Principle over Politics – Israel’s envoy in NY says Jewish state neglecting Reform, Conservative

11 Tuesday Jul 2017

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

Dani Dayan laments Israelis’ lack of understanding and unwillingness to engage with liberal Jewish streams

Do read this article in the Times of Israel (see link below).

In Israeli’s political arena, one would have thought that Dani Dayan would align himself with the most right-wing in Israel on every matter – but it just isn’t true.

He was the head of the Yesha Council of settlers before becoming Israel’s Consul General for New York. As it turns out, on the pluralism issue the non-Orthodox have in Dayan a friend.

Dayan himself is not religious, and perhaps that’s why he is open-hearted to the non-Orthodox streams in Israel. But there may be something else as well.

I don’t know what Dayan’s attitudes towards the Reform movement in America were before he arrived in New York. He may already have been a religious pluralist. If so – terrific, but since coming to the US he has been nothing shy of a friend to all the religious streams.

In my own encounters with Mr. Dayan in New York as Chair of ARZA, I found that he couldn’t be more open-hearted towards non-Orthodox Jewry if he tried. His magnanimity is both surprising and refreshing.

What we need now is a Prime Minister to show a measure of courage and stop cow-towing to the ultra-Orthodox political parties on the Kotel issue and Conversion Law, and then on civil marriage and civil divorce, on women’s issues, on the rights of NGOs to operate on behalf of human rights in the state of Israel and the West Bank, and everything that makes for a true democracy that Israel is and ought always to be.

The greatest leaders are those who stand for principle over politics – Dayan is showing himself on the issue of who is a Zionist to be a democrat (with a small “d”).

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-envoy-in-ny-says-jewish-state-neglecting-reform-conservative/

When Mortality Stares Back at Us

09 Sunday Jul 2017

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Health and Well-Being, Life Cycle

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A good friend, a few years older than me, told me this week that he just received a heart stent to open one of his 90% occluded arteries. His doctors explained that without the stent he risked suffering a massive and likely fatal heart attack at any time.

He appeared vulnerable and in shock and confessed that he felt both terrified and grateful: “My mortality stared me in the face.”

Relieved, I responded: “Thankfully, you have yet to write more chapters of your life!”

Eight years ago following cancer surgery and radiation therapy (I’m fine now), I learned two important truths. The first is that healing physically from surgery and treatment is the easier part of a post-traumatic and life threatening event, but it is very different than the emotional and spiritual healing that’s also required. The latter takes much longer and necessitates far more introspection and inner emotional, psychological, and spiritual struggle to adjust to the new reality of our lives.

Most young people don’t think much about the end of life, but as we age we realize that there are fewer years ahead of us than there are behind us. When we suffer an event as my friend did this past week, we necessarily become excruciatingly aware of our life circumstances.

Thankfully, advances in medicine have extended life expectancy substantially, and there is little doubt that my friend has been given a reprieve by the angel of death.

Twenty years ago after his father died, he told me that he had read all 150 Psalms and had found great comfort and perspective in its verse.

Tradition attributes the authorship of the Psalms to King David as an old man who had lived a full, dramatic, challenging, and often heart-breaking life.

When my friend told me about his experience reading the Psalms, I said that perhaps I ought to teach them in my community. He liked the idea but thought I was too young and though I’d experienced much in my own life already and witnessed much in the lives of the people in my community, the Psalms, he reflected, required a person of age to teach them as they ought to be taught. He believed that no young person could adequately understand them.

I put aside the idea and wonder now if I’m ready.

Devotion to the Innocent – An Essential Virtue for Leadership

07 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Politics and Life, Divrei Torah, Ethics, Quote of the Day, Stories

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The contrast between Moses and the central figure of this week’s parashah, the Prophet Balaam, is as stark as one finds in all the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition despite the fact that both men were prophets.

It’s odd that among the most famous blessings in all of Judaism that appears in this week’s Torah reading “Balak”, was uttered by Balaam and not by Moses.

The portion, despite its title, is about Balaam and not Balak, the King of Moab who was so threatened by the Israelites that he sought to hire Balaam to curse them as they passed through his territory. God, however, put different words in Balaam’s mouth:

“Mah tovu ohalecha Yaakov mish’kenotecha Yisrael …..

How good are your tents Jacob, your places of dwelling Israel…” (Numbers 24:5)

Who was Balaam?

