Nation State: Journal of International Studies, December, 2022
Vol. 5(2), pp. 93 – 106.

E ISSN: 2621-735X
P ISSN: 2620-391X

Research Article

Identity and Sense of Belonging of Indonesian
Jewish Communities
Mohamad Rezky Utama
Department of International Relations, Universitas Islam Indonesia – Indonesia
Corresponding Email: mohammad.rezky.utama@uii.ac.id
Submission: 30 August 2022 | Accepted: 05 December 2022

Abstract
Indonesian Jewish communities rarely appear in academic or scientific research. Some
existing articles are about Jewish community in other countries or other minorities in
Indonesia. This article is aimed to answer the question: “How is the identity and the sense
of belonging of Indonesian Jewish Community, to Indonesia or to Israel? In this research,
qualitative method is used to examine the issue. The approaches for this research are the
concept of identity by Patricia Goff and Kevin Dunn and the Asabiyyah concept by
Ibn Khaldun. The finding of this research is the fact that Indonesian Jewish community
have a strong relationship and sense of belonging to Indonesia and identify themselves
more as an Indonesian. Indonesian Jewish community had contributed to Indonesia’s
nation building in the past during the participation of war of independence. And
furthermore, with more understanding on the community, the community can take part in
building the Indonesian nation in the future.
Keywords: Indonesia, Israel, Jews, Identity

INTRODUCTION
Entering the 21st century, the study of international relations is increasingly
dynamic, and questions are beginning to arise about concepts or understandings that
previously existed in the field of International Relations. Various concepts become
irrelevant in the development of an interconnected world. And some of them are the
concept of Nation-State and Nationality.
The study of international relations used to be very centered on states and the
various affairs that covered them. Entering the post-Cold War period, studies of
international relations are increasingly expanding into the transnational realm, without
closing the possibility with a re-examination of the concept of the Nation-State and
Nationality. According to Juan J. Linz, Alfred Stepan, and Yogendra Yadav, this
phenomenon arises because of the difference in the concept of an ideal nationality between
a homogeneous country and a heterogeneous country (Sepan, et al., 2011).
The concept of the Nation-State and the Nationality are two concepts that are then
debated and must be re-examined in the field of International Relations where national
boundaries become more blurred, as well as identity. One of them is the existence of a
Jewish community in Indonesia who has an identity as a Jew but also an Indonesian.

©Author(s) 2022. This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International License

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Utama, M.R. (2022) “Identity and Sense of Belonging of Indonesian Jewish Communities”,
Nation State: Journal of International Studies, Vol.5(2), pp. 93 – 106. Doi: 10.24076/nsjis.v5i2.877

Furthermore, Indonesia and Israel adopted different national concepts as mentioned by
Juan J. Linz, Alfred Stepan, and Yogendra Yadav.
The question of identity is a contemporary question that only emerged after the Cold
War. As stated in the writings of Linz, Stepan, and Yadav entitled “Nation State” or “State
Nation”?: Conceptual Reflection and some Spanish, Belgian, and Italian data, the
contradiction between the traditional concept of the nation-state and the concept of the
nation – a country that places more emphasis on national multiculturalism within a
country. They contrast these two concepts as Linz and Stepan put it:
“We… believe some conceptual, political, and nominative should be given the

possibility of state-nations. The states we would like to call state-nations are
multicultural and even multinational components, which nontheless still
manage to engender a strong identifications and loyalty from their citizens, an
identification, and loyalty that proponents of homogenous nation states
perceive that only nation states can engender" (Sepan, et al., 2011).
And some examples of countries in the quote are India, Singapore, and Indonesia.
Continuing from the question in the concept of the nation-state above, there are several
studies concerned with identity and nationality. Some of them are writings by Shlomo ben
Ari on the challenges of ethnicity in modern nationhood, Uri Davis on Jewish ethnicity in
the context of Israel, Daniel Tsadik on Identity among Jews in Iran, and Mely G. Tan on
Chinese ethnicity in Indonesia. Some of these articles describe similar identity challenges
for ethnic groups in various countries.
Shlomo Ben-Ari in the preamble of Ethnic Challenges to the Modern Nation State,
expresses the polemic of the modern nation-state. According to him, modern nationalism
leads to 'collective egoism' (Ben-Ami, 2000). He also pointed out that in fact the concept of
nationalism was not known in the time of ancient civilizations or the Christian world of
the Middle Ages. And the new nationality emerged after the crisis of modernity in the 18th
century through Etatism at the end of his writing, Ben-Ari argues that the era of
globalization is an era of ambiguity which is in line with Jüngen Habermas's statement
that globalization is the 'post-national identity era' He then cited the phenomenon of the
European Union in this argument as a good example while Israel and Palestine as a bad
example. According to him: “Israel must redefine its cultural identity. If it is aimed at
making solid peace with its neighbors based on cooperation, Israel must become more
oriental and abandon the illusion of being America or Europe small” (Ben-Ami, 2000).
Continuing the discussion on Jewish nationality, Henry Ford (1920) in his International
Jew: And the Protocols of the Elders of the Zion, the biggest question in his writings is
"Are the Jews a Nation?". In his writings, he summarized the ideas of Moses Hess, Louis
D. Branders, and Rabbi Morris Joseph. From the three ideas, Ford wrote that the Jew or
Israel is a nation. This will then be a contradiction in the next writings.
Jewish identity underlies the state of Israel as written by Uri Davis in his writings
"Being Jewish in the context of Israel. According to him being a Jew can be based on two
definitions: “anyone who cares to lay claim to the epithet” as a secular definition; and “any
person born of a Jewish mother or a righteous convert to Judaism (Davis, 1994). Later,
Davis also relates it to citizenship by saying that "Jewish communities throughout the
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Utama, M.R. (2022) “Identity and Sense of Belonging of Indonesian Jewish Communities”,
Nation State: Journal of International Studies, Vol.5(2), pp. 93 – 106. Doi: 10.24076/nsjis.v5i2.877

