I think that it has been more than collective memory keeping Israel a nation.

For instance, there’s the adage that “More than Jews have kept the Shabbos, the Shabbos has kept the Jews,” Shabbos being one of the cornerstones of Judaism. Also, there have been countless Jews throughout our history who have died martyrs’ deaths rather than be forcibly converted; it’s hard to imagine that a they would have given their lives for the sake of memories, however powerful.

It seems to me that adherence to the Jewish way of life (according to G-d’s commandments) and the realization that the commandments speak to the soul of the Jew would have been stronger forces than the force of collective memory. The fact would that we are losing Jews to intermarriage, thus becoming a smaller number every day seems to testify to the fact that No Mitzvahs = No Judaism.

Just one woman’s opinion.
Andrea Eller