June 7, 2010 (Section 1) (see also Section 2)
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Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
PM: Conversions bill won't cause a rift
By Kobi Nahshoni www.ynetnews.com June 6, 2010
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Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, in a letter to JA trustees, warned against "an irreparable rift" with Reform Jews, and the "destructive potential" of Orthodox dominancy, and vowed to torpedo the bill.
The Conservative and Reform movements agree with the bill's core statement, which means to facilitate the conversion process, by allowing municipal rabbis to oversee it.
The concern stems from an article – introduced to appease the haredim – which stipulates that the Chief Rabbinate will have final say on the matter.
Both movements allege that the article disrupts the balance between the three Jewish denominations
PM backs dialogue on conversion bill ‘to ensure unity'
By Jonah Mandel www.jpost.com June 5, 2010
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Yizhar Hess, executive-director of the Masorti Movement in Israel said that
“We are happy the Prime Minister chose to send a calming and conciliatory message, we’ve been waiting for one.
Rotem’s proposal threatened to divide the Jewish people, and following the prime minister’s guidelines, we hope that coalition member Rotem will immediately shelve the proposed bill in its current format.
Sharansky told members of the Jewish Agency’s board in a letter from April:
“Furthermore, no official action will be taken till after the Board of Governors in June, when representatives from all streams of Judaism from the Committee for the Unity of the Jewish People, will have the opportunity to weigh and discuss these pivotal questions with the representatives of the government.”
Keep Dreaming: ‘Chief Rabbinate dismantled'
By David Breakstone Opinion www.jpost.com June 4, 2010
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"If you will it, it is no dream"
The writer is a member of the Jewish Agency and World Zionist Organization Executives.
Jerusalem, June 4, 2018
In a historic act that millions of Jews around the world have anxiously been awaiting for years, the Knesset yesterday dissolved the heretofore sacrosanct office of the Chief Rabbinate.
Earlier in the day, the cabinet received a detailed report on the ongoing implementation of the revolutionary plan drafted nearly a decade ago to fully integrate the haredi community into the country’s military.
Leaders from across the spectrum were unanimous in their optimism that the two moves would lead to an unprecedented Jewish renaissance and sense of unity.
An open letter to Ambassador Oren
By Rabbi Andrew (Andy) Sacks Opinion www.jpost.com June 6, 2010
The writer is Director of the Masorti [Conservative] Movement's Rabbinical Assembly in Israel
Dear Mr. Ambassador,
...I serve as the director of the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel. This is the organization of Masorti rabbis. I have been working with converts to Judaism in this capacity for some sixteen years. In all of this time I do not recall a single case of a convert to Judaism from the States, of African-American origin, who was able to make aliya through normal channels. In virtually every case there are stumbling blocks placed in the path to Israel by both the Interior Ministry and by the Ministry of Justice.
...Mr. Oren, I implore you, please help me fix this injustice.
Non-Jewish, until proven otherwise
By Rivkah Lubitch Opinion www.ynetnews.com May 31, 2010
Rivkah Lubitch is a rabbinic pleader who works at the Center for Women’s Justice
According to the new directives, not only is the Marriage Registrar required to send every convert, or every person whose parents were married abroad, to the court for a determination of whether or not s/he’s is a Jew– he can, if he wants, send a person for an official inquiry into one's Jewishness even if his parents were married by a rabbi who is licensed Israeli Marriage Registrar.
...In effect, the entire nation of Israel is presumed to be Not-Jewish – until proven otherwise. There has never been a situation like this in Jewish history. If this isn’t the time to establish alternative rabbinic courts – when will the time come?
Ministry thwarts efforts to keep Hasidic girls separate at school
By Yair Ettinger www.haaretz.com May31, 2010
Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar yesterday ordered a Bnei Brak school not to accept the Ashkenazi girls from Immanuel, whose parents have been fighting against a Supreme Court ruling that their daughters must attend classes with Sephardi girls.
The parents had attempted to send their girls to the Bnei Brak school in an attempt to bypass the court.
...Several hours after the start of the first day of school for the Immanuel girls in Bnei Brak, the order from the Ministry of Education arrived, forbidding the arrangement.
By Sahara Blau www.haaretz.com June 2, 2010
This article is part of a special edition of Haaretz, to mark Israel's Book Week.
The writer's book "Book of Creation" was published by Kinneret Zmora-Bitan.
We are in Immanuel on a significant day, the first day the 74 Ashkenazi girls of the Hasidic track who refused to accept the High Court of Justice ruling and study with the other Sephardi girls were to go to Bnai Brak to attend a different school.
"The separation isn't a matter of racism," he continues. "There are families that are newly observant and it can't be helped, they aren't religious enough yet and they can't study in the Hasidic track. And usually, the newly religious girls are from a family of Mizrahi origin, that's all. There isn't a race issue here but rather a religious issue."
By Sami Michael www.haaretz.com June 6, 2010
This article is part of a special edition of Haaretz, to mark Israel's Book Week.
The writer's latest novel "Aida" was published in Hebrew by Kinneret Zmora-Bitan. He is the president of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
I am glad the President has not been silent and has not shut his ears to this horror. In a meeting with young people at his official residence he said if he were their age he would go out and demonstrate against this injustice.