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks notes that an inscription was found on the wall of a pagan temple dating to the eight century BCE at a place called Dier ‘Alla that lays at the junction of the Jordan and Jabbok rivers. It refers to a seer named Balaam ben Beor (see “Lessons in Leadership,” p. 217).

The Torah notes that Balaam was an impressive religious figure with shaman-like skills and was a known miracle worker which is why Balak sought him out: “I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed.” (Numbers 22:6)

Our rabbis also recognized Balaam’s prophetic gift: “In Israel there was no other prophet as great as Moses, but among the nations there was. And who was he? Balaam.” (Sifrei, V’zot Ha-b’rachah, 357; Midrash Bamidbar Rabbah 20).

Yet, they note that Balaam had a physical deformity that reflected a spiritual deficiency: “Balaam suma b’achat m’einav hayah – Balaam was blind in one eye” and, they added, he was lame in one foot (Talmud Sanhedrin 105a). They wondered how such a prophet could be so foolish as to imagine that he could effectively curse God’s treasured people, the Israelites?

They concluded that Balaam was able to see clearly the world with his seeing eye but when considering the Israelites’ fate either he used his blind eye or allowed all the gold that Balak was offering him to blind him to the truth that he would not be able to curse Israel. The Mishnah explains that this deficiency of sight and insight was the reason Balaam was denied a share in the World to Come (Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:2).

Despite Balaam’s renown as a prophet, he had no followers at all. The rabbis read his name not as “Balaam” but as “B’lo am – without a people” (Rashi).

Moses, of course, was entirely different. Not only did he lead a people, God’s people Israel, but he was completely devoted to their well-being. This moral virtue of care is an echo of Abraham who challenged God’s justice at Sodom and Gomorrah, that if there could be found even one righteous human being in those condemned immoral cities (Genesis 18:25), it would defy God’s own sense of justice to destroy them.

At the incident of the Golden Calf, again Moses pleaded with God to spare the innocent even if it meant blotting his own name from history: “… if You would forgive their sin, well and good; but if not, m’cheini na mi-sif’r’cha asher katavta – erase me from the record which You have written!” (Exodus 32:32)

Moses challenged God again when Korach and the tribal leaders rebelled against his leadership. Moses fell to the ground in prayer and said to God: “Ha-ish echad yecheta v’al kol ha-eidah tik’tsof – When one person sins will you be wrathful with the whole community?” (Numbers 16:22)

Moses also empathically forgave his sister Miriam who was stricken with leprosy when she and Aaron initiated a rebellion against their own brother saying “El na r’fa na la – Please God, heal her.” (Numbers 12:13)

Balaam was concerned only for himself. His chief goal was to line his pockets. He was available to the highest bidder even if it meant devastating other human beings. He lacked utterly in compassion and empathy. Self-centered and selfish, he had no integrity and no honor. He was morally, spiritually, and prophetically corrupt.

Moses’ utter devotion to his people, his consistent defense of the innocent, his absolute humility before God, his lack of care for self-enrichment, and his willingness to sacrifice his own life and place in history for the sake of the well-being of the people are the moral virtues that not only distinguished him as prophet and leader, but set the standard for all leadership to come.

Just as our ancestors needed inspired leaders, we too need leaders of moral virtue. Sadly, today, we especially deficient.

What’s the current struggle in Israel all about?

02 Sunday Jul 2017

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

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As a consequence of the cacophony provoked by the President’s tweets coupled with the introduction of the Republican Senate’s “wealth-care” bill that there is another story with major implications for the unity of the Jewish people and the well-being of Israeli democracy about which many American Jews seem to be unaware.

My colleague and the President of Association of Reform Zionists of America (Rabbi Josh Weinberg) in his weekly email to ARZA members got to the heart of the matter on Friday that expresses concisely what is happening and why it’s important for the American Jewish community (regardless of whether one is Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox) to be aware. Rabbi Weinberg wrote:

“In the world of the struggle for religious pluralism in Israel, rarely has there been a week like this.