world are united by shared affiliations and are separated by secular national citizenship"
(Davis, 1994).He described that Israel uses its Jewish identity to determine who can
acquire Israeli citizenship.
Furthermore, Daniel Tsadik in his article "Identity among the Jews in Iran",
explains the identity of the Jewish community in Iran. By using the concept of identity as
the distinguishing character or personality of an individual, individuality, Judaism
becomes the main distinguishing factor in Iran (Tsadik, 2012) . Nevertheless, Jewish
culture in Iran is heavily influenced by Persian culture which is superior in this region
(Tsadik, 2012)
Besides some previous research about Jews and nationality, the article by Mely G.
Tan is titled “the Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia: Issues of Identity” to discuss about Chinese
minorities in Indonesia – a related topic about non-native ethnic groups. According to Tan,
the concept of national identity in Indonesia follows the opinion of Ernest Renan and Otto
Rauer that the requirement for a nation is the desire to unite , le desir d'etre ensemble
(Mely, 1997). However, Tan's writings are more focused on ethnic Chinese identity in
Suharto's government when ethnic Chinese faced discrimination. In his writings, Tan also
supports the prohibitions on Chinese culture.
From the various literatures above, identity becomes an interesting discussion even
from the way of identifying identity as a separate concept. And several studies have more
or less discussed the identity of minorities in a country and their status with the country
of origin. Several studies have also addressed Jewish identity. However, it all comes back
to the debate between Nations and Nation-States. This research will then question the
concept of the nation state and the nation state. Then, this study will also discuss what
has not been discussed in existing studies, the identity of Indonesian Jews. In the question
of Jewish identity, it will also provide answers to the sense of nationality and identity
between the two countries, Indonesia and Israel. Moreover, this article would like to
analyze the impact of Indonesian nation building in the past to the Jewish community in
the contemporary era.
METHOD AND THEORY
Two literatures on identity and asabiyyah will be used to understand the existence
of Jews in Indonesia. There is the concept of identity, and the theory of asabiyyah by Ibn
Khaldun. The use of Western theory is common in the study of international relations.
However, the use of classical theories from Middle-East may be new to contemporary IR
scholars. The concept of identity in the study of International Relations is not a new
concept. Although there is a correlation between identity and nation, it is not limited to
that. Patricia Goff and Kevin Dunn quote from Benedict Anderson that identity will
continue to change in the history of human civilization.
In order to understand the immutable and concretely defined concept of identity – if
so, that would be a stereotype against identity – Patricia Goff and Kevin Dunn (2004)
describe four conceptual frameworks of identity, (1) alterity - the relationship between one
person and another is ambiguous and volatile with the possibility of switching from one
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Utama, M.R. (2022) “Identity and Sense of Belonging of Indonesian Jewish Communities”,
Nation State: Journal of International Studies, Vol.5(2), pp. 93 – 106. Doi: 10.24076/nsjis.v5i2.877

identity to another. On the other hand, self-transformation into another identity can result
in subordination (Goff and Dunn, 2004, 5); (2) fluidity - The change in identity is related
to the surrounding material events and states. Such events can trigger identity changes
and vice versa. The development of the direction of change seems to be in line with the
decisions of change agents whose identities and practices set an example and determine
“this, and not that” (Goff and Dunn, 2004, 6); (3) constructedness - various actors of change
affect the construction of identity. These actors are state and non-state and agents both
from within and within the identity community (Goff and Dunn, 2004: 6); and (4)
multiplicity - international relations actors may have multiple identities. These various
identities are constantly in play and the possibility of switching between them in a
relatively smooth way is very real (Goff and Dunn, 2004: 7).
Starting from there, the concept of identity that is changeable, unstable,
unconstructed, and diverse can be used as a conceptual framework in this paper. Identity
can change, strengthen itself, or transform like the four conceptual frameworks above.
And the asabiyyah theory will explain further about collective identity.

