Israel on Her 65th Birthday – Taking Pride In Her Accomplishments

15 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Ethics, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice, Uncategorized

Tags

The State of Israel is the 100th smallest country in the world with less than 1/1000th of the world’s population, yet her people have accomplished so very much even as she has struggled in war and been forced to spend more money per capita on her own protection than any other county on earth.

On Israel’s 65^th birthday I pause to marvel in all she is and represents to the Jewish people.

I raise my glass to her accomplishments in literature, medicine, agriculture, the arts, science, and technology.

I tip my hat to her courage and survival.

Consider the following:

Israel is the only country in the Middle East that based its principles of government on both democratic liberal values and on the values of the Biblical prophets.
Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth.
Israel has the world’s second highest per capita rate of published books.
Israel is the only nation on earth that resurrected an ancient language, Hebrew, as its national language.
Israeli poets and song writers are regarded as heroes.
Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees.
Israel has more museums per capita than any country.
Israel developed the cell phone, Windows NT and XP operating systems, Pentium MMX Chip technology, the Pentium-4 microprocessor, the Centrino Processor, voice mail technology, and AOL Instant Messenger ICQ.
Israel has the highest per capita rate of home computers in the world.
Israel designed the airline industry’s most impenetrable flight security system.
Israel designed and implemented the Iron Dome Defense system.
Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees in the world.
Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation, and one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.
Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship in the world.
Israel is second in the world in the number of start-up companies behind only the U.S.
Israel has the world’s largest per capita number of biotech start-ups.
Israel has the third largest number of NASDAQ listed companies, behind the U.S. and Canada, and is ranked second for venture capital funds.
Israel has the highest average living standard in the Middle East.
24% of Israel’s workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world; 12% hold advanced degrees.
Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce.
Israel is a world leader in water renewal, recycling, desalination, and solar heating.
Israel invented the drip irrigation system used around the world.
An Israeli company is developing a toilet that needs no water and generates its own power to turn solid waste into sterile and odorless fertilizer in 30 seconds, thereby affecting 1.1 billion people who do not use a toilet.
An Israeli scientist has developed a way to preserve 50% of every grain and pulse harvest lost to pests and mold in the developing world.
Israel won international praise for the speed and expertise with which it responded to a 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti that killed 300,000 by sending a team of 240 Israeli doctors, nurses, rescue and relief workers to set up an advanced field hospital to work in search-and-rescue missions.
An Israeli company developed a water purification system that delivers safe drinking water from contaminated water, seawater and even urine thereby addressing the tragedy of 1.6 million children under the age of five who die annually from untreated drinking water in developing nations.
Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.
Hadassah medical researchers found the gene that causes liver disease, thus paving the way for new treatments for alcoholism.
Tel Aviv University Scientists say a nutritional supplement commonly sold in health food stores can delay the advance of degenerative brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.
Israel’s Given Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill that can view the small intestine from the inside to detect for cancer and digestive disorders.
Israeli researchers developed a device that helps the heart pump blood that is synchronized with a camera that helps doctors diagnose the heart’s mechanical operations through a system of sensors.
An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment.

In the spirit of Yom Ha’atzmaut I celebrate her, despite her imperfections and challenges, with enthusiasm and the words of the Psalmist in my heart: “This is the day God has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24)

Sources:

http://israel21c.org/technology/israels-top-45-greatest-inventions-of-all-time-2/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Israeli_inventions_and_discoveries

http://israel21c.org/social-action-2/the-top-65-ways-israel-is-saving-our-planet/

Women of the Wall Agree To Historic Plan – A Victory for Religious Pluralism and Democracy in Israel

12 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, Ethics, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice, Uncategorized, Women's Rights

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

American Jewish Life, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Social Justice, Women's Rights

It seems that Natan Sharansky has successfully gained agreement between the Israeli and international Reform movement, the Women of the Wall (WOW) and the Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall (ultra-orthodox) that a section at the southern end of the Kotel beneath Robinson’s Arch will be designated by the government of Israel as being free for egalitarian liberal prayer on a footing equal to the area currently dominated by the ultra-orthodox.