On Sunday [June 25], the Government of Israel decided to cancel the already-agreed upon deal to build an egalitarian prayer section at the Kotel, with full signage and administrative authority by the liberal movements, JFNA [Jewish Federations of North America] and WoW [Women of the Wall]. In addition it supported the passing of the conversion bill, which would place control of all conversions in the hands of the Chief Rabbinate and could have serious implications for already existing conversion programs as well as implications for Israel’s relations with Diaspora Jews in particular. Fortunately, as of this writing, the vote on the conversion bill has been stayed for 6 months due to significant pressure on the government from all sides and angles. We must acknowledge the tireless work of Rabbis Rick Jacobs [President of the Union for Reform Judaism in the United States and Canada], Gilad Kariv [Executive Director of the Israel Movement for Progressive Reform Judaism], Noa Sattat [Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center], Anat Hoffman [Chair of the Women of the Wall] and many more, who ably represent our [Reform] movement in Israel and abroad.

The week continued with the Jewish Agency for Israel, in an unprecedented move, canceling a dinner with the PM [Benjamin Netanyahu] and taking out ads in the Israeli media openly criticizing the decision beginning a wide spread response from mainstream Jewish organizations breaking stride and expressing their outrage to the PM and his government.

We all know that this essentially is about coalition politics. That PM Netanyahu made a calculated decision to renege on his promises to implement the [Western Wall Egalitarian Prayer Space Agreement] deal and at the same time take action that put his support firmly behind his ultra-Orthodox constituency, ensuring that he’ll last another day. This is neither shocking nor surprising, and the uproar is due to the coinciding events (The reneging on the Kotel agreement and the introduction of the Conversion bill into the Knesset) as well as the leadership of the organized Jewish community feeling the sting of this blatant betrayal.

Let’s be clear this is NOT about two things:

This is not just about the Diaspora. Many headlines read that this is a slap in the face to Diaspora Jews and it is important to note that this is an insult and a complete rejection of the growing trends of Israeli frustration and rejection of the Chief Rabbinate.* This is not only about Reform and Conservative Jewry. The conversion bill was set to transfer power away from a great deal of modern Orthodox (National Religious) rabbis. This is bigger than just angry Reform and Conservative Jews. We are angry. We’re outraged, hurt and betrayed. But this has now risen to the level of a “Gog and Magog” style battle over who holds the keys to Judaism in the Jewish State. Make no mistake, the Haredim [Ultra-Orthodox religious political parties] see the inroads the liberal movements are making [in Israel], and are (justifiably) feeling threatened. The Prime Minister will do everything he can to maintain his coalition even if it means going back on deals and promises (pittance) compared to risking losing his [governing] Our [non-orthodox] movements are gaining strength and building coalitions – including with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman who is also considerably concerned about the conversion issue [Liberman represents a very large Russian Israeli community among whom are roughly 700,000 individuals who are not Jewish by traditional Jewish legal standards], but will unlikely risk his prize position over this issue.

Many have asked why the Reform and Conservative movements have not expressed equal outrage over the Occupation [of Israel in the West Bank beyond the Green Line], the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Syria, and the list goes on. Those do continue to be ongoing issues that we care deeply about. Each organization, movement and individual has to engage in the struggles that it can and fight the good fights that it can. אלו ואלו דברי אלוהים חיים. “These and Those are words of the living God.” [A famous principle found in the Talmud said by Rav Shmuel who believed that it is important to find truth in all sides to an argument].

We hope you join us in the struggle and work wherever you are for a Jewish and democratic State.

ARZA Statement on the Kotel Crisis and Conversion Bill: Two Attempts to Disenfranchise Non-Orthodox Jews

26 Monday Jun 2017

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

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On June 25, the Israeli cabinet capitulated to extremist pressure and froze its agreed-upon plan to develop an egalitarian worship space at the Western Wall (Ha-Kotel Ha-Ma’aravi). On the same day, it advanced a bill that would grant the ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate exclusive control over conversions in Israel.

ARZA condemns both of these outrageous actions which, if allowed to stand, will cement the power of the ultra-Orthodox minority in Israel at the expense of Jewish unity and pluralism, undermine religious freedom in the State of Israel, and open a schism between Israel and world Jewry.

ARZA and the Reform Jewish movement celebrated the January 2016 agreement that promised investing in and constructing an egalitarian prayer space at Robinson’s Arch, just south of the existing Western Wall plaza, that would be equal in size and significance to the traditional Kotel prayer space. This was a milestone for compromise and unity; in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s words, it endorsed “One Wall for One People.”

