Unity The Jerusalem Center, beginning from the covenantal basis of the edah , works to foster an understanding of Jewish unity as federal unity, a unity that is based upon multiple versions of the covenantal vision within a common consensus and bound by a common constitution. Federalism is the operational application of the covenant idea. We Jews have recognized this in our political and communal organization since the days of the ancient Israelite federation of the twelve tribes. Today this kind of federal unity is embodied in the Jewish federation movement in the United States and in the emerging institutional framework for Israel-diaspora relations through the Jewish Agency and its network. The Jerusalem Center prides itself on its contribution to understanding and fostering both and other examples of federal unity in the contemporary Jewish world, and in exploring their roots in the Jewish political tradition.
Federalism is more than simple pluralism.
First of all, pluralism alone is not enough to protect diversity. Diversity can only be protected through appropriate constitutional and institutional mechanisms of the kind embodied in federalism. Hence we are concerned with developing proper pluralism for the Jewish people today. In other words, we seek what Jews have always sought, the establishment of basic rules equally administered for a people noted for having a variety of messianic visions, within a framework of federal liberty , that is to say, liberty to live up to the terms and principles of our common constitution. We Jews remain a covenant people, which means we have taken upon ourselves special obligations toward God and humanity, as well as mutual obligations to one another.