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When Is A Rabbi Not A
Rabbi? (Try In Israel)

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSISTANT EDITOR

Ehud Bandel

hen Ehud Bandel
visits the United
States, he's a
rabbi. When he
sets foot in Canada, he's a
rabbi.
When he returns to
Israel, the title disappears.
"The only place on earth
that I'm not recognized as
a rabbi is my homeland,"
he said. "The only place I
cannot be a rabbi in the
full sense of the word is in
Israel."
Rabbi Bandel is the first
native Israeli to be
ordained by Masorti, the
Conservative Movement in
Israel. Only Orthodox
Judaism is recognized in
Israel, so all marriages,
conversions and funerals
must be performed by
Orthodox rabbis.
During a speech last
week at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek, Rabbi
Bandel discussed the need
for religious pluralism and
lamented right-wing
Orthodoxy's stronghold in
Israel.
"What is at stake here is
the Jewishness of the
Jewish state and the unity
of the Jewish people," he
said.
Rabbi Bandel said that
the Orthodoxy of Israel
bears little resemblance to
modern Orthodox Judaism
in the United States. In
Israel, right-wing Orthodox
Jews are intolerant and
anti-Zionist and disdain
everything secular. One
Israeli rabbi would not par-
ticipate in a discussion

W

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with a Conservative and
Reform rabbi because, he
said, "It is exactly as Israel
refuses to sit with the PLO.
They want to destroy us."
Later, the same rabbi elab-
orated: "No, it's worse
because the PLO only
wants to destroy us physi-
cally. The Conservative
Movement wants to destroy
us spiritually. They want
to destroy the soul of
Judaism."
A paratrooper with the
Israel Defense Forces,
Rabbi Bandel was raised in
a secular home. He became
interested in Masorti,
which- he described as
"open, tolerant, pluralistic,
democratic and Zionist"
because he believes it
brings unity to the Jewish
people. It both emphasizes
tradition and presents an
option to Israelis who have
no interest in religion.
More than 40 Masorti
synagogues are in Israel,
as is a Masorti kibbutz,
Hanaton. The movement
sponsors a camp and youth
organization.
In an interview following
his talk, Rabbi Bandel
described Masorti as a tra-
ditional movement. Unlike
American Conservative
Judaism, it does not sanc-
tion driving to synagogue
on Shabbat and has . been
slower to recognize women
rabbis and incorporate
women into services.
"We are on the move,"
regarding women, he said.
Most Conservative syna-
gogues in Israel are egali-
tarian and there is a
female rabbi at a congrega-
tion in Beersheva. "But
issues of feminism are not
as prevalent in Israel."
(Similarly, Reform
Judaism in Israel — unlike
its counterpart in the
United States — does not
accept patrilineal descent,
he said.)
Compromises like dri-
ving on Shabbat must be
made in the United States,
however, because Israel is
a state of creative Jewish
living, while "survival is
the key word for Jewish
life in the Diaspora." The
only place a Jew in
America may be able to
experience his religion is at
a distant synagogue, he
said. 0