The Nation-State Law that passed through the Knesset raises important questions about Israeli democracy and the march by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Netanyahu to redefine Israel and change essential elements in Israel’s Declaration of Independence. The founding document of the State of Israel promotes equality, a democratic form of government, and establishes Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

This law was unnecessary and, I believe, a political effort by the Prime Minister to shore up his religious right before calling for new elections.

Benard Avishai has written an important piece in the New Yorker (July 20) that is worth reading.

see – https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/israel-passes-a-law-stating-whats-jewish-about-a-jewish-and-democratic-state

My friend Rabbi Eric Yoffie hit the nail on the head with this piece on the state of Israeli-Diaspora relations. I print here with appreciation for the boldness and rightness of Eric’s words.

New Post by Eric Yoffie, Published in Haaretz This Is a Grim Time for Diaspora Lovers of Israel Jul 30, 2018 10:31 am Whenever I think that Israel-Diaspora relations cannot possibly get any worse, I am proven wrong. The last 4-6 weeks have been, arguably, the worst period ever in the history of relations between Israel and world Jewry. (Credit: Meged Gozani) Israel’s current government occasionally gets something right. It has done a good job, for example, in handling the difficult situation with Syria and Russia on Israel’s northern border. But when it comes to managing ties with Diaspora Jews, it abandons good sense and trades it in for either outright stupidity or moral obtuseness. American Jews in particular are bewildered by actions that they view as openly hostile to American Jewish values, interests, and sensibilities. There is, of course, something deeply ironic about the fumbling and stumbling of Mr. Netanyahu. On the one hand, he talks incessantly about Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. But on the other hand, he appears to care little if at all about what the Jewish people think of Israel’s – and his – actions. Let’s review just a few of the recent actions of Netanyahu and the government of Israel as they relate to the question of Israel-Diaspora ties. First: The abject surrender of the government of Israel to the ultra-Orthodox parties on issue after issue, alienating not only American Jews but civilized people everywhere. We all remember, of course, Netanyahu’s shameful decision to renounce the compromise on the Western Wall that he himself had fashioned. We must now add to that failure two more, each a reflection of cowardice in the face of ultra-Orthodox blackmail. Especially shocking is his backtracking on surrogacy rights for gay male couples after specifically endorsing those rights. Originally, Netanyahu simply did the right thing.  Beyond that, acceptance of gay rights has become an identifying characteristic of the civilized, developed, western world, where Israel proudly places itself.  Furthermore, Israel has for years given special emphasis to its progressive position on LGBTQ rights as a means of differentiating itself from its hostile, backward neighbors. But now, with barely a thought, Israel has jettisoned its long-held principles, damaged its diplomatic standing, and made common cause with fundamentalists in the region. And why? To meet the never-ending demands of ultra-Orthodox Jews who are entitled to their views but who never seem to care about anything or anyone but themselves. To this collapse must be added another: The nation-state bill contained what should have been an utterly uncontroversial section affirming the commitment of the State of Israel to protect Jews around the world and preserve the cultural and religious heritage of the Jewish people. Who could disagree with that? And yet, because the ultra-Orthodox parties feared that such a clause might encourage Israel’s government and courts to support Reform and Conservative Judaism in Israel, the wording was changed. The final text of the law contains an awkward formulation saying that Israel would act to strengthen Jewish culture and religion in the Diaspora – but only in the Diaspora, without any reference to Jewish life in Israel. This wording, of course, is nonsensical: What does it mean for Israel to promote Judaism in Melbourne and Paris but not in Tel Aviv and Haifa?  