The newly designated section will have its own entrance and will be allowed to host prayer and religious celebrations according to Conservative, Reform, Renewal, and Reconstructionist practice, meaning that women can pray alongside men, lead religious services, read from the Torah, wear tallitot, and sing aloud without concern of offending the ultra-orthodox community. (See complete story in the Jewish Daily Forward. http://forward.com/articles/174588/kotel-egalitarian-prayer-plan-set-in-motion-by-dra/?p=all)

The agreement will end police tolerance of the ugly insults by ultra-orthodox men and women against WOW including the orthodox screaming profanities, spitting on women worshipers, and police arresting women wearing tallitot, carrying Torah scrolls and reading from the sacred literature. Details are still to be worked out, but Natan Sharansky is to be congratulated on his “shuttle diplomacy” between the ultra-orthodox officials and liberal Jewish leaders that resulted in this compromise agreement.

This is a huge victory for religious pluralism and democracy in the State of Israel, but it is arguably only the beginning.

Other outstanding issues affecting non-orthodox Jews are still outstanding and need to be addressed. These include the need for the government to grant equal financial support for non-orthodox synagogues and institutions, equal pay for regional non-orthodox rabbis such as Rabbi Miri Gold (regional rabbi for Kibbutz Gezer who has not been paid despite the Supreme Court order that this occur), marriage equality for all Israeli citizens and the right to marry in the state without orthodox approval, and ending institutionalized preference for Orthodox Judaism.

In meetings yesterday here in Los Angeles with five members of the Knesset who were brought on tour of the Jewish communities of Chicago, Los Angeles and New York by the Jewish Federation of North America and the Jewish Agency of Israel (MK Avi Wortsman of Bayit HaYehudi, MK Yoel Razvozov of Yesh Atid, MK Hilik Bar of Avodah, MK Nachman Shai of Avodah, and MK David Tsur of HaTenuah), all five said they would support this historic compromise and bring their respective political parties, Bayit Hayehudi, Yesh Atid, HaTenuah, and Avodah along with them.

In my next blog I will report on the 90 minute frank, candid, and important conversation that we ten American Reform and Conservative Rabbis had with the five Members of the Knesset.

Shabbat Shalom

The Organized American Jewish Community’s Response to President Obama’s Jerusalem Speech

31 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Social Justice

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Social Justice

President Obama’s Jerusalem speech has been praised by most American Jewish Organizations for his eloquent support of Israel, its security, his respect for the historic Jewish attachment to the land of Israel, his tough stand against the Iranian nuclear threat, and his desire to help the parties resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict.

I should be happy with this praise, but I am instead worried, not for what most of these organizations said in their press releases following Obama’s Middle East visit, but by what they did not say.

In reading the statements of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC), the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), and J Street, in all but the RAC and J Street statements something important was missing.

The AJC quoted Obama as “reaffirming the US supported goal of a negotiated two state-solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” and calling “on the Palestinians to return to direct talks with Israel…” noting that the President praised “Abbas as a partner for peace.”

The ADL said that “The President conveyed a deep understanding of important challenges facing Israel, including the peace process…” and “that the peace process can only be achieved through negotiations without preconditions…”

AIPAC noted that both Obama and Netanyahu “share the view that direct talks should resume between the Israelis and Palestinians without preconditions, with the objective of two states for two peoples.”

The ZOA made no mention of a two-state solution because it does not support a two-state solution.

Here are the relevant remarks in the RAC and J Street statements that are missing from all the others:

The RAC, quoting Obama, repeated: “Israelis must recognize that continued settlement activity is counterproductive to the cause of peace and that an independent Palestine must be viable, with real borders that have to be drawn. I’ve suggested principles on territory and security that I believe can be the basis for these talks.”

J Street said: “[Obama] also laid out the moral case for peace with the Palestinians, based on full recognition of their national right to self-determination and their right to build their lives free of the daily humiliations of military occupation. The President also made it clear that peace is possible and that Israel does have partners in …Abbas and…Fayyad…who are committed to negotiations and to a peaceful solution.”

It seems to me that in their press statements the organized American Jewish community ignored most of the 20 minutes of the President’s 49 minute address that spoke directly and compassionately to the Israeli people about the plight of the Palestinians under occupation and their legitimate rights to a national home of their own side by side with Israel.

Here are a few of the most important lines of Obama’s speech that were not eluded to except by the RAC and J Street:

“[T]he Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and justice must also be recognized. Put yourself in their shoes – look at the world through their eyes.

Neither occupation nor expulsion is the answer. Just as Israelis built a state in their homeland, Palestinians have a right to be a free people in their own land.

Peace is possible. It is possible. I’m not saying it’s guaranteed. I can’t even say that it is more likely than not, but it is possible.

Let me say this as a politician, I can promise you this: political leaders will never take risks if the people do not push them to take some risks. You must create the change that you want to see. Ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things.