Unfortunately, the compromise (that included the ultra-Orthodox Administrator of the Western Wall Plaza) was rejected by other religious extremists, who opposed any proposal that legitimates non-Orthodox Judaism. In the days following the agreement, extremist officials and the publicly funded Office of the Chief Rabbinate littered Jerusalem with placards calling for the “liberation” of the Kotel from the “demonic” machinations of liberal Jews, and threatened a coalition crisis for the government.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and his ruling coalition government’s succumbing to ultra-Orthodox pressure by halting the implementation of the Western Wall compromise is a tragic selling-out and betrayal of non-Orthodox Jews for the sake of political expedience, as vocal critics on the right and left have maintained. Reneging on the Kotel compromise is an abandonment of the principle of klal yisrael (Jewish unity) and a denial of the legitimacy of the majority of American Jews’ religious expression.

It is also a rejection of Zionism itself, which is premised on the idea of collective Jewish peoplehood as expressed by the Jewish state. These two decisions give preference to one extremist interpretation of Judaism over that of the majority, exacerbating a disturbing antidemocratic movement in Israel where religious freedom is endangered.

Some commentators have called these bills the trigger for American Jewry to abandon Israel. As the voice of Reform Zionism in America, we refuse this option: In fact, the reason for our outrage is precisely because of our movement’s deep and unending commitment to Israel. We fear that the extremist ideology expressed in the government’s action against the Kotel compromise and the conversion bill will drive Jews—especially the younger generation—away from Israel. We will continue to express our Zionist love for Israel by working for an Israel that reflects the vibrant tapestry of Jewish expression, free from religious coercion.

We call upon the Israeli government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume their commitment to establishing a Kotel for all, and to reject the conversion bill that would hand more unfettered powered to the ultra-Orthodox political parties and Chief Rabbinate. We call upon synagogues in every religious stream, Federations, and all Jews to demand that Israel enact measures to be open and inclusive to all forms of Jewish expression in the face of antidemocratic forces from within the government and society at large.

Israel must remain true to its founding Zionist vision expressed in its Declaration of Independence: “[Israel] will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture.”

It is a sad irony that in the 21^st century, Israel remains one of the few remaining places where Jews cannot express their religious freedom. For the sake of Zion, we cannot remain silent; even in the face of this betrayal, we remain committed in love to building Israel based on our people’s ideals of freedom, inclusion, and democracy.

Rabbi John Rosove Rabbi Josh Weinberg
ARZA Board Chair ARZA President

Statement by Jewish Agency Chairman Sharansky on the Suspension of the Western Wall Agreement

25 Sunday Jun 2017

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

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Note: Unfortunately, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has caved in to the Ultra-Religious Political parties that are part of his ruling government coalition. It is now up to world Jewry in support of Women of the Wall, the Reform and Conservative movements in Israel and Diaspora Jewish communities, and the Jewish Federations of North America all of which were engaged in good faith with Natan Sharansky, a hero of the Jewish people, to find a way to unify the Jewish people at the holiest site in Judaism, the Western Wall (i.e. The Kotel). The Ultra-Orthodox parties wishes cannot stand.

The following is Natan Sharansky’s statement from Jerusalem this morning:

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – Chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency for Israel Natan Sharansky has released the following statement:

“As Chairman of The Jewish Agency for Israel, and on behalf of our partners, I must express my deep disappointment at today’s decision by the Government of Israel to suspend the implementation of its own decision to establish a dignified space for egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall.

“Five years ago, the Prime Minister asked me to lead a joint effort to bring about a workable formula that would transform the Western Wall into, in his own words, ‘one wall for one people.’

“After four years of intense negotiations, we reached a solution that was accepted by all major denominations and was then adopted by the government and embraced by the world’s Jewish communities.

“Today’s decision signifies a retreat from that agreement and will make our work to bring Israel and the Jewish world closer together increasingly more difficult.

“The Jewish Agency nevertheless remains staunchly committed to that work and to the principle of one wall for one people.”

“From Australia’s Ambassadors to Israel to Ambassadors for Israel to the world” – Jerusalem Post

25 Sunday Jun 2017

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Israel/Zionism, Uncategorized

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I love hearing people from outside the Jewish world affirm what I know to be true about the State of Israel. Just this past week, for example, Rachel Lord, the wife of the outgoing Australian Ambassador to Israel, wrote a farewell letter to Israel that appeared in the Jerusalem Post (June 14, 2017).