The result: Diaspora Jews were infuriated. They rightly saw what should have been an embrace as a slap in the face, intended to ensure denial of support for their brand of Judaism in the Jewish state. It is common for the ultra-Orthodox religious monopoly in Israel to be seen as an unfortunate but insignificant fact of political life. With time, the argument goes, technology and modernity will break down the walls of Bnei Brak and Mea Shearim, and the ultra-Orthodox will lose their political clout and rejoin mainstream Israel. But what recent events have shown is that Israel cannot wait another generation to escape the ultra-Orthodox chokehold on religious life in the Jewish state. The price to be paid is simply too high. The time has come for Benjamin Netanyahu, together with parties across the political spectrum, to rein in ultra-Orthodox blackmail and political hooliganism and to restore Israel’s good name as a civilized nation. Second: The willingness of the government of Israel to distort the history of the Holocaust and downplay the role of its collaborators in order to strengthen alliances with right-wing European states. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived in Israel two weeks ago and received an enthusiastic welcome from his good friend Benjamin Netanyahu. Orban is a contemptible, authoritarian politician who is dismantling democracy in Hungary and hovers on the edges of outright anti-Semitism in his political campaigns. Orban has expressed lavish praise for Milos Horthy, Hungary’s Nazi-supporting leader during World War II. And in Orban’s recent reelection campaign, he used ugly anti-Semitic terminology to describe George Soros, the Hungarian Jewish philanthropist and champion of European democracy. Was any of this a problem for Benjamin Netanyahu?  Apparently not.  Bibi referred to Orban as a “true friend of Israel,” offering him a diplomatic bear hug that conferred on Orban the political legitimacy that he craves. But Bibi did more than that. In response to a proposed Polish law to effectively criminalize research on the Holocaust, Bibi had already signed a joint statement with the Polish Prime Minister minimizing the role of Polish authorities and individuals in supporting the Nazi extermination efforts during World War II. This was a giant step too far, a crushing blow to Jewish collective memory. It was also a profound affront to every Jew – myself included – who lost large segments of their family on Polish soil during the Holocaust. Poland is awash in Jewish blood. Yes, the Poles were not the Nazis, and not all Poles were implicated. But the masses of Jew-haters who colluded in the slaughter must not be forgotten or forgiven or pushed from our consciousness. And who gave Bibi the right to fiddle with the facts of history on this exceedingly painful subject? Netanyahu heads the “national camp” in Israeli politics, which for more than 30 years was led by Menachem Begin. When David Ben-Gurion proposed that Israel accept reparations payments from the German government in 1952, Begin – backed by the left-wing Mapam party – responded with outrage, demonstrations, and even violence. It was unthinkable to Begin that the government of Israel should extend even a modicum of forgiveness or “understanding” to those implicated in the exterminations at Auschwitz and elsewhere. Ben-Gurion’s actions were probably justified because Israel was broke, desperate, utterly alone, and without resources to support the masses of immigrants then arriving at its shores. Still, that was a time when the “national camp” had a moral backbone, and Begin’s moral righteousness resonated with many in Israel. Netanyahu’s declaration, on the other hand, was not motivated by compelling need; it was merely an act of political convenience. Yad Vashem, the U.S. Holocaust Museum, and prominent Holocaust historians protested the Prime Minister’s statement.  For a variety of reasons, their protest did not receive the publicity it should have. Nonetheless, Diaspora leadership took careful note of this gratuitous blow to the holiness of our Holocaust memories. There is much else that could be discussed here about Israel-Diaspora relations: the conversion crisis, the detention of a Conservative rabbi for carrying out his religious duties, Israel’s retreat from minority rights not only for Reform Jews but for all minorities, and the prime minister’s failure to share with world Jewry any coherent vision of Israeli-Palestinian peace. This is a grim time for Diaspora lovers of Israel, and many feel discouraged and abandoned. There is no point in glossing over the harsh realities of the moment. Still, those of us in the Zionist camp in the Diaspora refuse to despair. The devotion of the Jewish people to Israel is strong and the case for Zionism remains compelling. The problem is not Israel. The problem is the weak, cowardly, unprincipled, self-serving politicians of the current government. Caught up in their petty, internal quarrels, they have inflicted on the Jewish people the problems enumerated above and forgotten the importance of an inclusivist Jewish vision. Israel needs leaders who speak the language of a single Jewish people and who reach out to Jews everywhere that are moved by its vision and summoned by its call. Jewish life cannot be sustained without Israel at its core, and Israel cannot be sustained without the Jewish people at its side. Sometime soon, we hope and pray, Israel will have leaders who understand that.