Asabiyyah, which etymologically can be understood as 'a sense of belonging in a
group', is a social theory put forward by Ibn Khaldun. Historians, who used to live from
place to place, include asabiya in the second chapter of the famous Muqaddimah
(Introduction). Muqaddima is just an introduction to Kitâb al-'Ibar, a history book he
wrote. And in that part of the book there are different social theories, including asabiyah.
According to Ibn Khaldun, asabiyyah is a sense of belonging that binds a group of people
together (Khaldun, 1982). He further explained that groups that have asabiyyah will be
able to endure the difficulties of living in a desert environment (Khaldun, 1982: 219-221).
At the beginning of the chapter, Ibn Khaldun explained that asabiyyah here is an
interpersonal relationship according to blood and family (Khaldun, 1982). For a better
explanation, the easiest way to explain asabiyyah, here are some simple explanations, (1)
strong leadership of a group can be achieved with a strong sense of belonging within the
group (Khaldun, 1982, 226); (2) there is a difference between asabiyyah according to blood
and asabiyyah which was built by a group of people who built a city together and married
because of it (Khaldun, 1982, 227-229); and (3) ashabiyyah without blood and family ties
can also be achieved if there is an employer who employs another person who is not related
or makes him a slave, or establishes a relationship as a business partner. Until a certain
time, they will have a sense of connection. In this case, a relationship that is too strong
will diminish his asabiyyah with his family (Ibn Khaldun, 1982, 230-233).
In addition, Ibn Khaldun also explained that there are several challenges if
asabiyyah leadership has been achieved in a group. The emphasis is on a person or group
of leaders who are chosen through the nature of asabiyyah in it. If they hold the position
for a long enough period of time and with a large enough area, the asabiyyah will be much
more difficult to maintain. A large area with a large population will make the next
generation have a sense of belonging. This situation can fade asabiyyah that has existed
before (Ibn Khaldun, 1982, 240-242). The fading of asabiyyah will weaken the unity of a
group (Ibn Khaldun, 1982: 243-246). And it will continue with disintegration and end the
fate of a group (Ibn Khaldun, 1982).
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Utama, M.R. (2022) “Identity and Sense of Belonging of Indonesian Jewish Communities”,
Nation State: Journal of International Studies, Vol.5(2), pp. 93 – 106. Doi: 10.24076/nsjis.v5i2.877

Therefore, asabiyyah is a sense of belonging in a community group. This feeling can
be built with family and blood relations or other similarities as a background. The
existence of asabiyyah can strengthen the existence of groups in various sectors. In
addition, the election of leaders according to their asabiyyah will be more acceptable.
However, if the leadership stands in its place for a long time or over a very wide area,
asabiyyah is likely to fade. Fading asabiyyah can weaken a group. And a weak group can
be defeated by another group.
This approach above will be used in this qualitative research. The qualitative
method is suitable to understand social issues and to analyze the data was collected
through literature studies from (journal articles, books, or online articles) and personal
interviews with Indonesian Jewish prominent community individuals. This gives an
authentic understanding of their point of view. After the data is collected, the analysis will
use the approaches above to examine the phenomenon of the Indonesian Jewish identity
and nationalism. These are methods as explain by John and David Creswell (2018).
RESULT AND ANALYSIS
Who are the “Jewish People”?
The question “who are ‘the Jewish people’?” becomes the beginning of the discussion.
Most people have observed the existence of Jewry more after the establishment of the
State of Israel. The definition of nationality and identity, as explained in the theoretical
section above, may be defined as constructed. However, this modern Jewish identity has
been mostly defined in exile.
The identity of a nation or people is not ethnically defined as one of French
philosophers Étiene Balibar (1990) stated in the Nation Form: History and Ideology
“No nation possesses an ethnic base naturally, but as social formations are

nationalized, the populations included within them, divided up among them or
dominated by them, are ethnicized–that is, represented in the past or in the
future as if they formed a natural community .”
Starting with this assumption, the Identity of Jewish people is not an exception.
Hans Kohn (1939), a Zionist of Czech-German origin, once formulated that western
nationalism (that later influenced Zionism in the West) is a voluntary nationalism, which
means there is no outside intervention. It may differ from Eastern nationalism that is
built through a historical journey involving outsiders - This can be observed in Indonesian
nationalism. To talk about Jewish nationalism, we have to start from the beginning.
Jewish people trace their history back to the Pentateuch where it begins with God’s
creation of the world, followed by the era of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, until their exodus out
from Egypt. And the narrative is continued through books of Kings and Chronicles until
the time of Zachariah. And it remains a historical narrative according to the Jews
particularly their claimant of their ancestral land of Israel. However, the earliest Jewish
historian was Flavus Josephus who was the first to attempt to investigate Jewish history.
And there are no other Jewish historians up to the modern time. And Shlomo Sand (2009)