Today, as we face the twilight of Israel’s founding generation, you – the young people of Israel – must now claim its future. It falls to you to write the next chapter in the great story of this great nation.

What concerns me is the potentially obstructionist role that some in the organized American Jewish community might take (as has happened in the past) when President Obama and Secretary Kerry put concrete proposals on the table about borders, settlements, security, Jerusalem, and refugees. I hope that what is missing in their press statements are merely oversights. I hope as well that the organized American Jewish community will support President Obama fully in his efforts without second guessing him and without partisan rancor in order to help the Israelis and Palestinians find an end of conflict two-state solution without getting in his way.

If this occurs in this next year, come Pesach 2014 we will truly be able to say – Dayeinu!

What Conclusions Might We Draw Concerning the New Israeli Government

14 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Social Justice, Uncategorized, Women's Rights

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

IOsrael/Zionism, Israel and Palestine, Jewish History, Social Justice, Women's Rights

Days before President Obama’s visit, PM Netanyahu has managed to form a new Israeli government with 68 seats (out of 120) for a ruling majority. What does it all mean? That is the question of the hour.

I offer a few observations and Israeli press sites that, hopefully, will not confuse you more than you may already be. After all, Israeli politics isn’t for the feint of heart nor the simple minded:

PM Benjamin Netanyahu (with a total of 31 seats combined with Yisrael Bateinu) has been vastly weakened compared to his standing in the former government, though he continues to hold onto the powerful Foreign Affairs and Defense Ministries.
Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) and Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi) with a total of 31 seats together maintained their uncommon alliance (and growing friendship) and succeeded in excluding for the first time the ultra-Orthodox parties from the ruling coalition. Lapid’s #2 Rabbi Shai Peron will take over the Education Ministry and might be able to force the ultra-Orthodox yeshivot to include English, Hebrew, math, and science in their curriculum or risk losing government support for their schools. Bennett gets the important Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry, the Housing and Construction Ministry and the Knesset Finance Committee, which will help him continue to finance heavily the settler movement that elected him, throwing a wrench into any Israeli-Palestinian negotiations (Bennett is against a two-state solution – see below).
Lapid and Bennett’s alliance also insures that shivyon b’netel (“sharing the burden of military service”) will force Yeshiva buchers to serve in the military without the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism and Shas parties breathing down their necks. Yesh Atid has announced that a universal military service bill will be submitted to the Knesset, with Bibi’s approval, before the budget is submitted. It is likely that we can expect a sharp reduction of funds flowing to ultra-Orthodox synagogues and Yeshivot going forward.
Lapid will now be the Finance Minister and must come up with a national budget in the next 45 days. Lapid risks losing his image as Israel’s charismatic darling for the poor and middle classes because, as Finance Minister, he will have to make tough choices and propose cuts that might hurt the very people who voted for him and who are the most vulnerable in Israeli society. He is said to dread the prospect of protestors picketing his home.
Religious pluralism may or may not be a winner in this election. Lapid’s children became b’nai mitzvah at Reform Judaism’s flagship Tel Aviv congregation, Beit Daniel, and he is personally close to the Daniel Center’s Senior Rabbi Meir Azari. Though Lapid can, with a stroke of the pen, grant government funds equal to those going to the non-Orthodox for the first time, Israel’s culture still needs an aggressive non-Orthodox alliance between the secular population and Reform and Conservative Jews (estimated to equal 70% of Israel’s Jewish population) to fight hard to promote civil marriage and women’s rights, against government imposed Shabbat restrictions, separate gender seating on buses, and the ultra-Orthodox dominance of Judaism’s holiest site, the Western Wall (Kotel) and Plaza.
The right-wing Yuli Edestein was voted as the next Speaker of the Knesset which now retires my cousin, the respected long-time Likud leader, Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin from that seat. Ruby was second behind Shimon Peres for President of the State a number of years ago.
Iran and Palestinian-Israeli Peace Negotiations? Much will be revealed in the coming weeks on both fronts in light of President Obama’s mission to the Middle East starting next week. It is likely that Obama and Bibi already have an understanding on how they will deal with the Iran nuclear issue (I pray!). It is likely that something will begin anew between the Israelis and Palestinians. However, with Bennett in the government, I fear the worst even as I hope for the best – a two-state solution. In a conversation I had last week with one of Israel’s leaders, he does not believe that Bennett, representing a small faction of 11 seats, will greatly influence the Israeli-Palestinian issue. I pray he is right.

