Non-Orthodox leaders in U.S. `running out
of patience'
DEBRA NUSSBAUM COHEN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK --Exhorting 3 million constituents to fight legislative moves
to solidify the Orthodox
monopoly over religious affairs in Israel, leaders of America's Conservative
and Reform Jews have
called for a massive lobbying and media campaign.
"If those in power in Israel wish to spit in our eye, they must expect
there will be a reaction," Stephen
Wolnek, president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism,
said at a press conference
here Tuesday.
"Our tolerance and patience certainly has an end."
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations,
said Israel's
Orthodox rabbinate "can't thumb their noses in the face of our Judaism
and expect that we will not
respond."
Using rhetoric as sharp as a well-honed knife, leaders of the two movements
called on their
followers specifically to mount a campaign to block the adoption of
two bills currently under
consideration by the Israeli Knesset.
One would cement sole Orthodox control over conversions to Judaism performed
in Israel; the other
would require all members of municipal Israeli religious councils to
conform to Orthodox levels of
ritual observance.
The legislative maneuvers are a reaction to recent court decisions that
have for the first time given the
Reform and Conservative movements a say over certain Jewish religious
affairs in Israel.
The status of both bills is changing daily, with some forces pushing
for speedy adoption, to blunt the
effect of the recent court rulings and other forces trying to put off
the legislation till after the May 17
Israeli national elections.
Those politicians seeking a delay are concerned that the issue will
have an impact on the elections,
and could open a gaping new rift in Israeli-diaspora relations.
But the head of the Reform movement expressed frustration with continuing
efforts to postpone the
final conflict over recognizing the legitimacy of non-Orthodox movements
in Israel.
Meanwhile, the Reform movement placed an advertisement on the op-ed
page of the New York
Times on Tuesday. It read: "Religious fundamentalists in Israel are
again threatening to redefine `Who
is a Jew?' We must not let them."
Adoption of the laws "will cause irreparable harm to the unity of the Jewish people," it warned.
Although the ad was placed only by the Reform movement, leaders of the
Conservative movement
said at the news conference that they, too, support what it says.
At the news conference, both movements asked their constituents, who
represent about 85 percent
of synagogue-affiliated American Jews, to communicate their displeasure
over the legislative efforts
to Israeli lawmakers and those who can influence them.
Specifically, they urged their followers to:
*Lobby members of Knesset with e-mails and phone calls.
*Contact Israeli consulates, along with local Jewish and secular media.
*Withhold money from "any person or organization that cannot state to
your satisfaction that they
support pluralism, and that they have respect for Reform and Conservative
Judaism."
*Contact leaders of their local Jewish federations, which raise funds
for programs in Israel, asking
them "to caution Israeli policy-makers about the dangers of passage
of any religious legislation."
"It would be helpful if local federations were to come out with public
statements" in favor of
pluralism, said an "Action Alert" sent out to the leadership of every
Reform congregation.
UJA Federations of North America, the new federation umbrella group,
is taking a proactive role in
the current round of the pluralism debate.
Last week it distributed a brief statement to its lay and professional
leaders, saying that the
organization "urges Israeli leadership and members of Knesset to oppose
the bill" that would exclude
non-Orthodox Jews from religious councils.
Federation leaders also sent a letter to about 40 members of the Knesset
last week asking them "to
consider what impact the legislation might have between Israel and
American Jewry," said Jay
Yoskowitz, executive vice president of the Council of Jewish Federations,
one of the main
constituents of the new umbrella group.
Those members of Knesset who got the letter, including some from the
Orthodox political parties,
had visited American Jewish communities to witness federation activities
within the last year,
Yoskowitz said.
In the past, federation leaders have voiced concern that the pluralism
crisis would have a severe
negative impact on fund-raising for Israel. According to the executive
of one major federation,
however, the actual impact of the crisis on fund-raising has been minimal.
"This honestly is not an enormous concern," said Barry Shrage, president
of the Combined Jewish
Philanthropies of Greater Boston.
While that federation is very concerned about the emotional impact that
the proposed legislation
would have on Jews' sense of unity, he said, "almost the last thing
we're concerned about is whether
this will harm the campaign."
Shrage and Yoskowitz, along with the executive directors of several
other metropolitan Jewish
federations, met with Yoffie and Rabbi Jerome Epstein, executive vice
president of the United
Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, immediately after the movements'
news conference Tuesday.
They have been meeting periodically in recent months to discuss ways
to enhance cooperation
between federations and synagogues in the local communities.
The Orthodox Union, which represents about 1,000 synagogues with about
600,000 members, is
unhappy that UJA Federations is getting involved with the pluralism
issue.
"We feel they've overstepped their bounds," said Mandell Ganchrow, the
O.U. president. "Their job
is to be a charity, and not to be involved in the activities and political
desires of any of the streams."
For now, Ganchrow said, the O.U. is refraining from adding its voice
to the debate because it
believes American Jewish organizations should let Israelis and their
elected officials work out their
own issues.
At the same time, he said, "it's very hard for us to sit quietly when
one party puts ads in the New
York Times. If we don't say anything to the government, then the perception
that the Reform and
Conservative movements speak for American Jewry is allowed to stand."