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Utama, M.R. (2022) “Identity and Sense of Belonging of Indonesian Jewish Communities”,
Nation State: Journal of International Studies, Vol.5(2), pp. 93 – 106. Doi: 10.24076/nsjis.v5i2.877

in his book the Invention of the Jewish People reminded that the biblical truth is not a
universal “truth”. Instead, it is a certain narrative from a group of people. Then, who are
the Jews and their history?
Other than the biblical narrative, Max Isaac Dimont wrote a book entitled “Jews,
God, and History”. Dimont (2004) provided a secular and popular historical narrative of
Jewish people. Instead of writing the storyline from the time of Moses and the exodus, he
only wrote a minimum small aspect of belief and started the story by criticizing Jewish
belief and continued into the era of the early Israeli Kingdoms in the Canaan, present day
Israel. Dimont is an American historian who tried to write the book as secular as possible
and based on historical evidence. And based on his book, we could understand that Jewish
history had begun for a long time in the land of Israel until the expulsion of Jews by the
romans that ended the long history of Jewish kingdoms in Canaan when the land name is
changed into Palestine by the Romans. It was the time when Jews are forced to be
scattered in many corners of the globe.
In early 1900s, an American physicist Maurice Fishberg argue that Jews are no
different as other religious groups. And he argued that there is no such thing as a Jewish
Race since Jewish people differ physically from one geographic area to another (Oster,
2012). This scientific research on Jewish genealogy then contested by a Jewish genealogist
Chaim Sheba and Richard Goodman in 1960s. However, the findings are complicated since
they found a diverse traits and disease amongst Jewish communities in Israel. By this
time, we may consider Jewish people as a group of people based on their religion and their
sense of belonging as a community.
The sense of belonging of Jewish people was first proposed by Theodor Herzl and the
Zionist movement in 1800s Europe. During this time, Europe was a continent full of
romanticism of nationalism. And Jewish people do not belong to any nations of Europe.
An example, even though France had granted Jewish people with French citizenship,
Jewish people remained facing prejudice from other French citizens. The Zionist
movement started to shape a modern Jewish identity in Europe and later in Israel.
However, the Zionist ideas is faded in 21 st Century Israeli diverse society, it remains
prevalent in the Constitution of Israel, Israel foreign and domestic policy, and among
world’s Zionists.
Being “Jewish” According to Israel’s Law of Return
Speaking of Jewish Identity, it is also important to understand who the Jewish
people are according to Israeli legal perspective. In Israel, there are some different
understandings about being Jewish according to Jewish law and a secular Israeli law.
However, the Israeli legal definition plays a big role in determining a person’s right to
aliyah (return to the Jewish homeland).
According to Jewish religious law or Halacha, an individual must acquire some
criteria to be classified as a Jewish person. These include the ancestry that characterize
as primacy of matrilineality (Oster, 2012). These criteria must be evaluated by rabbis so
the person’s identity as a Jew can be determined through Jewish canonical law. Some jews
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Nation State: Journal of International Studies, Vol.5(2), pp. 93 – 106. Doi: 10.24076/nsjis.v5i2.877