For ongoing information, I recommend that you read the English and/or Hebrew edition of Haaretz or The Jerusalem Post, and the Hebrew edition for Yediot Achronot at http://www.ynet.co.il. You can also check out http://www.walla.co.il, another Israeli Hebrew language news link.

“The Gatekeepers” – a Must-See Film

30 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, Ethics, Film Reviews, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Social Justice

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

American Jewish Life, Film Reviews, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Social Justice

The film “Gatekeepers” was made, according to Director Dror Moreh, for Israelis who do not think much about the lives of Palestinians living in the West Bank under Israeli occupation nor about the negative and corrosive impact the occupation has had on the moral and political character of the people and state of Israel. It is also intended for those American Jews who love Israel in their kishkes, who understand that Jewish history in light of the Holocaust compels them to appreciate the central importance of the Jewish state in their lives, but who have come to the wrong conclusion, that in order to love Israel they have to support her policies right or wrong.

The film has been nominated for an Academy Award at this year’s Oscars, and I am personally mixed about whether I want it to win or not, because winning means even wider exposure of this disturbing story before the world at large.

The film features interviews of six retired Directors of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security services. These are hardened, pragmatic men, people with blood on their hands, who have seen it all, who have been the chief practitioners in the fight against terrorism, and who understand that though there are things Israel’s military has had to do to protect Israeli citizens, there is still something “unnatural” about this fight.

Why are these Shin Bet former directors speaking out now? After all, anyone working in Israel’s intelligence services historically has been closed-mouthed about what happens there. They agreed to be interviewed and part of this film because they believe that the direction of Israeli policy is leading the Jewish state towards a catastrophe, that the continued occupation of one and a half million hostile Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank is doomed for disaster, that the occupation is eating away at Israel’s political and moral heart and soul and threatening the survival of the Jewish democratic state of Israel.

The six characterized Israel’s policy in the West Bank as short-sighted, based on tactical matters and not reflective of a cogent long-term strategy. To a man they are soured on Israel’s political leaders who they say have failed to grapple with the core of the conflict and who have not demonstrated the courage necessary to find a two-state solution. They do not understand, for example, Prime Minister Netanyahu who on the one hand says he is for a two-state solution and on the other embraces the most extremist elements within Israeli society that are against a Palestinian state anywhere west of the Jordan River.

One can only hope that there will be a more moderate Israeli government that forms in the next few weeks reflecting the Israeli public’s rejection of extremism and a renewed effort by the United States to bring the parties together to talk and negotiate in good faith.

“Gatekeepers” is a must-see film for anyone who cares about Israel as the democratic state of the Jewish people.

The following link is a 25 minute interview with Dror Moreh, the Director of Gatekeepers by The Huffington Post.

http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/dror-moreh%27s-documentary-the-gatekeepers-on-israeli-heads-of-shin-bet/50f941c22b8c2a2169000416

Update – Arrest of Anat Hoffman for Praying at the Western Wall, Jerusalem

07 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Ethics, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Musings about God/Faith/Religious life, Social Justice, Women's Rights

≈ 1 Comment

Anat Hoffman is the Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), the social justice arm of Israel’s Reform Movement (i.e. “The Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism – IMPJ”). She is also the leader of a separate group called “Women of the Wall” a convening of religious women for prayer on the first of every Hebrew month (Rosh Hodesh) at the holiest site in Judaism, the Western Wall (Kotel) for many years.

The following is her report on the current status of her arrest and incarceration two months ago for praying, singing and wearing a tallit publicly. Also, you may click onto the link and sign a petition of protest.

Dear John ,

On October 17, 2012, Rosh Chodesh Heshvan, I was arrested at the Western Wall for the crime of wearing a tallit and singing. Although it was only two months ago, so much has happened since. The level of intimidation by the authorities at the Kotel is getting worse. Additional women have been detained for a similar crime, including a prominent Reform rabbi. In light of the Jewish Agency recently taking up this issue I wanted to update you on my personal situation and IRAC’s continuing work to make the Western Wall a home for all Jews.

The arrest and the treatment I endured during my night in prison was a difficult experience, but what has been even harder for me is seeing how successful the Rabbi of the Kotel, Shmuel Rabinowitz, has been at making women from all denominations afraid to visit Judaism’s holiest site.

After my arrest for “performing a religious act contrary to local custom” (saying the Shema), I filed a complaint with the Jerusalem police department’s equivalent of Internal Affairs. When I told them how I had been treated by their officers they seemed genuinely shocked. We had high hopes for the results of their investigation, but my case sat dormant for over a month.