Nationalism is the belief that your nation should dominate others. It “is inseparable from the desire for power.” A nationalist “thinks solely, or mainly, in terms of competitive prestige … his thoughts always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs and humiliations.” Patriotism involves “devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one … has no wish to force on other people.”

– George Orwell – cited in an article by Peter Beinart “Donald Trump is no Patriot”, July 19, 2018, The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/07/the-unpatriotic-nationalism-of-donald-trump/565607/

The Jewish Forward July 26, 2018

Like Peter Beinart, I revere Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and have read all his books and wait for the next one. However, as Peter has noted in this important article in detail, Rabbi Sacks has become a victim to his base’s most vocal right-wing critics. His inconsistencies in entering into politics when it serves his orthodox base and condemning rabbinic commentary on contemporary issues when such commentary is politically and contrary to his base, is disheartening.

Though it pains me to read the commentary that Peter made of his own rabbinic model, such commentary is very important in an age in which morality and politics are clearly linked.

See: https://forward.com/opinion/406716/rabbi-jonathan-sacks-has-abdicated-his-moral-responsibility-in-the-age-of/

 

[My photo in Carpentaria, California overlooking the Pacific – morning]

This summer Barbara and I rented a house for a week in Carpentaria, California. The house was at the top of the mountain over-looking the Pacific. I was moved not only by the glorious view but by the solitude of the site. There were no homes nearby and no traffic. Avocado and orange tree groves spread out in every direction. The serene stillness of the silence was punctuated only occasionally by the horns and bells of a train as it moved through the town that connected Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.

I’ve always had sensitive ears. I cringe at loud cacophony. My tastes in music are the classics and jazz. I prefer the mellifluous to the abrasive.

Sitting outside each morning before others awoke, I listened to the sound of my breathing, reassuring myself about who I am, from whence I’ve come, and Who is my Creator.

I thank my late colleague, Rabbi Levi Meir, for sharing with me many years ago his translation of an essay by Dr. Adolf Altmann, the late Chief Rabbi of the town of Trier, Germany in 1928, on the significance of the sense of hearing.

Rabbi Altmann concluded that the command “Sh’ma Yisrael – Listen, O Israel” which appears in this week’s Torah portion Va-etchanan, is more than a call for attention.  He explained that something deeper occurs when we proclaim the supreme watchword of Jewish faith.

Rabbi Altmann noted that the command “Sh’ma!” is an appeal to one of the senses, that the keenest perception of all embraces thought and the sensory experience of hearing. He said that hearing is the only sense through which God revealed It’s divinity to the Israelites directly.

Why hearing? Why not touch, sight, taste, or smell? Altmann wrote that among the five senses the tonal stands nearest to the purely spiritual reflecting tradition’s understanding of hearing as the best medium of sensory revelation, the most easily amplified into the infinite. Mozart understood as well that hearing is the means through which sense and spirit touch and the corporeal and incorporeal are joined.

Jewish mystics speak of the religious seeker’s goal of hitbodedut (communion with God), of reaching outward and inward to that moment of meeting when God hears the stirring of the soul reaching out and we hear God’s voice as if, per Heschel, reaching out to us. The prophet Elijah experienced the divine voice as a kol d’mama daka, a soft murmuring sound (1 Kings 19:12), like a baby’s breath, or like air passing quietly through the lips. In that moment of God-hearing, Israel is aware of divine unity.

Judaism understands that each mitzvah (commandment) is a living transference of God’s voice that once sounded to Israel at Sinai. Every word and letter in Torah is the encasing vessel of God’s holy sparks, flashes of light rediscovered as they are heard in the ears of every generation.

Rabbi Leo Baeck taught that in encountering the God of Israel, the Jew discovers the mystery and the commandment. Thus, the mitzvot are the spiritual and ethical links when the metaphysical and the moral join.

Rabbi Altmann wrote:

“Through the silent walls of hard prison cells hear the sighs, Israel; out of the lonely huts of deserted widows and orphans, from the bed of pain of the sick and suffering, from the quietly restrained anguish of the rejected and disenfranchised; from the mute looks of the timid and sorrow-laden, from the pale lips of the starving and needy, you, Jew, shall hear the cries of pain, without their having to be emitted. The cry of the suffering is the cry of God, which emanates from them to you. As the Psalmist lets God speak: ‘With the oppressed, I am one in suffering.’ (Psalm 91:15)”

We say the Sh’ma and understand its spiritual power and ethical obligation to become witnesses to God in the world. It isn’t an accident that the two enlarged letters of the Sh’ma (the ayin and daled) spell “witness.”

The silence I experienced on a Carpentaria mountain; the murmuring sound  in every life-breath; the God-filled words of Torah; the screams of human suffering – all command our attention as if we are standing with our people at Mount Sinai.

Shabbat Shalom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am posting this letter by Rabbi Dow Marmur, the emeritus Rabbi at Holy Blossom Synagogue in Toronto and a past President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Rabbi Marmur resides in Jerusalem and writes regularly to a select group of his friends.

This piece is incisive and insightful about the Israeli Prime Minister and what may have been behind both the Nation-State Law and the Surrogacy Law that passed the Knesset this week. It is worth reading and sharing with people whom you think will care.