even need to ‘convert’ when their ancestry is not coming from their mother. Hence,
religiously, Jewishness is determined by Halacha.
The matrilineal Jewry later manifested to the Law of Return of Israel (Knesset,
2021) point 4B “For the purpose of this Law, ‘Jew’ means a person who was born of a
Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another
religion.” In this case, a Jewish person may or may not come from a Jewish ancestry. A
convert to Judaism can also be categorized as a Jewish person. This shows both stiffness
and fluidity of identity of individuals. The identity of Indonesian Jewish and nationalism,
therefore, can also be restricted (descended from a Jewish mother) or fluid (convert to
Judaism from other religion).
Indonesian Jews History
Not so many people have chance to meet or talk with a very tiny Indonesian Jewish
community or has chance to be exposed with Jewish history, particularly in Indonesia.
Judaism in Indonesian archipelago has been going through many historical phases. And
today, we can categorize Indonesian Jews as descendants according to Jewish law
(Halacha), patrilineal descendants who must convert themselves into Judaism, and nondescendants converts. They have slightly different identities and sense of belonging
(asabiya) to Indonesia and/or Israel.
The earliest record of Judaism in Indonesia is the record of thirteen centuries
followed by records along with Arab traders and European explorers (Franke, 2013). In
the mid 19th Century, an Jew of Romanian descent, Jacob Havely Saphir, visited the
archipelago and reported that some Jewish community existed in Batavia, Surabaya, and
Semarang. The Jews were not in a form of community since they are a family or
individuals and possessed neither synagogues nor cemetery. These Ashkenazi Jews were
somehow ashamed by their Jewishness and chose to practice their religion privately.
However, some Jews from Baghdad, Iraq, or Afghanistan are more visible but categorized
as Arab descent by the Dutch administration (Franke, 2013)
After the World War II, Indonesian Jewish population remained numerous in the
Archipelago. By this time, we could divide Jews into three categories: Dutch Jews (Jews
of European origin who has assimilated into Dutch culture), Jews of Middle Eastern origin
(mainly of Sephardic tradition from Baghdad, Afghanistan, and many other places in the
Middle East, they mainly settled in Surabaya), and Ashkenazi Jews from various parts of
Europe (mainly had assimilated into Indonesian culture). The numbers were still
hundreds in Batavia, Surabaya and Bandung (Hadler, 2004).
In the following years, unstable Indonesian political situation during the Sukarno’s
administration affected the numbers of Indonesian Jews to decrease. According to Rotem
Kowner (2011), the number of Indonesian Jews at this point is less than 20. However, as
some of Ashkenazi Jews had intermarried with local Indonesians, this number might be
lower than the real numbers of Jews in the country. And this condition had also localized
Jewish communities in Indonesia into regional communities or individuals. The Jewish
congregational or communal activity started to be invisible until recent years.
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Utama, M.R. (2022) “Identity and Sense of Belonging of Indonesian Jewish Communities”,
Nation State: Journal of International Studies, Vol.5(2), pp. 93 – 106. Doi: 10.24076/nsjis.v5i2.877

The current situation of Jews in Indonesia is varied in from one place to another.
And their visibility also different adjusting with their surrounding whether to identify or
not and using the Jewish symbolism or not. Jewish communities and individuals in Java
are less visible. Only their friends and neighbors who know their actual identity and they
tend to accept it. A community that is more visible to public is the Jewish community in
Manado, North Sulawesi. They are accepted by the surrounding public and openly practice
their religion, along with having synagogue to congregate on Saturdays ( Shabbat).
Edith Franke (2013) shared her experience about the condition of what was the only
synagogue in Surabaya during the years of 2000s. This synagogue has no longer existed
since it was demolished to be converted as an Apartment. Franke argued about the Islamic
extremist groups who reacted to the situation in Palestine. The demolition made possible
by the argument of the guardian that the building that belongs to the Jewish community
has lost its congregation. I see it differently, since an apartment was built on the top of
what used to be a synagogue, it is possible that the extremist group was part of a bigger
scheme to accelerate the handover of the land to the apartment developer. This argument
is supported by Rabbi Yaakov Baruch of Minahasa in my interview (Baruch, 2021).
A living Jewish community today exists publicly in Minahasa, North Sulawesi,
Indonesia. Franke (Franke, 2013) argued that this is a positive example of Jewish
visibility in Indonesia. Members of this tiny Jewish community are mainly the descendant
of Dutch Jews who had secretly practice or even had left the Torah and practiced
Christianity or Islam. And this community is led by Rabbi Yaakov Baruch. He later tries
to reconnect his Jewish roots and some other Jewish elders and descendants to return to
the Torah.
The Minahasa Jewish community’s visibility is supported by its surrounding social
environment. North Sulawesi is a province in Indonesia where Christianity is the main
religion in the province. This Christianity consists of many different denominations.
Evangelical Christianity is one of them. This denomination also emphasized Jewish return
to Israel. And at this point, the Jews and Christians can live side by side openly in this
region.
Contemporarily, Indonesian Jewish community can be categorized as three, people
who are Jewish descents and practicing Judaism, people who to some extent have Jewish
ancestry but it is cannot be defined by Halacha (and most of them do the conversion), an
non-Jewish descents who converted into Judaism. Indonesian Jews also divided into
Minahasa community and Jakarta community. Jews in Minahasa are mainly people of
Sephardic Jewish origin and some converts. And many Jews in Jakarta are divided into
two communities, Eits Chaim (for Jewish descents) and Bnei Noah (for Jewish converts
from non-Jewish ancestry, mainly Indonesian). And they have similar perspective about
their nationality and identity.
In the last decade some Indonesians of foreign ancestry, mainly European, claim to
have Jewish blood. However, many of them are only sympathizers of Judaism and Israel.
According to Rabbi Baruch (Baruch, 2021) many of them were unable to prove their Jewry
line. Some Indonesian true Jewish descents tried to encourage this people to accept the

