October 4, 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.
Most Israelis approve of Reform, Conservative conversions
By Ron Friedman www.jpost.com September 28, 2010
A majority of the survey participants (68%) responded positively when asked whether Jews living abroad who had married non-Jews should be considered part of the Jewish people. However the proportion of people who answered “yes” changed according to the level of religious affiliation.
Among secular respondents, the number stood at 78%, but it shrank to 57% for people who identified as traditional, and dropped down to 45% among those who described themselves as religious.
The same pattern emerged on the question of non-Orthodox conversions. When asked whether people who converted to Judaism outside of the Orthodox system should be considered part of the Jewish people, 82% of secular Jews, 42% of traditional Jews and 12% of religious Jews answered “yes.”
Poll: Israelis view non-Orthodox converts as Jews
AP www.haaretz.com September 27, 2010
The survey, conducted for Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, found that 63 percent of respondents believed those converted by non-Orthodox rabbis should be regarded as Jews. Some 30 percent believed they should not.
The poll also found that 68 percent of Israelis said Diaspora Jews who intermarried should be regarded as Jewish, while 21 percent said they should not.
By Rabbi Reuven Hammer Opinion www.jpost.com October 1, 2010
The writer is the head of the Rabbinical Court of the Masorti Movement
There is nothing better for business than competition. There would be nothing better for Judaism than the free market of ideas and competition among the streams. There is room for all. Let the playing field be made level. Deprive the Chief Rabbinate of its monopoly and see what would happen.
'Jewish philanthropy must adapt to changes'
By Gil Shefler www.jpost.com October 3, 2010
Jeffrey Solomon’s experience puts him in a good position to try and look into the future. Asked what he believed would top the agenda at this year’s General Assembly, he said he was filled with a sense of déjà vu.
“The conversion bill [pending in the Knesset] was last on the GA agenda in 1989, so 21 years later I think that clearly will be the most major issue,” he said.
Support Religious Pluralism in Israel - Rabbi Harold Kravitz's Rosh HaShanah Sermon, 5771
By Rabbi Harold J. Kravitz Opinion http://thisyearinjerusalem5770-71.blogspot.com October 1, 2010
The writer is Rabbi of Adath Jeshurun Congregation, Minnetonka, MN
So I ask how many of us could prove to an Orthodox rabbi in Israel that we are Jews?
...Let me be clear, I would not presume to suggest that Orthodox rabbis do not have the right to determine who they believe fulfills their requirements for conversion, or the right to decide for themselves “who is a Jew.”
They absolutely have that right. The outrage is when a Chief Rabbinate is empowered to act on behalf of the State in making those decisions.
Local women put focus on campaign for equality at Western Wall
By Amanda Pazornik www.jweekly.com September 30, 2010
“The question is, what kind of Jewish values are at work here?” said Sara Yakira Heckelman, the guest speaker at San Francisco Congregation B’nai Emunah’s Sept. 26 photo session.
“What we’re not seeing is tolerance, pluralism and openness to Judaism as it’s evolved all over the world.”
By Rabbi Amy B. Bigman Opinion http://womenofthewall.org.il September 29, 2010
The writer is rabbi at Congregation Shaarey Zekek, East Lansing, Michigan
How can it be that in the modern State of Israel women are not allowed to carry a Torah? How can it be that I, as a Reform rabbi, am not recognized as a rabbi in the Jewish homeland?!
..In Medinat Yisrael, the modern State of Israel, founded by Jews from around the world – a country which we hold near and dear to our hearts – in Israel today Reform, Reconstructionist, and Conservative Jews are treated as second-class citizens. Our rabbis are not recognized and our synagogues are not funded by the government as are the Orthodox congregations.
...My friends, this really is not a feminist issue – this is about religious pluralism in Israel. It is about our “flavor” of Judaism being recognized as legitimate. It is about the rights of non-Orthodox Jews. It is about who we are and what we stand for.