  There’s no date for the next general election in Israel but the prime minister is already campaigning at full speed. Three most current instances come to mind,

1. He has promoted legislation, just passed, that will prove that he and his party are the only authentic custodians of the Zionist idea. All who oppose him are extreme leftist post-Zionists bent on self-destruction. There’s reason to fear that many Israelis will believe him.

              That’s behind the new law that proclaims the obvious in a new and ominous context that Israel is a Jewish state. It promotes Jewish settlements everywhere where, at best, Israel’s two million Arab citizens may be tolerated. (The original draft wanted explicitly to segregate them). Arabic will no longer be one of Israel’s two official languages beside Hebrew but only a preferred one. It has thus been de facto downgraded. No wonder Arab leaders in Israel invoke the apartheid accusation.

              All this will please right-wing voters and force their opponents to “prove” that they, too, are good Jews and Zionists, something that hitherto the Israeli public may have taken for granted.

              Even members of Netanyahu’s own Likud Party have expressed discomfort, among them President Reuven Rivlin and Member of Knesset Binyamin Begin, the son of the late prime minister. They’re liberal nationalists and they seem to sense what many of us have come to fear: the “democratic” in the notion of Israel as a Jewish democratic state is being ominously eroded.

2. Another instance of pre-election manipulation: Prime Minister Netanyahu withdrew his support for gay couples to have children through surrogacy. Only single women who cannot bear children would be allowed to “carry out a surrogacy procedure in Israel.” This should show that you don’t have to vote for one of the Orthodox political parties: Likud will deliver the anti-gay goods.
3. And then there’s the visit by Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary who has managed to thwart democracy in his country and thus endeared himself to his Israeli counterpart: Netanyahu thanked Orban for defending Israel in Europe.

              Some Israelis made a feeble attempt to stage a protest when Orban visited Yad Vashem but that wouldn’t have marred the joy for the guest when visiting the memorial to the Jewish victims.

              The affection for this anti-Semite is consistent with the tacit support that Netanyahu has given to the current government in Poland which, according to the views of respected experts, amounts to a form of Holocaust denial.

              Part of Netanyahu’s self-image as presented to Israelis is that he’s not only a brilliant leader of his country but also a player on the world stage. His dealings with Hungary and Poland are part of the effort to join forces with “trusted” members of the European Union. For similar reasons, Israel’s prime minister is also said to have told his party faithful that it was he who got Trump to take action against Iran. He wouldn’t be the first Jew in history with Messianic ambitions.

              Mrs. Netanyahu has been quoted recently to say that had her husband been an American he would have been president of the United States. After Trump, anything is possible.

Jerusalem 20.7.18                                                                                                                              Dow Marmur

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trump Is Being Manipulated by Putin. What Should We Do?

Lawmakers must keep the American people informed of the current danger, writes a Republican congressman from Texas.

By Will Hurd

Mr. Hurd, a former C.I.A. officer, is a congressman from the 23rd District of Texas.

 

Later today (Wednesday, July 18) the Nation-State bill is likely to pass in the Israeli Knesset in a watered down version from the original.

Rabbi Josh Weinberg, President of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA) the national board of which I chair, sent the following cover note over a letter by Rabbi Gilad Kariv, President of the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ), and Rabbi Noa Sattat, Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), plus two attachments, one by retiring Chair of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), Natan Sharansky, and a nation-bill update.

It should be noted that the passage of this bill has been opposed strenuously by the President of the State of Israel Reuven Rivlin and Member of the Knesset Benny Begin of the Prime Minister’s Likud party. Prime Minister Netanyahu has advocated for and supported the bill and then doubled down his support despite international Jewish condemnation of the bill that would chip away at Israel’s democratic character and defy its own Declaration of Independence, the original Israeli “nation-state” statement of principles. Those opposed argue that there is no need for this bill because Israel’s Declaration of Independence sets the principles for the establishment of a Jewish democratic State of Israel

The nation-state bill will, if passed (and it is expected to pass in this new form) be equivalent to an amendment to the American Constitution.

Please read the below carefully as well as the two items that follow so you understand what has occurred in recent days in the Knesset and what is at stake for the continuance of a democratic Jewish State of Israel.

I agree with the leadership of our international Reform Zionist and Israeli Reform movement. I will send out another blog in the next day or two once the Bill has completed its run through the Knesset.

In thinking about the distortions in the American presidency today and what is happening in Israel, though of very different characters, I’m deeply distressed about both. However, with regards to both nations, they belong to us all and we have to keep fighting for what we believe, for justice, religious pluralism, and democracy even if current events cause us deep worry and despair.