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Nation State: Journal of International Studies, Vol.5(2), pp. 93 – 106. Doi: 10.24076/nsjis.v5i2.877

fact that they are not Jewish descent and convert as other non-Jews to convert and accept
Judaism. And lately, many of them converted and start to practice Judaism.
Unlike Christianity or Islam, Judaism is not a missionary religion. This religion is
only for the Jews and its people. However, Judaism is open for non-Jews to convert and
become part of the Jewish community. The process of conversion into Judaism by nonJews is harder than people who has already got Jewish bloodline (for those who was born
with the Jewish bloodline not from their mothers). For example, a non-Jew who wish to
convert to Judaism will experience rejections during the conversion process, since the
rabbis need to be sure that this person’s conversion is serious. Some rituals, such as
Shabbat (Saturday as a resting day according to Jewish law), are not obliged by the
converts of non-Jewish origin. However, they are collectively Indonesian Jews. Here is
where we are going to begin to discuss about Indonesian Jewish identity and their
attachment to the land of Israel.
Between Indonesia and Israel
As discussed earlier in this paper, Israel is the Jewish homeland according to both
historical evidence and biblical narrative. Some of Jewish mitzvah (religious obligation)
are also only can be fulfilled if a Jew has lived in the land of Israel, particularly Jerusalem.
And according to Jewish belief they will be brought back to the land of Israel when Messiah
has come to make them return to their homeland. This religious belief is somehow
contradictory with the existence of the State of Israel. Since Israel was built under a
secular Zionist foundation, some Jews do not really belief that they are obliged to return
to Israel. And this point of view remains strong in Indonesian Jewish community. And
moving to Israel is the matter of personal choice.
Some mitzvot that is associated with the land of Israel are Orlah and Kilei Hakarem
in agriculture and sharing the dough of challah bread with the priest of the holy temple.
Orlah is a prohibition to eat a fruit from their trees before three years of planting in the
land of Israel. Orlah means ‘uncircumcised’. Secondly, Kilei Hakarem is prohibition to
grow crops together with grapevines in the land of Israel (Bloom, 2021). And lastly, a
Shabbat bread of Challah is meant to be shared with the priest in Jerusalem. However,
since there is no longer a temple in Jerusalem the tradition of Orthodox Jews is to burn it
in the oven before it is baked or after. These are some mitzvot that associated with the
land of Israel. In this case, Indonesian Jews is not an exception to not doing the mitzvot
to be fulfilled to the land of Israel.
Other than mitzvot, Judaism and its biblical narrative is strongly attached with the
land of Israel. In the Jewish belief, the return to the land of Israel or Aliyah must be
fulfilled after the Messiah come and bring all Jewish people to the land of Israel. Wherever
the Jews live today, this belief and connection with the land of Israel remains a part of
Jewish belief. According to Rabbi Yaakov Baruch, the establishment of the state of Israel
is unreligious but the recognition of the state is undoubtable reality (Baruch, 2021). And
in spite of religious and emotional relations with the land of Israel, Indonesian Jews are
Indonesian citizens who happened to be believing in Judaism faith.

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Nation State: Journal of International Studies, Vol.5(2), pp. 93 – 106. Doi: 10.24076/nsjis.v5i2.877