Finally we were told that they see nothing wrong with the action of the police and the treatment I received. They said that pulling me across the floor by my wrists, two strip searches, and making me sleep on the floor were all within their regulations. My case was moved from the police internal investigations department to the civilian complaint department.

Last week IRAC went to the High Court to try to change the composition of the governing body that decides what religious acts are acceptable at the Western Wall. Currently, that body is the Western Wall Heritage Council, which is made up of 15 ultra-Orthodox men. In their minds, the way millions of Jews in Israel and around the world pray is not legitimate and has no place at Judaism’s holy sites. We strongly disagree.

The physical scars from my ordeal two months ago have healed, but my desire to see an end to the ultra-Orthodox domination of religious and civil life in Israel is stronger than ever. Everywhere I go in Israel and abroad people give me words of support, and I cannot tell you how much that means to me. I have no doubt that by working together we can make religious life in Israel inclusive and pluralistic.

L’shalom,
Anat Hoffman
Executive Director, IRAC

Action Alert: Help our petition grow!

For several months we have been collecting signatures for our Kotel petition. We have already reached over 30,000 signatures, but we need more to accomplish our 50,000 goal. Join us in petitioning the Israeli government to make the leadership of the governing body of the Western Wall Complex more inclusive and more representative of Israeli society and the wider Jewish world. If you have already signed the petition please click here to help us collect more signatures.

http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50494/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=7733

An Israeli Spring? The next Knesset and the Ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate

27 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Ethics, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Life Cycle, Social Justice, Women's Rights

≈ 1 Comment

“An Israeli Spring?” by Yair Rosenberg in Tablet analyzes the current efforts by moderate religious Orthodox Zionists to wrest control of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate from the ultra-Orthodox.

This is an important article on what is happening politically in Israel before the elections on January 22 that is likely to affect the next government under PM Netanyahu. The issue is whether the ultra-Orthodox Rabbinate will continue to control the office of the Chief Rabbinate and keep Israelis in a strangle-hold on issues of status, conversion, marriage, and burial, among other issues.

A “renegade rabbinic organization called Tzohar” has joined forces with Likud-Yisrael Bateinu (Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman’s combined party) and the ultra-Orthodox party Shas to wrest control from the ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate in order to promote a more moderate orthodox Chief Rabbinate thereby excluding ultra-Orthodox parties from the government and relaxing many heretofore restrictive policies overseen by the ultra-Orthodox.

Despite the strong support in the country for Tzohar (meaning “window”), this DOES NOT MEAN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM for Jews in Israel. Even with a more moderate Chief Rabbinate, religious affairs would still be controlled by an Orthodox rabbinate. The article, though excellent in describing the political issues at hand, mis-characterizes the nature of Reform and Conservative Judaism in Israel.

Though originally born out of the Diaspora Jewish experience, both the Israeli Reform and Conservative movements are run by Israelis and are fashioned to Israeli needs, culture and religious/spiritual/moral outlook. As such they are increasingly more and more popular among Israeli secularists.

What is really necessary is the abolition of the Chief Rabbinate altogether along with its strangle-hold over Israeli religious life and the disbursement of government funds almost exclusively to Orthodox institutions.

The following is quoted from the article (the complete article link is below and is well-worth your reading in its entirety):

“The solution in Israel should not be Rotem’s solution or Tzohar’s solution of ‘we will make Orthodoxy more moderate and it will solve everyone’s problems,’ ” said Yizhar Hess, executive director of the Masorti/Conservative Movement in Israel. “This is false! I don’t want to have a moderate Orthodox religious service. Each [movement] has its own identity. That’s how it should be.” In other words, no matter how benign this reformed rabbinate might prove, it would still be an Orthodox rabbinate—one that doesn’t recognize Reform and Conservative rabbis or their marriages and conversions. For Hess, the “smiley face” of the moderate Tzohar rabbi is the façade that masks a more fundamental problem: Israel’s lack of full religious freedom.

‘As well-intentioned as Tzohar’s mission may be … it has no problem with an Orthodox monopoly on Judaism in the State of Israel.’

“As well-intentioned as Tzohar’s mission may be,” argued Rabbi Uri Regev, CEO of Hiddush, an Israeli nonprofit organization promoting religious freedom, “it emerges that to it, American Jewish pluralism is anathema.” In fact, the organization “has no problem with an Orthodox monopoly on Judaism in the State of Israel.”