 

Shalom Haverim/ot,

Please see the below letter from Rabbis Gilad Kariv and Noa Sattath updating us on the current status of the Nation-State bill. I am also including a letter from Natan Sharansky and an update from JAFI BoG Chair Michael Siegel.

In addition to the efforts in Israel, we have been working hard to do everything we can from North America to try and prevent this bill from passing, and despite all of our efforts it looks like it will indeed pass.  In my mind, that means one thing at the moment – that we must double down our support for the Reform Movement in Israel and strengthen the Jewish and democratic values of the State in order to contribute to the flourishing of a strong civil society.

Shalom,

Rabbi Joshua Weinberg, President, ARZA

 

Friends and Partners Shalom,

Today (Wednesday) the Knesset Committee has approved a final version of the “Nation State” Law, and we believe that the law will be passed tonight by the Knesset by a very small margin of coalition MKs with all the opposition MKs voting against.

As all of you are aware, over the past weeks  and especially the last few days we have organized and led the intense public and political “battle” to prevent this law from passing.  Many of you aided us in this effort and we want to express our deepest gratitude. We believe that our efforts put Reform and Progressive Jews in the forefront of the struggle for Israel’s democratic and Jewish values based on our Zionist and Democratic world view.

During this public struggle we stated clearly that the “Nation State” Law can actually help us in legal claims regarding recognition of the non- Orthodox  streams of Judaism from the very fact of the statement in the law that Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people. At the same time we nonetheless fiercely opposed the law because of the worsening of relations between Arabs and Jews in Israel,  and because the law does not mention Israel’s Declaration of Independence, or the principle of equality and democratic values of the state of Israel.

It is important to note that the version of the law that will be ratified tonight by the Knesset is very different from the original versions that were proposed. It does not include any statement in which the Jewish character of the state is more important than the democratic character (the democratic character of Israel is anchored in the Basic Law of Human Dignity and Freedom passed in the 90s). The law also does not include a statement giving an official status of Jewish law (halacha) as a source of inspiration,  nor does the law give itself a higher status than the other Basic Laws. Additionally instead of the original line that stated clearly that people could be prevented from joining community settlements on the basis of religion, ethnicity, or nationality,  the law now only makes a general statement in support of Jewish settlement as a national value that the nation should promote.

All of these points reduce the negativity of the original versions, but it’s still important to state that we feel that  this is a terrible and unnecessary law which erodes the necessary balances among the core values of the state of Israel.

In the coming days we will distribute a detailed summery regarding the law including the lessons we have learned in the process of the struggle against the law, and thoughts regarding the future. We are convinced that our Zionist, Progressive and Democratic Voice is needed now more than ever to be heard. We believe that even after the law is passed, we should express our disappointment and concern to Israeli ambassadors and representatives throughout the world. It’s very important that Jerusalem be made aware that the passing of the law leaves a heavy burden on Israeli society and world Jewry and that large numbers of the Jewish people in Israel and around the world are deeply worried about erosion of Israel’s core values.

We want to thank all those who helped and continue to participate in the effort, both our professionals and our volunteer leadership in Israel and around the world.

B’vracha,

Rabbi Gilad Kariv and Rabbi Noa Sattath

 

To: MK Amir Ohana, Chairman – The Joint Committee of the Knesset Committee and the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee

Re: The Need for Consideration of the Position of Diaspora Jews on the Subject of the “National Law”

Distinguished colleagues,

The State of Israel is the national home for the entire Jewish people, and it is clear to me that there is no dispute on this point between any Zionist parties or movements. Although the National Law was originally intended to reinforce this principle, recent amendments to it (I refer mainly to Section 6B) raise great concerns since they seem to drive a wedge between Israeli Jewry and World Jewry.

It is troubling that changes to the law add to the conflict that has accompanied us in recent years around the role to give to different streams of Judaism in the public sphere.

I call upon the members of the committee to put their hearts into this issue and do everything in their power to prevent a further rift in the Jewish people.

Additionally, changes to certain clauses give ammunition to those who support a boycott against Israel, for example the revocation of Arabic’s special status as a language until the passing of a law about it—when we don’t know what that law will be or when it will pass—and the clause about making it legal for towns to refuse residency to certain populations. In recent times, a number of laws have passed the Knesset with the stated purpose of shoring up the struggle against the boycott of Israel. Yet they were drafted and passed without consulting with those who actually fight the boycott every day in the Diaspora. So too in the case of the current bill: we can’t expect Jews overseas to fight hard against the boycott movement without consulting with them and hearing their opinions.

