Bibi’s folly and Jewish unity

THE Israeli government apparently failed in its move to divide the Jewish people last week, writes Rabbi Fred Morgan.

That might sound overdramatic. I wish that it were, but the impact of the government’s political machinations has been felt so strongly that it has brought together otherwise unlikely bedfellows to speak out against it. 

Leading Jewish figures around the globe and across the denominational and political spectrums have voiced their concern. In this country, Zionism Victoria took a leading role by passing a resolution calling for an open letter to the Prime Minister of Israel to express its deep distress at the government’s decisions. 

So, what is it that has brought together disparate voices to speak out? The government acted in two ways that threaten to divide the Jewish people. First, it determined to put full oversight for conversion into the hands of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. 

This would have an impact worldwide. Second, it decided to freeze previously agreed plans to create an egalitarian prayer space at the Kotel which would not be under the jurisdiction of the rabbinic officials of the Wall.

These decisions, which bend to the will of the minority religious parties in the government coalition, are ostensibly directed against those Jews who practise Judaism in a non-Orthodox manner. But in reality these decisions are not about Orthodox Jews and Progressive or Masorti Jews. It is in fact about the authority of the Charedim, the ultra-Orthodox in Israel, to define Judaism for all Jews everywhere.

This is why the issues are so important for us here in Australia, and for Jews around the world. It is also why their effects are not restricted to any individual movements within the Jewish community. They are an attack on any Jew who supports Israel as their homeland. They say, in effect, that no one will be recognised as a Jew and a devoted supporter of Israel unless they are prepared to recognise the ultra-Orthodox way as the only way to express their Jewish identity. 

This is why the Charedim seek to control conversion, and it is why they are not prepared to see a section of the Kotel opened for egalitarian worship. 

Despite the significant expressions of concern across Australian Jewry, there are still many in our community who may think that these kinds of issues have no bearing on us. In the past, some have said that it is not our role or right as Diaspora Jews to comment on “internal matters” such as these. Others identify the issues with Progressive Jews only; they claim, falsely, that Progressive Jews do not support Israel and so should not have a say in the matter. Still others argue that these matters are a distraction from Israel’s principal concerns of military security and economic well-being; religious rulings about conversion or the Kotel don’t count for much.

How wrong can people be? On the simple level of demography, it matters who is Jewish and who isn’t. This determines who will be allowed into Israel on the basis of the Law of Return. Just consider the socially disastrous consequences of the Ethiopian and Russian immigrations to Israel, which still plague Israeli society. Many of these migrants were excluded as non-Jews by the Orthodox establishment. 

There are Orthodox rabbis, in both Israel and the United States, who have found halachically permissible ways to ease the politically motivated strictures that have often surrounded conversion. They argue that those who would stand by the Jewish people and fight to defend Israel should be recognised as Jews if they seek it. It is these Orthodox conversions that are being threatened, as much as non-Orthodox conversions, by this new decision to give the Chief Rabbis total oversight of conversions. 

But the issue goes beyond mere demography. It also addresses the very soul of the Jewish State, what it means for us to say that Israel is the Jewish homeland. The state exists to protect the right of every Jew to stand up proudly as a Jew, however they may express their identity in practical or philosophical terms. Religious pluralism is not a luxury in Israel, it is essential to protect all Jews. 

If the Kotel, which the Prime Minister called “one Wall for one People,” is given over in its entirety to those who represent only one expression of Jewish practice, it becomes a powerful symbol of Jewish disunity, of a theocratic approach to the religious life which is too often seen in other countries in the Middle East but should never be acceptable in Israel. Even those who believe stringently that their form of Judaism is the only true way should see the folly of allowing theocracy – that is, the marriage of religious authority with secular power – to flourish in the state of Israel.

It is important that we all demonstrate for the right of every Jew to live according to the values they hold dear and the choices they make. According to Jewish tradition, no Jew has the right to coerce another in matters of religious practice, or to turn a symbol of national unity like the Kotel into the possession of a fraction of the whole. One leading Orthodox Israeli rabbi recently argued, following the late Isaiah Leibowitz, that this is tantamount to idolatry. 

As soon as we allow this to happen, whoever we are and whatever branch of Judaism we uphold, we risk destroying the very goal that we seek, the unity of the Divine and the unity of the Jewish people.

Let us all speak out against this chillul Hashem, or the day may come when none of us is “Orthodox” enough or Jewish enough to satisfy the rulings of the religious parties. If that day should come, chas v’chalila, the government will have succeeded in dividing the Jewish people for good.

Rabbi Fred Morgan is Movement Rabbi of the Union for Progressive Judaism.

Get The AJN Newsletter by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up