...Even a poor person who is supported by tzedakah is obligated to contribute tzedakah to others. -Rambam (Maimonides), Mishneh Torah, Laws of gifts to the poor 7:5
Recently the Masorti (Conservative) congregation in Kfar Vradim (a rural town with a sort of suburban life style, located about 30 minutes north of Shorashim) celebrated the ground-breaking for their new synagogue. It marked an important milestone, as the little community there has struggled for years against the opposition of the Orthodox minority and against the apathy of the "secular" majority who couldn't quite understand what all the to-do was about. As has happened in many places, the liberal community finally managed to win the support of local government, which has the power to allocate land for public use. Thus, there are a number of Reform and Conservative synagogues on land allocated by local municipalities, throughout the country. This is of course still a long way from equality with Orthodoxy, whose rabbis are government employees and whose synagogues are often built partly or completely by tax dollars. But on the local political level the liberal movements have made great strides in the past couple of decades.
In general, I think it is important to keep the "persecution" or "disenfranchisement" of liberal Jews in perspective. On the individual level there are issues - primarily in the areas of recognition of marriage and conversion; and of course it is not uncommon for nominally neutral institutions like the army or the schools to hew to an Orthodox line when inviting holiday speakers, or performing public ceremonies (especially galling when it involves the status of women), so it does happen that liberal Jews find themselves feeling like outsiders. On the other hand, they can live where they want, and work where they want (unlike, say, Arabs or Ethiopian Jews, who are persona non grata in various settings).
For various reasons having to do with cultural and generational changes
in Israel, the liberal movements have become much more visible, and new
congregations open every year. Some are large, impressive, busy
institutions; most are small, without full-time rabbis - but the
synagogue model prevalent in North America is still somewhat foreign
here, as some functions that are major elements of synagogue life in
the Diaspora (like education) are not relevant here. Hundreds of
unaffiliated Israelis every year turn to liberal rabbis (or to "secular
rabbis" - who have taken courses in Jewish culture and in
prayer-leading and ceremony-conducting skills) to be married. In order
for the marriage to be recognized by the state bureaucracy, it must be
accompanied by a civil marriage abroad, and liberal rabbis generally
insist on a commitment to obtain a civil marriage before agreeing to
perform the religious ceremony. It seems to me that it won't be very
many years before this ridiculous reality is changed by law, especially
as the numbers continue to grow.
Liberal Jews in Israel on the whole live full Jewish lives as full
citizens of the state. I don't think there are many of us who walk
around with constant feelings of discrimination and persecution, who
are unable to find our place socially, economically, politically
(indeed, my sense is that we represent the higher deciles in the
socio-economic scale). When we run up against the religious
bureaucracy, or symbolic offenses like the persecution of the Women of
the Wall, we are exasperated and frustrated and disappointed. But it
seems to me that feeling challenged to educate and litigate and
demonstrate toward a more perfect Jewish democratic state is not the
same as nor does it justify statements that imply washing our hands of
Israel, or feeling that we have no stake in it. I'm sure that many Jews
(abroad) feel that way; I think using the issue of religious
discrimination to justify those feelings is a cop-out, or perhaps a
cover-up. There are lots of things to fix here; the status of the
liberal Jews is important, but I'm not sure it's the most urgent. We
have to stand up for ourselves, of course - but perhaps first we have
to stand up for those other groups in society whose lot is
significantly worse than ours - as we have been doing elsewhere in
western society since the dawn of modernity.
"....symbolic offenses like the persecution of the Women of the Wall.." There is NOTHNG "symbolic" about women being spat on, assaulted, arrested, publicly vilified, and segregated solely because they are women. The Women of the Wall represent ALL women who dare to publicly protest the subordinate status ascribed to them by those in power.The tired excuse that "there are lots of things to fix here..." is trotted out every time those who oppose blatant injustice call out for a remedy. What's really going on is a graphic demonstration of the viciousness that always follows when one version of (any)religion has the coercive poser of the state behind it.
Mike Waxman said:
All's well and good until the Orthodox grow to a voting majority due to their high birth rate. one estimate I heard expects this a generation from now = 20 years. When that happens, I fear it will be much harder to practice liberal Judaism in Israel, and perhaps even become difficult to move there, should the Law of Return be changed.
David Lansner said:
You can engage in as much wishful thinking as you want, but many American Jews are getting fed up with Israel. While we have put up with Israel's self-destructive foreign policy for years because we support Israel and know the Arabs would destroy it without our support, and that Jews everywhere need Israel as well. But we are wondering what is left to support, and what support it will give us. We would not move to a country that would deny us so many basic rights, or where so much of the population hates us. And the more control the Orthodox have, the less Israel will ever support non-Orthodox Jews in other countries. We are not copping out, or covering up. We are being ousted. If the majority population in Israel - the non-Orthodox - will not unite politically to take control of the government, don't expect American Jews to do it all for you, or give you the money you should obtain from your own government.
Ben Gargle said:
Where does it say that Israel is the homeland of the Orthodox Jews?... I have been to Israel twice and have heard of tour buses being stoned on Saturday and the guides called Nazis, which really got to our guide who lost a son in war and spent two tours as a paratrooper. Now women being stoned...some government has to step up and say enough. Let them serve in the military, let them make a living (unsupported by the government) and then they will have less time to assault women and complain about the system that supports them.
And the comment you made "On the other hand, they can live where they want, and work where they want (unlike, say, Arabs or Ethiopian Jews, who are persona non grata in various settings)." Someday I would like you to elaborate on this line?
Wednesday is my favorite day...thanks for the great commentaries.
I am not, like the man whose comments before me, going to abandon Israel, as I was there, in Irvine Ca. when Michael Oren tried to speak and was shouted down by Arab Students who wouldn't let him speak, so I am angry and don't understand why the masses let the minority rule with an iron fist of ancient books and stones like 5000 years ago. Wake up and smell the world, I can only hope it is a changing..
MARIAN said:
Thanks for an impassioned defense of the status of the life of Liberal Jews in Israel. I am one of those that sounded so negative last week, so I didn't want the week to pass without acknowledging that I read this and understood that life there is more nuanced than it appears from afar. Certainly, my negativity doesn't mean that I don't support the state; I was there just last year. When I got a new passport, I wanted Israel's stamp to be the first one in the book. I will take your word that it is just as possible to ignore the polarizing politics there as it is possible to ignore the same here in the States.
Print
Email
Comment
"....symbolic offenses like the persecution of the Women of the Wall.." There is NOTHNG "symbolic" about women being spat on, assaulted, arrested, publicly vilified, and segregated solely because they are women. The Women of the Wall represent ALL women who dare to publicly protest the subordinate status ascribed to them by those in power.The tired excuse that "there are lots of things to fix here..." is trotted out every time those who oppose blatant injustice call out for a remedy. What's really going on is a graphic demonstration of the viciousness that always follows when one version of (any)religion has the coercive poser of the state behind it.