Dear Beth Shalom Family,
We send greetings from Jerusalem—and ask you to join us in responding to challenges we've witnessed first-hand in the last 24 hours that could seriously undermine the Reform and other non-Orthodox Jewish movements here and worldwide. Yesterday, in the space of a few hours, Anat Hoffman, one of the leaders of the Reform movement here and a leader of Women of the Wall, was arrested for carrying a sefer Torah at the Western Wall.The police didn't even know what to charge her with—they are under the thumb of the extremists who have taken religious control of the Wall.
Even scarier, for the first time ever, a Knesset committee passed a bill that would delegitimize all of our conversions and not recognize the Jewish status of our converts, making it impossible for them to become citizens here should they want to make aliyah. This bill is being fast-tracked to the Knesset floor, and we need to let the Prime Minister know that the vast majority of world Jewry opposes this.
Below you'll find:
- A letter from Anat Hoffman, one of the leaders of the Reform movement here,to the friends of the Israel Religious Action Center
-
A sample letter of hers to Prime Minister Netanyahu, which you can tweak (or not) as you see fit and send along yourself.
Thanks for engaging these issues—
Shalom
Rabbis Nancy and David
Dear Friends of IRAC,
Today appeared to be an excellent day for the ultra-Orthodox hegemony here in Israel.
Before 9 AM, I was arrested for carrying a sefer Torah on the women's side of the Western Wall. At the same time just miles away, the conversion bill—that would change forever the definition of who is a
Jew in Israel— passed its first vote in the Knesset.
The ultra-Orthodox are applauding the events of today. They succeeded in preventing women from carrying a Torah and praying at the holiest site of the Jewish people, and they moved one step closer to erasing all recognition ever achieved for Reform and Conservative conversion in Israel.
It seems like it was a good day for them, and they may be celebrating. But in fact today was a dark day for the ultra-Orthodox in Israel, and for those working against religious pluralism and civil rights around the world. The real outcome of their "victories" will be the enlivening of the 85% of Diaspora Jewry, which is non-Orthodox, belonging in large part to the Reform or Conservative Movement.
The events of today bring to light the moral bankruptcy of the antiquated, violent, and intolerant Judaism that defines the ultra-Orthodox strand of Judaism in Israel today. This stands in contrast to our progressive Judaism that is committed to the equality inherent in every individual—man or woman, Jew by birth or Jew by choice.
There is an expression that I love—we must learn to walk and chew gum at the same time. I and the other leaders of the Israeli Reform Movement will take care of things on the ground here in Israel—the police, the
courts, the Knesset. Now you must take care of the Conversion bill.
In the next 24 hours, send the attached letter demanding that the Israeli government listen to our voice, our unified voice calling for a Judaism of openness and tolerance. This is not an issue affecting only converts—it is an issue that threatens the very unity of the Jewish people.
Today starts the countdown of your moving into action to reject this dangerous brand of Judaism. Our voices will be heard, and through all of us working together, the ultra-Orthodox "victories" of today will prove obsolete.
Please click on the link below to send a message to the Prime Minister, or copy and paste the letter below and send to the Prime Minister's email below, and forward this urgent call to your friends.
L'shalom,
Anat Hoffman
/The Israel Religious Action Center is a department of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism./
http://www.irac.org/petitionsign.aspx
Prime Minister Netanyahu: Prime.Minister'sOffice@it.pmo.gov.il (if this does not work, please try PM_ENG2@pmo.gov.il)
The Honorable Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister of Israel
Office of the Prime Minister
Jerusalem, Israel
Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu,
We write to request your immediate intervention to prevent passage of the legislation being brought forward by MK David Rotem.
We are deeply concerned about the intention to grant the Chief Rabbinate sole control over conversion in Israel. Such legislation would be an open attack on the legitimacy of non-Orthodox Jewry, which composes the majority of world Jewry.
While we are supportive of efforts to create greater accessibility to conversion courts in Israel, the overall impact of the Rotem Bill will set back these efforts. Should this bill be enacted, it will exacerbate a widening gap between Diaspora and Israel communities, which we are working very hard to avoid.
Therefore, we believe it is imperative that you, as leader of Israel, and as one who cares deeply about the well-being of Klal Yisrael, intervene and urge immediate withdrawal of this bill.