I learned about the letter while listening to “The Promised” podcast (TLV1) when Allison Kaplan Sommer, one of its regular commentators, read a portion of Ms. Lord’s words. Rachel Lord is a human rights lawyer.

We leave Israel very different people to those who arrived four years ago.

We arrived in Israel a little under four years ago, a newly minted family of five. We had never visited Israel before and had no idea what to expect. Israel as a posting option was not on our radar – or, more correctly, it was not on my radar. Although Dave’s official story is that he was asked to take the assignment, I suspect he may not have been so surprised by the request. With an impression of Israel based solely on news reporting, I wasn’t excited by the idea of bringing my family somewhere that seemed so unsafe. But as we celebrated my birthday on our second day in Israel, enjoying incredible food as the sun set over the sea, we felt confident we’d made the right decision.

Yet, even after four years here, Israel has proved an elusive friend. I still don’t feel like I completely understand her. The language is an obvious challenge. Our foreign ministry assured us we’d get by fine with English, which of course is true for my husband operating in a professional setting but made things a little challenging for me as I attempted to navigate daily life. We’ve eaten sour cream with our muesli, used buttermilk in our tea and I’ve had a few quiet sobs in the car when things just felt all a bit hard. Israeli culture is unique and a challenge for those of us from Britain’s former empire, where we like our queues and our order, public politeness and personal distance.

And of course, the roads are where I realize I just have no idea how this place works. You all know things would flow much better and you’d all be much happier if everyone stopped jostling for the best position, respected queues, stayed within those white lines on the road, held off the horn, and didn’t hassle the old person crossing the road with a walker, right? And why, in the country that invented Waze and where people are glued to their smartphones, do people always pull over and yell (and I do mean yell) at you for directions?

Despite these challenges, there’s something endearing about Israel. It drives you insane but you can’t help but love it. The goodness at the core is unquestionably the people, who proudly live up to their sabra reputation. No one ever says thanks if you hold a door open for them or offers to help you if you have your hands full with bags and a baby, but the warmth is almost overwhelming when someone opens their heart and their home to you. We’ve been blessed to share meals and traditions with people from all over Israel. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed learning about the different faiths that make this country so rich. The personal histories of the people that call Israel home have left us wide eyed. We’ve relished the centrality of family in Israeli society, where children are welcome everywhere and are valued and treasured.

We leave Israel very different people to those that arrived four years ago. We are richer people with a better understanding of this wonderful country, its people and the leading religions of the world. We know that Israel is a country beyond the conflict that can define it internationally and as a place that is more complex than most will appreciate.”

see – http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/From-Australias-ambassadors-to-Israel-to-ambassadors-for-Israel-to-the-world-496861

Call Fence-Sitting Senators to Vote “Nay” on the Senate “Health Care Bill”

23 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Politics and Life, Ethics, Health and Well-Being, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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[Edit]

“It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” (Former Senator and Vice President of the United States, Hubert H. Humphrey)

So – the question is this! Does the Senate’s health care reform bill released yesterday pass this moral test?

Our own Reform movement sharply criticized this Republican Senate bill because it would repeal and replace major parts of the Affordable Care Act, make severe cuts to Medicaid, get rid of the legal requirement that most Americans have health coverage, and remove federal tax credits to aid Americans in paying for health insurance.

The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, D.C. has called this measure “deeply harmful” and yesterday, the RAC made the following statement:

“The Senate bill revealed this morning is a major undermining of American health care that will hurt Americans most in need: the elderly, the poor, children and people with disabilities…Jewish tradition’s emphasis on caring for the sick and lifting up those in need inspires us to call on Senators to reject the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017.”

Here are some of the specifics in the bill’s provisions:

It enables insurance companies to charge five times the cost of insurance to people over fifty;
It denies coverage for maternity care, mental health care, and substance abuse to millions of Americans;
It dramatically cuts treatments for those who have opioid disorders;
It defunds Planned Parenthood on which 2.4 million people depend for their health care;
It has dramatic cuts to Medicare effective over time;
The following categories of people will be affected: 49% of all births – 64% for all nursing home residents – 30% of adults with disabilities – 40% of all poor – 39% of all children – 76% of poor children – 60% of all children with disabilities

This bill is an attack on the weakest Americans in order to give massive tax cuts for the top 1% of the wealthiest of Americans – consequently, it does indeed fail Hubert Humphrey’s moral test of government.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will issue a cost analysis at the beginning of the week, but Senate Majority Leader Mitchell has insisted that there be a vote before the Fourth of July Congressional recess. For a bill that affects one-sixth of the American economy and impacts negatively the lives of more than 20 million Americans, he refuses to allow time for debate, discussion, or analysis of this bill.