I therefore propose that you invite representatives of overseas Jewish organizations to present their viewpoints to the members of the committee, before a final draft of the law is formulated.

Respectfully,

Natan Sharansky

 

Dear Friends,

In recent months, the Knesset has debated the Nation-State Basic Law sponsored by the Likud and the Prime Minister which intends to enshrine in legislation the State of Israel as the national home of the Jewish people, something which Jews worldwide universally support.

The bill contains several significant clauses about the nature of the Jewish state, it’s symbols, the Hebrew language, Aliyah and the responsibility of the State for Jews in distress. There is also important language about the responsibility of the State to maintain the relationship with the Diaspora and to preserve the cultural, historic and religious heritage of the Jewish people in the State of Israel.

Over the past week we have been working with the Knesset and the government to try and influence the legislation in a positive manner and to alert the government to several problematic clauses in the law. Natan Sharansky wrote a letter to the Chairman of the Committee of the Knesset working on the law, MK Amir Ohana, who participated in our last MK mission to the US with JFNA. The letter highlighted our concerns and called on the Knesset to invite representatives of the Jewish people to appear before them prior to the legislation being passed. After the letter was received, MK Ohana invited Josh Schwarcz, our Secretary General, to speak before the committee last Thursday. Josh addressed the committee and presented our concerns to the Knesset.

We actively worked with the Government and members of the Caucus for the Jewish People in the Knesset to lobby on the legislation. All our efforts were done in close cooperation with Jerry Silverman, the President and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, who was in Israel this week and with the active leadership and participation of our Chairman elect, MK Isaac Herzog, who amongst other things, spoke at length in the Knesset plenum about the law.

The most important achievement was the revision of problematic language in the law that allowed for the creation of separate community settlements based upon religion or ethnicity. We were amongst those who spoke out vocally on the language in the law about segregation and we are pleased that the language was subsequently taken out.

We also achieved important language on the Diaspora – relating to the responsibility of the Government to preserve the connection with the Jewish people in the Diaspora and to the preservation of the cultural, historic and religious heritage of the Jewish people in the State of Israel. Unfortunately, the ultra-orthodox were successful in inserting language that made it clear that the responsibility of the government for maintaining the relationship with the Jewish people is specifically in the Diaspora.

We remain concerned about the clause lowering of the status of the Arabic language from an official language to a language of special status. This clause is potentially unhelpful in maintaining support for Israel.

This update is being sent to you before the final Knesset vote on the bill. It is still possible, but unlikely, that the bill will be modified at the last minute or not brought to a vote in this session of the Knesset.  If there are any last-minute changes we will, of course, inform you.

Please find attached a translation of the letter from Natan Sharansky to MK Amir Ohana. The law changed dramatically following the action we took after Natan’s letter was sent and the final version of the law is much more declarative than its original version.

Also, please see the following link to an article on this issue in the Jerusalem Post:

https://www.jpost.com//Israel-News/Complaints-about-Jewish-nation-state-bill-reach-Congress-562335

We will continue to work on your behalf and on behalf of the Jewish people in Israel while being your voice in the Government and the Knesset.

Sincerely,

Michael Siegal (Jewish Agency for Israel)

 

This is a monumental change after 130 years since the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform of the Central Conference of American Rabbis first said that American Reform Judaism is a religion only and anti-Zionist.

Over the course of the last century, Reform Judaism has increasingly become engaged in Zionist activity and Israel. In 1978 at the biannual meeting of the Reform movement in San Francisco, the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA) was founded and for the past 41 years as served as the Zionist arm of American Reform movement representing  1.5 million Reform Jews. ARZA’s chief function has been to promote Israel in the United States and to represent the Reform movement in the national institutions of the Jewish people (i.e. The Jewish Agency for Israel, The World Zionist Organization, and the Jewish National Fund).

The Union for Reform Judaism’s decision to endorse the Jerusalem Program of the World Zionist Organization transforms the American Reform movement formally into a Zionist movement.

See this article in the Jerusalem Post about this historic turning point in American Reform – https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Refusing-to-be-pushed-away-Reform-movement-affirms-its-zionist-core-561155

Also, an important conversation about the new chairman of the Jewish Agency, Israeli opposition leader Yitzhak “Bougie” Herzog, and the place of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) in international Jewish affairs is tackled on “The Promised Podcast” on TLV1 Radio – listen here https://tlv1.fm/the-promised-podcast/2018/06/30/bougies-golem/.