Ethos and Identity: Expressions and Changes in the Israeli Jewish Society

A fundamental condition for the evolvement of any society is the development of social identity, which confers
a sense of belonging and identification. The meaning of social identity is influenced by the ethos that members of
a society share. The ethos consists of shared, central societal beliefs that give the society a dominant orientation
and characterize it. The societal beliefs that underlie the ethos can change as a result of new, prolonged expe-
riences of the society. Israeli society presents an example of such a process.