The Affordable Care Act of 2010 took one year to pass with massive amounts of House and Senate discussion and more than 200 amendments. Senator Mitch McConnell thinks that Americans and the Senate have discussed health care enough and it’s time to fulfill the President’s and the Republican promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, though a great majority of the American people don’t want it replaced.

This is not democracy, nor is it reflective of the humane tradition of America.

What ought we to do?

We have a weekend to have our voices be heard and we should make them heard by calling the ten fence-sitting Senators who have not as yet signed onto this Senate bill (per Families USA).

We ought to flood their Washington DC offices with calls and emails to demand that they vote no on this Senate bill.

The ten include Senator Susan Collins (R. Maine), Senator Lisa Murkowski (R. Alaska), Senator Bill Cassidy (R. Louisiana), Senator Jeff Flake (R. AZ), Senator Cory Gardner (R. Colorado), Senator Rob Portman (R. Ohio), Senator Ted Cruz (R. Texas), Senator Rand Paul (R. Kentucky), Senator Mike Lee (R. Utah), and Senator Ben Sasse (R. Nebraska).

We Jews are inspired by the example set over many centuries in Jewish tradition which instructs communities to provide health care to their inhabitants. In RAMBAM’s Mishneh Torah (Hilchot De’ot IV: 23) it’s written:

כל עיר שאין בה עשרה דברים האלו אין תלמיד חכם רשאי לדור בתוכה ואלו הן

רופא

“A Torah Sage is not permitted to live in a community which does not have the following: a doctor.”

Please make those calls!

For my congregation and me this is personal

21 Wednesday Jun 2017

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

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Rabbi Galit Cohen Kedem of Holon, Israel and me

Thankfully, there’s a happy ending to this story.

Temple Israel of Hollywood in Los Angeles enjoys a close sister-synagogue relationship with an emerging Israeli Reform synagogue in Holon, Israel, just fifteen minutes drive from Tel Aviv.

Their Rabbi, Galit Cohen Kedem, is a 40 year-old mother of three who was ordained several years ago at the Jerusalem campus of the Hebrew Union College and is one of 100 Israeli ordained Reform Rabbis serving communities in Israel.

Five years ago, Rabbi Galit and her emerging Reform synagogue community created Gan Tarbut Ivrit, a state-funded public school. They did so in full cooperation with the education department at the Holon municipality and with the Israel Ministry of Education. The school received official status and certification from all the relevant local and national authorities.

The concept of a “growing school” is one that begins with kindergarten and adds a new grade level each year. The school is planning to add a 3^rd grade class this coming fall and will welcome 100 students. Gan Tarbut Ivrit works in similar ways to North American magnet schools in that it welcomes students from throughout the city of Holon.

Until the beginning of May of this year, the attitude of the Holon Municipality was positive and supportive. All great – so far!

Since it was established, the school program has been held within a hosting school, and it was understood by Rabbi Cohen Kedem and the students’ parents that as the school grew it would require additional classrooms in a different location due to space limitations in the first host school. The congregational leadership began negotiations with the Holon municipality and education department earlier this year to find alternative space. All municipal bodies joined cooperatively in the effort.

As a temporary solution for the coming year, the Director General of the Holon municipality (Yossi Silman) and the city education department offered three additional classrooms to be opened in a different public school in the city. The school would run independently of the host school. However, upon learning of this arrangement, a group of parents from the new hosting school, encouraged by extremist Haredi ultra-Orthodox forces vetoed the plan. In a meeting with the principal of the new host school these parents aggressively and verbally threatened Rabbi Cohen Kedem and, remarkably, they threatened the school’s children of the school. Then they submitted a strongly worded complaint to the education department and municipality.

To the shock and surprise of the Reform synagogue community and school leadership, at a meeting that was held only a few days following this incident, the Holon Municipality Director General rescinded the municipality’s responsibility for the program altogether. The families of these children were told that there would now be no place at all in the entire city of Holon of 200,000 residents for this one school to operate.