For these non-Orthodox leaders and their counterparts in America, the rabbinate as currently constituted is an unacceptable entanglement of religion and state. “The institution of the chief rabbinate as a state-funded and empowered agency strikes me as anti-democratic and doomed to failure,” said Rabbi Daniel Nevins, dean of the rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary. “As for Tzohar, I am impressed by their track record, but if they were granted political power, they too would be tempted to enforce their religious views and practices on the public. Political power corrupts religion; every group is vulnerable to this temptation. The only solution is to discontinue the state regulation of religion and to allow for freedom of conscience and equality of religious practice in Israel.”

Stav and Tzohar are indeed unapologetically Orthodox and make no secret of the fact that they would not recognize non-Orthodox forms of Judaism were they to attain the chief rabbinate. Why, then, do many secular Israelis and their politicians support Tzohar over a pluralistic approach? According to many, the answer is simple: American Judaism and its particular flavors have never made much sense to Israelis, or gained much traction on the ground. Brandeis Professor Yehudah Mirsky, who has written at some length on this question, explains that Israelis and Americans are speaking two very different languages when it comes to Jewish life and practice, which stem from two distinct historical experiences.”

http://www.jidaily.com/513ab?utm_source=Jewish+Ideas+Daily+Insider&utm_campaign=ccec60cf4b-Insider&utm_medium=email

700+ Rabbis, Cantors Oppose Israel’s E1 Building Plans

18 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Social Justice

≈ 1 Comment

The following press release was distributed today by J Street, Rabbis for Human Rights – North America and Americans for Peace Now who organized this letter signing campaign:

More than four hundred US rabbis, cantors, rabbinical students and cantorial students signed an open letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu expressing grave concern about Israel’s plans to advance the construction of settlements in the controversial E1 area of the West Bank and authorizing thousands of new housing units in East Jerusalem.

In an open letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the rabbis, cantors, and students warn that the move undermines the territorial contiguity of the future Palestinian state and the prospects for reaching a two-state solution, while damaging US-Israel relations.

“We fear that building settlements in E1 would be the final blow to a peaceful solution,” the letter warns.

The letter also expresses concern that “the current situation in the occupied territories violates Palestinian human rights and undercuts the very values on which Israel was founded – democracy, liberty, justice, and peace.”

The full text and list of signers to date can be found here – http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5149/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=12297&source=jstreet.

The letter responds to Israeli government decisions announced the day after the United Nations General Assembly voted to upgrade the status of Palestine to that of non-voting state.

Construction in E1 would violate repeated commitments that Israeli governments have made to the United States since 1994 not to build there.

Thus far, the letter has been signed by more than 400 rabbis from 38 states and the District of Columbia. The majority of the signers are congregational leaders.

Americans for Peace Now, J Street and Rabbis for Human Rights-North America coordinated the appeal.

More details on the planned construction in the E1 area and its implications for the two-state resolution can be found at http://goo.gl/gPV5u.

Support Sensible Gun Control – RAC

18 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Ethics, Social Justice

≈ 1 Comment

I am passing along an appeal from the Religious Action Center (RAC)of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC. The RAC is the lobbying arm of the Union for Reform Judaism and is the preeminent progressive religious advocate for more than 50 years in the nation’s capital. Please follow the links and send your name to your Senators and Congressional representatives supporting gun control legislation now. Many thanks.

Support Sensible Gun Control

The recent tragedy in Newtown, CT is a devastating reminder that over 30,000 Americans die each year as a result of gun violence. The number and severity of violent shootings in recent years can only be described as an epidemic. We are inspired by a Jewish tradition that emphasizes the sanctity of human life, and commands us to turn weapons of destruction into tools for the greater good of society. It is imperative that President Obama and Congress take action to advance sensible gun control laws, including taking assault weapons off of our streets and improving our system of background checks.

Take Action: Ask President Obama, your Members of Congress to advance sensible gun laws. For more information, please contact Eisendrath Legislative Assistant Mikey Pasek at 202.387.2800.

The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is the Washington office of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose more than 900 congregations across North America encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, whose membership includes more than 1800 Reform rabbis.

SPREAD THE WORD – Forward to your friends, family, and members of your congregation!

Did you received this as a forward and want to join?

To edit your profile or to learn about other lists, click here.

You are receiving this email because you are registered for Weekly Legislative Updates. Click here to unsubscribe.

2027 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20036 | 202.387.2800 | @therac