Tel Aviv mayor: Chabad irritating residents
By Yoav Zitun www.ynetnews.com May 31, 2010
At first, Huldai avoided expressing his stance on the matter, but after being booed by Ramat Aviv residents who attended the meeting, he noted: "I view the behavior of the Chabad members as irritating people. They wait for children outside the schools. This is inappropriate behavior which should be condemned."
The Ramat Aviv residents are planning to boost their activity against the increasing haredi presence in their neighborhood.
Next week, they plan to hold a rally outside the Chabad House in the center of the neighborhood, hoping for the first significant protest since the battle began about two years ago.
By Amihai Zippor www.jpost.com June 4, 2010
Interview with Brandeis University Prof. Jonathan Sarna
In my view, a great mistake was made when the Western Wall was given over to a religious ministry.
All kinds of Jews should be welcomed at the Wall, including those who believe that Jews should worship as families, as well as those who believe in segregating the sexes.
Those involved in alienating Jews from Jerusalem and its sacred sites are in some ways guilty of helping to create the current situation.
Police probe shul vandalism in Ra’anana
By Jonah Mandel www.jpost.com May 24, 2010
“Ra’anana is known to be a tolerant city, and we believe-hope that these are isolated incidents that do not represent a trend,” Yizhar Hess, executive director of the Masorti Movement in Israel, said in a statement.
“That having been said, it is hard to escape the feeling that in recent months extreme elements are seeking to set a new, violent standard for religious harassment in Israel."
Breaking Stereotypes and Building Bridges
By Tinamarie Bernard http://sdjewishjournal.com June 6, 2010
One of Hannaton’s most prominent residents helping to trumpet her spiritual path is American-born Rabbi Haviva Ner-David.
She made waves a few years back when she became one of a very small handful of women ordained as an Orthodox rabbi, and the first to do so in Israel. But don’t call her Orthodox; this post-denominational rabbi is a writer, teacher and activist determined to bring egalitarianism to the Jewish faith.
She and her husband, Jacob, moved with their six children, ages 2 to 16, from a luxurious neighborhood in Jerusalem to the kibbutz in July 2009.
Emanuel bar mitzvah goes ahead in Old City, but not at Western Wall
By Yair Ettinger www.haaretz.com May 31, 2010
Though it was a private family affair, attended by some 50 family members and friends, it served as a basis for renewed accusations that the ultra-Orthodox have taken control of Jewish sites, since the bar mitzvah boy (and his cousin Noah ) read the Torah portion at an archaeological park near the southern wall of the Temple Mount, not at the Western Wall plaza itself.
...However, the family rabbi - Jack Moline, rabbi of the Conservative Agudas Achim Congregation in Northern Virginia, who officiated at the event - said he did not agree that the Emanuel family had been shunted away from the Western Wall.
‘Haredi students have seized control of Hurva synagogue'
By Abe Selig www.jpost.com June 6, 2010
Rachel Azaria, the chairwoman of the Yerushalmim city council list:
"...they are enforcing the separation all the time. I also have no problem that it operate as a synagogue and that they learn Torah there, but that a group of 20 kollel students who are learning there is causing all of these people to be turned away is unacceptable."
“And it’s not just the Hurva,” she added, ”but slowly they are trying to change the entire Jewish Quarter to fit their needs.
So our campaign is very important, because it’s one of the places where we can make a difference. We’ve caught it in time, and the more we put pressure on them, chances are, we’ll manage to take care of it.”
By Amihai Zippor www.jpost.com June 4, 2010
Interview with Brandeis University Prof. Jonathan Sarna
My own view is that separating religion from state would create a stronger community, a more religious community, and a community from which far fewer Jews would feel alienated.
Let the free market which has done so much for Israel’s economic realm be introduced into the religious realm with full appreciation for what free market principles in religion can accomplish.
PODCAST - Who Is A Jew: The Next War Over Jewish Identity in Israel
www.nif.org June 8, 2010
On Thursday, April 8 The New Israel Fund, Religious Action Center Director Rabbi David Saperstein, and Israel Prize recipient and pluralism expert Alice Shalvi conducted a briefing on the next threat to religious pluralism in Israel. The audio of the call is available below.
Israel's Knesset plans to vote after Passover on legislation that would once again attempt to delegitimize Reform and Conservative conversions in Israel and redefine who is a Jew - with major impact on Jews worldwide.
Rabbi David Saperstein, named in Newsweek's 2009 list as the most influential rabbi in the U.S., represents the Reform Jewish Movement to Congress and the Administration on a broad range of social justice issues.
Alice Shalvi, a pioneer of Israel's feminist movement, life-long advocate for religious tolerance, and a leader in creating a more just society in Israel, is the recipient of Israel's highest honor.
By Peggy Cidor www.jpost.com June 3, 2010
Hitorerut B’yerushalayim announced in a press release two months ago that it had decided to split from Yerushalmim, the party it ran [together] on the city council...
Officially, the issue that led to the split between the two parties is connected to Cinema City, a huge entertainment complex to be built at the entrance to the city. Following the mayor’s decree, the coalition voted against screening films there on Shabbat.
Posen Foundation renews funding for secular research after Madoff debacle
By Lior Dattel www.haaretz.com June 1, 2010
The Posen Foundation is recovering after being burned by Bernie Madoff, and this week will grant $315,000 in stipends to Israeli researchers in the area of nonreligious Jewish culture.
Seven researchers were chosen out of 60 who applied, and each will receive $45,000 over the next three years.
June 7, 2010 (Section 1) (see also Section 2)
Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
All rights reserved.