Western Wall is for everyone — so give women equal access
JWeekly.com Editorial www.jweekly.com September 30, 2010
The Kotel, or the Western Wall, in Jerusalem’s Old City, is Judaism’s holiest site. It belongs to the Jewish people. All of them, male and female.
That is why we support Women of the Wall, a movement seeking to permit women to wear prayer shawls, pray and read from the Torah out loud at the Kotel.
Lawsuit: Rabbi sexually abuses student; affair hushed by college
By Merav Batito www.ynetnews.com October 1, 2010
The psychiatrist who Shlomit (not her real name) visited in the summer of 2007 was shocked to find the 24-year-old ultra-Orthodox woman, who was escorted by her father and one of her teachers, in an extremely fragile mental state.
According to the psychiatrist, the young woman was sexually abused by a senior rabbi at the Jerusalem College for Women, located at the Bayit VeGan neighborhood.
...As part of the settlement, the sides did not admit to the claims, but were willing to pay Shlomit a compensation of NIS 20,000 (about $5,400) each. In addition, the rabbi was ordered to retire from his position in the college as soon as possible. In return, the college and rabbi were given full immunity on matters related to the affair.
Paying Off Recalcitrant Husbands
By Elana Maryles Sztokman Opinion http://blogs.forward.com September 27, 2010
This is a process in which the woman says, “I want a divorce,” the man says, “I’ll give it to you for a price,” and the rabbis say, “We’ll pay some, and the woman will pay the rest.”
The money comes from a not-for-profit fund controlled by the Beit Din that is called, outrageously enough, The Aguna Fund. Just thinking about our rabbinical justice system in action gives me a migraine.
VIDEO: The Israeli bus battle of the sexes
http://rt.com July 21, 2009
Religious gays addressed in shul leaflet
By Kobi Nahshoni www.ynetnews.com September 27, 2010
Religious homosexuals are continuing their struggle for recognition within the Religious Zionist movement. On Yom Kippur, the organization Havruta began distributing a Torah-study leaflet entitled "Bireish Galay" that highlights the distress of mitzvoth-observing Jews torn between their homosexual identity and their religious beliefs.
Reward & punishment, turned upside down
By Nehemia Shtrasler Opinion www.haaretz.com October 1, 2010
Not long ago, the Bank of Israel proposed encouraging the ultra-Orthodox to go out to work by giving a grant to any employer who would hire them.
Once again, we have an example of upside-down reward and punishment - the grant gives an advantage to the Haredi person but simultaneously hurts the secular or religious person vying for that same position.
Revolution in the Israeli army
By Anshel Pfeffer www.thejc.com September 28, 2010
For the last three years, more and more units have launched training programmes specifically tailored to young Charedi men in their mid-twenties, complete with time off for prayers and study, a separate military environment with only male officers, meals prepared under a stricter kashrut supervision than that of the IDF Rabbinate and a schedule that allows them to spend time at home with their families.
By Asher Meir Opinion www.jpost.com October 1, 2010
[G]iving an exemption for Haredim will likely result in thousands of young men either seeking a way to change the definition of Haredi to encompass them or actively identifying themselves with existing standards of Haredi belonging
Suppose a respected Haredi rabbi, with all the proper status, decides in perfect good faith to open a yeshiva for novices to Haredi society.
Who will be authorized to decide if the young men who join this school are spiritual seekers or merely draft-dodgers?
By Lisa Mullins www.theworld.org September 29, 2010
Podcast Interview with Dr. Eli Landau
He is the author of a pork cookbook. It’s called The White Book, which was recently published in Israel. It’s the first such book in the country.
Dr. Landau says that, despite religious prohibitions on eating pork, and what he calls a negative energy surrounding it, more Israelis are consuming “other white meat.”
