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THIS ISSUE
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l',1N VII
08 1:
SERVING DETROIT'S JEWISH COMMUNITY
NOVEMBER 25, 1988 / 16 KISLEV 5749
'Who Is A Jew'
Dominates Assembly
ARTHUR J. MAGIDA
Special to The Jewish News
American Jews' staunch opposi-
tion to Israeli ultra-Orthodox political
parties' efforts to change Israel's
definition of Jewish identity
dominated the five days of last week's
Council of Jewish Federations'
General Assembly (GA) in New
Orleans.
The explosive issue of "Who Is a
Jew" was addressed by vitrually
every speaker at every major session
at the GA. They feared that the mat-
ter would drive a wedge between
Israel and Diaspora Jews and could
significantly shrink funds flowing
from U.S. Jewry to Israel.
In fact, it was a rare seminar
that did not include a comment
about "Who Is A Jew?" — regard-
less how tangential that issue was
to the ostensible subject of the sem-
inar. "Who Is A Jew" even over-
shadowed such other topics as the
new Palestinian "state" and the re-
cent U.S. elections.
"What we're dealing with here is
perceived disenfranchisement of
millions of Jews. And in this case,
perception is reality," said Shoshana
Cardin, a former president of the
Council of Jewish Federations (CJF)
and chairman of the CJF Committee
on Religious Pluralism. She repeated-
ly used the words "anguish" and
"pain" to describe American Jews'
reaction to the proposed change.
In the weeks since Israel's Nov. 1
election, the "Who Is A Jew" issue
has come to a head. The religious
right has proposed redefining "Jew"
in Israel's Law of Return to exclude
those converted to Judaism in a "non-
halachic manner." This would legal-
ly bar Israeli citizenship to those
converted to Judaism by Reform or
Conservative rabbis. Although only
about a dozen such converts seek Is-
raeli citizenship yearly, such a change
in the law would be perceived as
religiously disenfranchising Reform
and Conservative Jews in the
Diaspora (Reform and Conservative
Continued on Page 42
Local Leaders React
To Political Debate
STAFF REPORT
Jewish philanthropists in Detroit
expressed concern that the Who is a
Jew debate in Israel will divide the
community and lower contributions
to Israeli and local institutions.
The Jewish Welfare Federation
released a statement Monday declar-
ing "our unequivocal opposition to
any political effort to amend the Law
of Return," but "rejecting any effort
to exacerbate the situation."
The statement was signed by
President Conrad Giles and Ex-
ecutive Vice President Martin Kraar.
Jewish Community Council Presi-
dent Paul D. Borman sent a letter to
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir, urging him to reject any
change in the law.
Jane Sherman, general chairman
of Detroit's Allied Jewish Campaign,
said in New Orleans that "our com-
munity is too sophisticated to cut
their pledges. I won't say that it won't
happen, but I think the community
will see what we are doing and will
follow us."
David Hermelin, who co-chaired
last year's Campaign with Sherman,
said, "Many people are watching to
see which way we are going on this
issue."
The threat to federation cam-
paigns was illustrated this week
when financier Peter Kalikow, owner
of the New York Post, said he would
curtail the nearly $1 million he com-
mits annually to the United Jewish
Appeal and Israel Bonds if the Law
of Return is changed.
In New Orleans, the Lubavitch
community was blamed for provoking
the dispute in Israel. But Rabbi Berel
Shemtov, director of Michigan
Lubavitch, claimed that the organiza-
tion only involves itself in education
and does not participate in politics.
He admitted that the Lubavitcher
rebbe in New York had asked his
followers in Israel to vote for the first
time in Israel's elections, but claimed
the action backed a centrist group in
Agudat Yisrael against a splinter
faction.
Ultra-Orthodox groups have sup-
ported changing the Law of Return so
that only persons converted by Or-
thodox rabbis would automatically be
Continued on Page 26
Children of mixed marriages
find an easy way out of Judaism