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Across from Northland 584-8111 855-6333 967-0234 EASY FINANCING AVAILABLE New York — An impor- tant religious experiment designed to protect the unity of the Jewish people has broken down. Six years ago, the Conservative, Re- form and Modern Orthodox rabbis of Denver, Colo. set up a common process of con- version to Judaism. All pro- spective converts were in- structed, then examined by a joint Beth Din (legal board) and converted in a manner enabling their Jewish status to be recog- nized by all the denomina- tions. The agreement was kept a local secret during its lifetime, but its collapse has been widely publicized. The breakdown is another warn- ing that the religious bonds that bind Jewry are fraying rapidly. The Denver arrangement was a model for world Jewry of how to avoid the bitter fighting over "Who is a Jew?" Learning and knowl- edge levels for converts were set. All the rabbis taught classes. They all ex- tended themselves to meet the needs and standards of the others. Reform rabbis undertook to teach converts the expectations of obser- verance — including Shab- bat and even kashrut. They also agreed that all converts in this program would have to undergo immersion in a mikveh and hatafat dam brit — "drawing a drop of blood" — symbolic circumcision for already circumcised males — although, classically, Re- form had rejected these Halachic requirements. A Beth Din composed of one Reform, one Conserva- tive and one Orthodox rabbi was set up. In accordance with the Halachah, candi- dates were specifically asked at the examination to undertake observance of commandments. The Halachic rabbis accepted the convert's commitment to observe laws without questioning details — thus tacitly recognizing that the converts would not neces- sarily meet traditional standards in their mitzvah keeping. Other Orthodox rabbis around the world are mak- ing a similar concession but only privately, for their own converts. The accommoda- tion is done to permit con- version of a Gentile mar- riage partner or in recogni- tion of the realities of Jewish non-observance. Rabbi Shlomo Goren, then Chief Rabbi of Israel, set up an even more liberal official pattern to make possible the absorption of Soviet emigres — many of whom were going to live non-Orthodox lives. The significant breakthrough in Denver was the willingness of traditional rabbis to make the same arrange- ment for non-Orthodox col- leagues' converts — for the sake of the unity of the Jewish people. By their ac- tions, the traditional rabbis tacitly recognized the value of Reform and the fact that many semi-observant Jews are highly committed mainstays of Jewish survi- val. To prevent challenges to the legitimacy of Halachic actions by a Beth Din which included as a member a Re- form rabbi who might be personally non-observant, the Reform rabbis also agreed that the final ritual act of immersion would be supervised and witnessed by a trio of Orthodox rabbis. Normally, such exclusion is a denial of Reform legiti- macy and Reform will not participate in such an ar- rangement. But having been given standing in the conversion process and the examining Beth Din, the Reform rabbis reciprocated to avoid political problems for their traditional col- leagues. The final procedure enabled three Orthodox signatories to vouch for the convert to Israeli and*other sources which would not have accepted open Reform participation in the process. If the Denver arrange- ment were adopted worldwide, it would prevent the bitter fights over "Who is a Jew" and protect com- munal unity in matters of personal basis. Instead, the Denver process has been de- stroyed. What went wrong? The key blow was the Reform rabbinate's decision to no longer require conver- sion from Jews of pat- rilineal descent. This bid fair to create a whole gener- ation of Jews, recognized as such only by Reform Judaism. Their number would dwarf the hard- earned gains in unified con- version in the Denver pro- gram. The demonstrative rejection of concern for the Halachic community's standards shook traditional rabbis' will to extend them- selves for unity with Reform Jews. The traditional rabbis were also disturbed by the new Reform outreach pro- gram which reverses the 1,800-year-old Jewish hesi- tation to proselytize. The national Reform movement proposed to set up a model outreach program in De- nver. The traditional rabbis saw the outreach program as a cheapening of the con- version process, and a fig leaf to cover increased ac- ceptance of inter-marriage (since most of targets would be non-Jewish spouses of Jews). They feared being used to legitimate a flock of converts of questionable commitment and they drew back. When the Denver Reform rabbis finally saw that the joint program was in jeopardy, they responded by offering to ask patrilineal children to go through con- version. But they would not promise to refuse recogni- tion to any such children who declined to do so. The Reform rabbis also prom- ised not to participate in the national outreach program. But the damage was done. The very fact that the ar- rangement was now in- volved in , controversy brought it to the attention of right-wing and national Or- thodox groups. This in- creased the pressure on the traditional rabbis to break off. It is a sad commentary on Jewish religious life today that those who favor unity are on the defensive and must keep their efforts secret. In the past decade, mod- em Orthodoxy has been in headlong retreat from its al- liance with other Jews and its more modern positions, under the pressure of the growth and triumphalism of right-wing yeshivas and the baal teshuvah and Lubavitch movements. The philosophical collapse and institutional retreat of this group which embraces the claims of Halachah and the political and cultural needs of the less observant Jewish community is undermining bridges between tradition and Jews living in the mod- ern Jewish condition. The threatened outcome is a kulturkainpf in Israel and communal divisiveness and increased assimilation of non-observant Jews in America. A major effort to renew modern Orthodoxy should be supported by all Jews. (Now, many non-observant Jews are unwittingly strengthening the polariza- tion process by their support of right-wing Orthodox out- reach without, at the same time, asking questions about their delegitimation of other Jewish move- ments.) Long-term, systematic dialogue between the de- nominations (along the lines of National Jewish Re- source Center's CHEVRA program) must be broadly established. Unless action for unity through Jewish learning and law is started soon, Jews will be engaged in a religious civil war within a generation. Copyright 1984, the National Jewish Resource Center Aid for Falasha kids in Israel Jerusalem (JTA) — A team of experts from the aliyah and youth depart- ments in the Jewish Agency have joined forces to deal with the problems of chil- dren from Ethiopia who have recently reached Is- rael without their parents. Jewish Agency chairman Leon Dulzin said the number of these children is steadily rising and their problems require special at- tention. There have been media reports here of orientation difficulties these children experience in youth aliyah boarding schools. In some cases the Israeli children who are pupils in these schools — many of them from disadvantaged families — have reacted with indifference or even hostility to the young Ethiopian newcomers.