In Israel, a Pork Cookbook Challenges a Taboo
By Jeffrey Yoskowitz www.nytimes.com September 28, 2010
The author blogs at JeffYosko
According to the book’s distributor, Keter Books, 2,000 copies were printed and 1,100 to 1,200 have been sold. Ami Ashkenazi, the company’s marketing and sales manager, said a best-selling cookbook in Israel sells about 6,000 copies, but for such a niche topic, 2,000 to 3,000 copies sold would be considered a success.
Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, the head of the Orthodox Hesder Yeshiva in Petach Tikva, said, “I’m very disappointed by this book.”
He added, “I’m very sorry and it hurts me.” But fighting pork consumption is not at the top of his list of priorities for “improving Jewish identity in our society,” Rabbi Cherlow said.
By David Brinn http://israelity.com September 29, 2010
Browsing around, we came upon a Tiv Ta’am supermarket. Even though there are a reported 32 stores in the country, there aren’t any in Jerusalem and its environs, so we decided to go in and look around.
...The sheer weirdness of seeing those items in an Israeli supermarket had our eyes bugging out. After 25 years of entering kosher-only supers, it was genuinely an eye-opener.
Birthright Israel Registration Demand Continues to Increase
http://ejewishphilanthropy.com September 28, 2010
Demand among young Jewish adults in the Diaspora to participate in Taglit-Birthright Israel’s trips to Israel rose by 12%, according to the latest registration figures from North American applicants.
During its latest registration period in September, Taglit-Birthright Israel received 23,623 eligible applications for 9,576 places on its winter trips, which will take place between December and March 2011. Registration closed after just seven days. This compares to 21,093 applicants at the same time last winter when registration closed after 10 days.
Three ways by which Jews connect to the Jewish People
By Dr. Ezra Kopelowitz Opinion http://www.peoplehoodresearch.com September 27, 2010
Many of the categories of Jewish life which were born in the late 19thand early 20th centuries are shifting and changing, leaving us unsure of the manner in which Jews around the world continue to connect to the Jewish People.
What are the nature of current commitments and the identification of Jews with the Jewish People? By what means and in which modes do Jews continue to connect to one another?
This short article offers a three part framework for making sense of possible modes of Jewish belonging.
By Anshel Pfeffer Opinion www.haaretz.com October 1, 2010
Judaism is much too anarchic to have a pope. Jews are too independent to have any form of unified leadership. And any Jew with real leadership skills or aspirations would prefer to run a city, a big business or an entire country to just the Jews within it.
Our problem is not a lack of Jewish leaders, but rather our expectation to have any.
Immigrant umbrella group casts doubts on Jewish Agency plan to focus on identity
By Raphael Ahren www.haaretz.com October 1, 2010
The Council of Immigrant Associations in Israel remains opposed to key aspects of the Jewish Agency's new strategic plan to focus on fostering Jewish identity, which was unanimously adopted in June.
Even a series of conversations with the agency's senior leadership did not alleviate the umbrella organization's fears the new plan - the details of which will be worked out at the Agency's board of governors meeting in Jerusalem later this month will sideline its traditional focus on aliyah.
Only in Israel are we a light unto the nations
By Moshe Orman Opinion www.haaretz.com October 1, 2010
Moshe Orman was born in Baltimore, made aliyah in 2009 and today studies at Yeshivat Machon Meir in Jerusalem.
In my opinion, it is most logical to attend university in the place where one plans on living. Students will learn the language, make important contacts and create many different networks.
This is the reason why it is ideal for these students who have come to Israel on a one-year-program to continue their university studies in Israel.
By Deborah Rubin Fields www.jpost.com October 3, 2010
After 27 years, they finally have some peace. The Israeli Ministry of Immigration and Absorption, in cooperation with the World Zionist Organization and the Israeli Defense Ministry, recently unveiled a memorial to over 4,000 Ethiopian Jews who died attempting to reach Israel.
Located on Mt. Herzl, this stirring monument gives official recognition to the community’s largely unknown suffering.
October 4, 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.