Who are Indonesians and Indonesian Nation?
Before we talk about Indonesian Jewish position regarding the nationality and their
emotional relations with the land of Israel and Indonesia, we need to clearly define who
are Indonesian people. In the middle of 19 th Century, the concept of Indonesian nation first
coined by European anthropologist Jorge Richardson Logan and George Windsor Earl
within the Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia . During that time, the
concept of “Indonesians” referred to the people of East Indies / Indian Archipelago or
commonly known as Maritime Southeast Asia today. The word “Indonesia” came from two
greek words India means “India” and Nesos means “island” or “archipelago”. Thus,
Indonesians are people of Indian Archipelago (Jones, 1994).
Later the word was used during the awakening period of Indonesian nationalism. In
the early 20th Century, this word referred to every single individual who fought the Dutch,
despite of any racial backgrounds (native Indonesians, Chinese, Arabs, Indian, or
Europeans). And by the time of independence, some party like Partai Nasional Indonesia
(Indonesian National Party) see Europeans in Indonesia as non-Indonesian and they
should not get any Indonesian citizenship. This might be the contrary of the early spirit of
Indonesian nationalism that include people of foreign ancestry with the sense of belonging
to the land of Indonesia. This view was the view of Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo of Indische
Partij (Indian Party) who sees that Indonesians consists of many people from many
different backgrounds who have sense of belonging to Indonesia (Rocha & Fozdar, 2019).
The view that Indonesians are a racial concept of people who are originated in
Martitime Southeast Asia has gradually changed. This is align with what Muhammad
Yamin, Amir Sjarifuddin and some other Indonesian founding fathers that Indonesian
nation consists of suku-bangsa (a smaller ‘nations’ within the bigger concept of Indonesian
nation) that are integrated part of an Indonesian nation (Elson, 2009). And in the year
2000s, many terms and words that differentiate the native Indonesians with Indonesian
citizens of foreign ancestry are reduced to avoid any racist consequences against nonnative Indonesians (Gayatri, 2019). This modern concept of Indonesian nationalism can
be concluded as a voluntary national identity by anyone who are willingly to be identified
as an Indonesian. And everyone who holds Indonesian citizenship are considered as part
of Indonesian nation in spite of ancestorial background (foreign or native).
Jewish position in Indonesia
After we know a brief history of Jews in Indonesian archipelago, who are the
Indonesian Jews, their relationship with the Land of Israel, and the definition of
Indonesian nation, we can see how these circumstances has shaped Indonesian Jewish
Identity. Their identity is alterable, fluid, constructed, and multipliable. Indonesian Jews
undoubtedly have a stronger sense of belonging (asabiya) with the land where they were
born and raised, Indonesia.
The identity of Indonesian Jews since the time of Dutch colonization of the
archipelago has shown that it was altered for several occasions. As already discussed
earlier, Dutch Jews are more likely to hide their Jewish identity to be assimilated with
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the Dutch. And Middle Eastern Jews was able to assimilate themselves into Arab
communities in the archipelago. At this time there was tendency to alter their identity
because of social and political condition of the archipelago. Many intermarriages with
locals by Jews of European origin had also discouraged continuity of Indonesian Jewish
identity to be passed to the next generation. This phenomenon has also shown the fluidity
of an identity.
One thing that people rarely explore deeper on the Jew who had accepted the identity
as an Indonesian. He is Charles Mussry. He fought against the Dutch occupation along
with other Indonesians in the famous battle on November 10, 1945 (Harsaputra, 2013).
Unfortunately, the ignorance of his participation of the battle had caused the demolition
of the only Synagogue in Surabaya in 2013. The synagogue had been the location for antiIsraeli protests prior to its demolition. We observed the issue of anti-Semitism that fueled
the demolition but somehow, it is merely implausible, since today, the site has converted
into 17 story hotel.
Until the early 21st Century when few later generations of Indonesians from Jewish
origin began to retrace their identity through evidence, possess by their family. Rabbi
Yaakov Baruch is the pioneer of reviving Jewish community in Indonesia. During this
process, Indonesian Jewish identity is reconstructed as a new religious and communal
identity among the Jewish people in Indonesia. During this process, some issues occurred.
Some Indonesians claimed if their European ancestry was Jewish ancestry. This condition
cannot be accepted by the community, since a person must be able to prove their
ancestorial Jewry. And Jews in Indonesia also could be categorized as three, Indonesian
Jews with matrilineal Jewish bloodline, Indonesian Jewish descent of patrilineal line
(he/she must convert into Judaism), and non-Jews who believe and practice Judaism.
From the interview from individuals of Eits Chaim, Bnei Noah, and Minahasa
Jewish Community, Indonesian Jews. Generally, they have similar point of view of
modern nationalism. They have both emotional ties with the Land of Israel and Indonesia.
As Rabbi Yaakov Baruch (2021) explained “Indonesian Jews are Indonesian citizens with
Judaism as their religion. Therefore, we [Indonesian Jews] are obliged to be good
Indonesian citizens, and we are part of Indonesian nation.” He also added about their
relation with Israel that “Indonesian Jews have religious and emotional ties with the Land
of Israel particularly Jerusalem, as Indonesian Muslims have religious and emotional ties
with Mecca and Saudi Arabia. We pray three times a day facing Jerusalem.” In this case,
many Indonesian Jews have stronger sense of belonging to Indonesia but still have
religious ties with the Land of Israel. Baruch later added that we must differentiate
between the term the Land of Israel and the State of Israel. Some orthodox Jews, including
those in Indonesia, even though they have emotional ties with Israel, they disagree with
the existence of the State of Israel (as a secular state) since its establishment is not in
accordance with Jewish Messianic tradition to return with the Messiah (Baruch, 2021).
Moreover, according to Elisheva Stross (2021), an Indonesian citizen with paternal
Jewish descent who is active in Eits Chaim Indonesia, many Indonesian Jews love
Indonesia and have the sense of belonging to the country. As identity can be altered, fluid,