Rabbi Cohen Kedem learned from various sources that ultra-Orthodox political representatives in the city from the Shas party pressured the Mayor to close the school for one reason and one reason alone – it is affiliated with the Israeli Reform Movement.

The Israel Movement for Progressive Reform Judaism (IMPJ) jumped into action on behalf of the children and parents of this new school and entered into negotiations with the proper authorities. At the same time, the Israeli Reform leadership called upon ARZA (the Association of Reform Zionists of America – USA and ARZA – Canada) to contact as many Israeli Consuls General as possible and ask them to contact the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Education Ministry to express our support for the Holon Reform movement school. We did so.

I informed our new Consul General representing the Southwestern United States, the Honorable Sam Grundwerg.

Rabbi Mona Alfi of Temple B’nai Israel in Sacramento, California (who also enjoys a sister synagogue relationship with Kehilat Kodesh V’Chol and Rabbi Galit) informed Israel’s Consul General to the Pacific Northwest, the Honorable Dr. Andy David and asked him to send their message of support.

Rabbi Josh Weinberg, President of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), and I (as ARZA Chair) briefed the Israeli Consul General in New York, the Honorable Dani Dayan, who communicated to the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Education Ministry headed by Naftali Bennet, the Minister of Education in whose party Dani Dayan is a leader. Mr. Dayan also personally called Rabbi Galit to express his support.

Miriam Pearlman, ARZA Canada President, asked the Consul General of Israel in Toronto representing Ontario and the Western Provinces of Canada, the Honorable Galit Baram, to send a message to Israel’s Foreign Ministry to register that community’s concern that the rights of the Reform movement in Holon.

Negotiations have been taking place for the past month between Holon’s Mayor and leaders of the Municipality and Rabbi Gilad Kariv, the Executive Director of the IMPJ as well as Rabbi Galit – and I am thrilled to post this letter sent a few days ago by Gilad and Galit to our Reform movement’s international leadership with their permission to share this with others.

I do so with great personal relief and with the knowledge that not only will those parents and children in Holon, Israel be able to educate their children in the public school system according to their Reform movement values, but that our movement’s success can be a precedent for more such efforts.

Dear Friends,

It is with great pleasure and relief that we send you this email to update you that a solution has been found for the “Tarbut Ivrit” program in Holon.

As you know, over the past few weeks we had experienced an extreme backlash in the city, whereby both city officials and parents refused to allow us the use of classrooms in one of the city’s schools, in light of our expansion and lack of classrooms at the “Nitzanim” school. At one point in the process the municipality even cancelled our certification. We were prepared to take legal steps and have you engage with us in an international campaign. This backlash reached the level of violent verbal threats and near despair. Finally, a few days ago, with the help and support of the regional superintendent and representatives from the Ministry of Education, we were able to reach a resolution with the municipality, whereby classrooms would be found in the “Nitzanim” school for the coming year. This is the school we’ve been in over the past few years and we are happy to tell you that the parents association and the head of the school is in complete support of our being there. A solution for space for our additional grade level will be found. This was a great relief, especially considering that this was our ideal solution from the beginning.

On a personal note, there is no doubt that we had never experienced such behavior from people we work with on the municipal level before and were taken aback by people’s mere ability to act this way. At the same time, we are grateful to so many friends and partners, as well as parents and congregation activists, who stood by our side throughout this difficult period.

We want to take this opportunity to also thank you for your partnership, friendship and support throughout this struggle, as well as the action that many of you took in contacting local consuls general and other officials and speaking with them on our behalf. There is no question that this helped our struggle because as we reported previously the Foreign Ministry went to the city and told them to find a constructive solution. Our influence in the National Institutions was also a critical factor as both Boogi [Isaac] Hertzog [the leader of the opposition Zionist Union] and Danny Atar [Chairman of the Keren Kayemet L’Yisrael- JNF] intervened with the Mayor of Holon on our behalf.

We head into the summer with a great sigh of relief, ready to take on the new school year and focus on what we do well, pluralistic education and building our congregation. Holon is an incredible success story for our [Reform Israeli] movement and we believe will continue to grow and thrive.

We will of course keep you posted if there are any new developments. Hopefully from now on we will only have good news to report.

Again we can’t say enough how important your support for us was both from a moral point of view and of course for all the concrete things you did on our behalf.

Yours,

Rabbi Gilad Kariv and Rabbi Galit Cohen Kedem