The Sixth Scroll: The Ritualization of Israel's Declaration of Independence

This article examines the ritualization of Israel's Declaration of Independence (2011–2025) as part of broader efforts by Israeli Jewish renewal organizations to craft a national counter-narrative. It argues that reframing the Declaration as a quasi-sacred text—situated within the Jewish traditional corpus and recited with Biblical cantillation (te'amim)—reflects efforts to reinterpret nationalism through a liberal lens. The study traces four initiatives that advanced these ritual practices: BINA's portrayal of the Declaration as an “Israeli Talmud”; the Israeli Reform Movement and Mabu'a efforts to establish the Declaration's cantillated reading as an Independence Day ritual; and the World Zionist Organization's annual reading ceremony at the Western Wall. Together, these initiatives underscore the non-rigid boundaries between nationalism and religion and demonstrate how liberal Jewish groups strategically employ canonization and ritual performance to challenge dominant nationalistic narratives and promote an alternative vision of the Jewish state.