (2003). Valiant Struggles and Benign Neglect. Center for Migration Studies.
Pieterse, J. (2015). Globalization and Culture. Rowman and Littlefield.
Purkayastha, B. (2005). Negotiating Ethnicity. Rutgers University Press.
Rahimian, O. (2008). The Yellow for You, the Red for Me. Organization for Research of Immigrants from Bukhara—ABA, 35, 185-203. (In Hebrew)
Regev, M. (2003). Introduction to Israeli Culture. In E. Yaar, & Z. Shavit (Eds.), Trends in Israeli Society (Vol. 2, pp. 823-898). The Open University. (In Hebrew)
Regev, M. (2011). Sociology of Culture. The Open University. (In Hebrew)
Sasson, M. (2006). Zionism and Immigration to Israel. In H. Saadon (Ed.), Iran (pp. 157-172). Ben-Zvi Institute. (In Hebrew)
Schnapper, D. (2005). Ethnic Revival and Religious Revival in Providential Democracies. In E. Ben-Rafael, & Y. Sternberg (Eds.), Comparing Modernities (pp. 205-221). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047407560_014
Sharaby, R. (2009). The Mimouna Holiday: From the Periphery to the Center. Hakibbutz Hameuchad. (In Hebrew)
Sharaby, R. (2015). Immigration and Entry into the Cultural Mainstream. International Migration, 53, 155-175. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.2010.00676.x
Sharaby, R. (2016). Renewal of a Tradition: The Seharane Celebrations in Israel. Resling. (In Hebrew)
Sharaby, R. (2017). Significance of Prenuptial Rituals as Ethnic Definitional Ceremonies among Immigrants. Advances in Anthropology, 7, 55-78. https://doi.org/10.4236/aa.2017.72005
Sharaby, R. (2022). Constructing Ethnic Identities: Immigration, Festivals and Syncretism. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004511996
Shkalim, E. (2015). Nowruz, Mimouna, Seharane: The Ancient Persian New Year as the Source of the Celebrations on Isru Hag Pessah in Iran, Morocco and Other Communities. Pe’amim, 141, 63-104. (In Hebrew)
Shkedi, A. (2003). Words That Try to Touch: Qualitative Research—Theory and Application. Ramot. (In Hebrew)
Sikron, M. (2004). Demography. Carmel. (In Hebrew)
Smith, K., & Levy, P. (2008). Hybrid Identities. Brill.
Spector-Mersel, G., & Tuval-Mashiach, R. (2010). Narrative Research. Magnes. (In Hebrew)
Springer-Aharoni, N. (1982). The Jews of Persia. Information Center. (In Hebrew)
Stefansson, A. (2004). Homecoming to the Future. In F. Markowitz, & A. H. Stefansson (Eds.), Homecomings (pp. 2-20). Lexington Books.
Stewart, C., & Shaw, R. (1994). Introduction. In C. Stewart, & R. Shaw (Eds.), Syncretism/Anti Syncretism (pp. 1-26). Routledge.
Tsuda, T. (2010). Ethnic Return Migration and the Nation-State. Nation and Nationalism, 16, 616-636. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8129.2010.00444.x
Virankabutra, T., & Kusakabe, K. (2014). Contesting and Complying: Gender and Ethnicity among Thai-Sikh Diaspora Youth in Bangkok. Journal of Migration and Development, 3, 203-218. https://doi.org/10.1080/21632324.2014.894283
Wallace, A. (1979). Revitalization Movement. In L. Williams, & E. Vogt (Eds.), Reader in Comparative Religions (pp. 421-429). Harper and Row.
Yehoshafat, A. (1989). Immigrants from Iran in Israel. Ministry of Immigrant Absorption. (In Hebrew)
Zhang, B. et al. (2018). A tale of Three Cities: Negotiating Ethnic Identity and Acculturation in Northwest China. Journal of Cultural Geography, 35, 44-74. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873631.2017.1375779
Zhou, M. (1997). Segmented Assimilation: Issues, Controversies, and Recent Research on the New Second Generation. International Migration Review, 31, 975-1008.