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Time: 8:00 PM
Place: The Roostertail Catering Club
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September 15th, 1994
Call for Information:
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Elayne Chase) Manger
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Non-Orthodox Rabbis
On Religious Council?
Jerusalem (JTA) — The High
Court of Justice has ruled that
Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert
must explain why he has failed
to submit a list of candidates for
the city's religious council — a list
that could include Reform and
Conservative rabbis.
Last week's ruling, the latest
development in the continuing
battle over religious pluralism in
Israel, answered a petition filed
on behalf of two rabbis who were
chosen by the left-wing Meretz
Party to serve on Jerusalem's re-
ligious council. One is Reform, the
other is Conservative.
Local religious councils are
governmental bodies in charge,
of dispensing basic religious ser-
vices to all Jewish citizens, in-
cluding services related to
marriage, kashrut and burial.
The petitioners believe that
Mr. Olmert has put off preparing
the list because of the stiff oppo-
sition by Haredi, or fervently Or-
thodox, City Council members to
members of non-Orthodox
streams serving on the religious
council.
The High Court decided earli-
er this year that candidates could
not be barred from serving on re-
ligious councils because they are
not Orthodox.
"We have the feeling Olmert is
trying to delay because he doesn't
know how to deal with the prob-
lem of the Haredi factors in the
City Council who find it impossi-
ble to vote for Conservative and
Reform rabbis," said Rabbi Ehud
Bandel, the Conservative candi-
date of Meretz.
"But the ruling of the Supreme
Court is very clear, and Olmert
must abide by it," Mr. Bandel
said. "What is at stake is the rule
of law in Israel."
For his part, Mr. Olmert is ne-
gotiating with the Religious Af-
fairs Ministry about the list of
candidates and will bring it be-
fore the City Council when the
negotiations are complete, a may-
oral spokeswoman said this
week.
The Religious Affairs Ministry
is entitled to name a certain num-
ber of members to the local reli-
gious councils and ultimately
must approve the full member-
ship.
While religious councils have
historically been run according
to strict Orthodox interpretation
of Halachah, or Jewish law, civil
law actually entitles the parties
serving in local City Councils to
be proportionately represented
on the religious councils by the
candidates they select.
According to this formula, the
Meretz Party, which has four
seats on Jerusalem's City Coun-
cil, may appoint two members to
the religious council.
A new religious council is sup-
posed to be appointed within six
months after every municipal
election. But Jerusalem's current
religious council was appointed
10 years ago, when Meretz was
not represented in the City Coun-
cil.
Meretz tried to have its non-
Orthodox candidates appointed
five years ago, but they were-
A new religious
council is supposed
to be appointed
within six months
after every
municipal election.
repeatedly rejected. That prompt-
ed the legal challenge which
resulted in the High Court ruling
earlier this year barring the ex-
clusion of non-Orthodox mem-
bers.
That ruling was greeted by Is-
rael's civil rights association as
groundbreaking for ending what
it termed the "Orthodox monop-
oly" on religious councils and rec-
ognizing the legitimacy of the
non-Orthodox.
Leaders of the Orthodox es-
tablishment, however, were out-
raged, warning it posed a
dangerous threat to Jewish law.
Meanwhile, advocates for the
Reform and Conservative move-
ments also planned to file a High
Court petition this week claim-
ing contempt of court by the
Haifa City Council for rejecting
their candidates for the Haifa re-
ligious council.
Prison Terms
Are Commuted
Tel Aviv (JTA) — President Ezer
Weizman has commuted the
prison sentences of eight Pales-
tinian women who were nearing
the end of their terms of incar-
ceration for intifada-related inci-
dents that did not include attacks
on Jews.
The commutation follows vo-
cal demonstrations to free the
women as a confidence-building
gesture staged by some Pales-
tinian and Israeli groups.
Aides said the president had
deeply pondered the issue, gath-
ering information from legal and
security advisers.