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constructed, and multiplied, many Indonesian Jews who develop stronger faith into
Judaism must eventually leave the country despite of their attachment to the archipelago.
Starting after the Indonesian independence, sequenced by the establishment of the State
of Israel, many Baghdadi Jews moved to Beverly Hills, California, the US, and Ashkenazi
jews left for Singapore, Australia, or the Netherlands (Stross, 2021). Once a Jew decided
to follow the Halacha, observing more mitzvah, they will be faced with some consequences.
As an example, to observe Jewish Holiday in the month of Tishrei where a Jew could spend
more time for religious holiday, there are no legal basis for a company to accommodate
their holidays. Moreover, kosher food is still an elusive commodity in Indonesia. Thus,
moving out into a country where they can practice their faith better is the only option
(Stross, 2021). This point of view is more for the Ashkenazi Jewish community in
Indonesia.
As Ibn Khaldun said in his Muqqadimah, there must be a different sense of
belonging between asabiyya of natural bloodline and if it was built by a group of people. A
community of Bnei Noah for example, this community is a community of Jewish convert
from gentile origin. They have a less stronger ties with the Land of Israel. Since they have
different mitzvot that they are not obliged to do as those who are from Jewish descent,
they also do not see the importance to make aliyah and return themselves to Israel. Leo
Yuwono, a member from Bnei Noah, added that they are different from Jews of Jewish
descent. The converts are not obliged to stay in Israel, and also not obliged to observe the
Shabbat (Yuwono, 2021). They also emphasize on the importance of being an Indonesian
and having identity as an Indonesian.
However, there are challenges for Indonesian Jews living as an Indonesian. Public
perceptions on the Judaism in general and Indonesian Jewish communities in particular.
Stross (2021) said that it is difficult for Eits Chaim Indonesia to have a mailing address
when they intended to have a small office and received refusal from the surrounding
neighborhood. And in Minahasa, when the community established a Holocaust Museum
in 2022, it received negative reactions from Indonesian netizens on Twitter. Words such
as “Barbaric Zionism”, or “Insulting Indonesian Muslims” are some reactions to Majelis
Ulama Indonesia’s (Indonesian Ulema Council) statement that the museum was
manifested by Zionist ideology and hurt Palestinians (Muslim Cyber Army, 2022).
Misunderstanding on the Jewish community and inability to differentiate Judaism
from Zionism will always be a challenge for Indonesian Jews to live in Indonesia.
Ignorance of the past history and reluctance to accept the Indonesian Jews by some
Indonesians into the greater Indonesian society create a bumpy road ahead for the
communities. However, by trying to understand the communities better by other
communities, the Jewish community can contribute more for the country more than
Charles Mussry did in the past.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the conceptualization of a State-Nation that has been in Indonesia
since the awakening of Indonesian nationalism in early 20 th Century has shaped the

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nationalism stronger among Jewish people. And Israel with its concept of Jewish nation
and Nation-State is facing the orthodox Jewish belief in Indonesia that the state is
illegitimate and irreligious. However, even though they possess a stronger tie to Indonesia
the emotional and religious relationships to Israel still strong among Jews Indonesia,
especially in Jews by matrilineal descent.
Indonesian Jews have already passed through different historical events that altered
their identities. Jewish community has successfully assimilated into local community and
culture. Their identity has frequently changed to adapt many social environments. In the
case of Indonesia, the European concept of nation-state is not applicable since Indonesia
is full of suku bangsa. And the post-colonial concept of State-Nation is more accepted in
the case of Indonesia.
Two main Jewish community have the strong similar atitude about their nationality
and the sense of belonging to Indonesia. They love Indonesia. However, the main
difference between Minahasa’s Sephardic community and Jakarta’s Ashkenazi
community, they have different attitude about the urge to move to another country. Move
to other country is not necessarily Israel, despite of its importance in Judaism.
This article calls for further research on the communities and Indonesian society as
a whole. Since there are many things about Jewish communities in Indonesia that have
been explained to the Indonesian public. From the research, it is also shown that
misunderstanding and ignorance from most of Indonesians to the Jews is inevitably
caused by antisemitic sentiments over Israeli-Palestinian issue. However, not all events
are fueled by antisemitism, some of them, such as the demolition of the Surabaya
synagogue, is more economically motivated. This article itself is still lack of explanations
about the Indonesian public reception to the Jewish communities. This is important for
the future understanding to strengthen Indonesian national identity of unity and
diversity.
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