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Druze: Druze Communities
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Despite these recent transformations, social and religious authority among the Druzes remains persistent and comes from a religious elite that has an extraordinary influence on Druze communities. Thus, it may be said that Druzism both unites Druzes into socially cohesive communities and divides them into two main classes: the initiated or wise (uqqal) and the uninitiated or, literally, "ignorant" (juhhal). Only those believers who demonstrate piety and devotion and who have withstood the lengthy process of candidacy are initiated into the esoteric teachings and oral traditions of the faith. Women initiates undergo a less rigorous training because the Druze doctrine considers women to be more spiritually prepared and therefore not in need of the arduous initiation process that men are required to undertake.
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Gabriel Ben-Dor, a Fellow of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and Professor of Political Science and former Rector at the University of Haifa, writes about the Druze community in Israel. Topics covered include: Minority Within a Minority, Special Relationship with the Jews, Problem of Land, Questions of Arabness, Challenges of Modernization, Economic Development, and Social Integration.
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There is a great need to provide a systematic and articulated material for the education of children and young adults of the Druze community to enable them to understand the concept of the Druze religion and its history. Several Druze professionals in the field of education have been identified and they are designing and producing educational literature that will be passed on through the Druze parents for helping their children to understand the Druze religion. Moreover, a program has been designed for training teachers to teach the Druze religion by adopting modern methods of teaching.
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In 1956, Israel forced the Druze and Circassian communities to serve in the army. Many Druze soldiers joined Israel's army during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Some Druze ... live in Jordan.
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Druze Communities