O <
INFIGHTING page 3
statement that could or would
cause the disenfranchisement of
any segment ofJewry," he said.
Rabbi Steven Weil, a member
of the RCA and spiritual leader of
Young Israel of Oak Park, says,
"Rabbi Grossman really hit the
nail on the head with that state-
ment. These guys (the UORUSC)
don't represent anybody."
The other large Orthodox rab-
binical group in this country, the
Igud HaRabonim, would likely not
agree as well, he says.
The rabbis behind the state-
ment "basically represent no one
but themselves," says Rabbi Weil.
"It's a small group of rabbis who
do not represent the constituen-
cies of congregations, who are ba-
sically professional fighters, guys
who are consistently looking for a
cause or for an issue to raise and
yell and scream about."
Rabbi Irving Greenberg,
founder of CLAL, the National
Jewish Center for Learning and
Leadership, says the statement is
"definitely not the consensus of the
Orthodox community. I think that
most modern Orthodox Jews
would be uncomfortable with the
harshness of the language."
But Rabbi Greenberg cautions
that "it would be missing some of
the complexity to act as if this is
just a bunch of nuts or just a
bunch of extremists. The very de-
cision to take that resolution pub-
The council reiterated that any
Jew born to a Jewish mother, or
"converted according to the laws
of our people," is a full-fledged
Jew. But, the statement added,
'That does not mean that we con-
done the non-observance of our
Torah. Nothing can replace the
corpus of Jewish law that has
been the guarantee of our ever-
lasting people because it remains
our covenant with God.
Although most American Jews
align with the Reform and Con-
servative movements, they have
few counterparts in Israel, where
the population is divided between
a secular majority and a large Or-
thodox minority.
Rabbi Herschel Finman, of
Michigan Lubavitch, said, "I can-
not agree with any type of a state-
ment which would be so divisive
among Jews." Lubavitch World
Headquarters in Brooklyn issued
a statement last week that the im-
plication that all Jews are not "le-
gitimate members of the Jewish
people is absolutely abhorrent and
is foreign to basic principles of Ju-
daism."
Rabbi Rafael Grossman, pres-
ident of the Rabbinical Council of
America (RCA), which represents
more than 1,000 Orthodox rabbis,
said the statement represented
the beliefs of "a very distinct mi-
nority" among the Orthodox.
"I would not associate with a
• • • • • • • • • • •
When
• • • • • • • • •
you think of
lic represents one of the side ef-
fects of the growing insolence of
the right overall, and of ultra-Or-
thodoxy, and the weakening of
modern Orthodoxy. Going public
represents the growing dominance
of the right in Orthodoxy."
Conservative and Reform rab-
bis in the metro Detroit area, as
well as their constituents, were in-
furiated by the statement.
Congregation Shaarey Zedek's
Rabbi Irwin Groner was "pro-
foundly disturbed that a group of
rabbis have attacked all the non-
Orthodox religious movements. It
is the sacred task of the rabbi to
teach ahavat Yisrael, the love of
the Jewish people, and respect for
all who seek the way of faith."
Rabbi Aaron Bergman of Con-
gregation Beth Abraham Hillel
Moses thought it was "unfortu-
nate" for the New York Times to
give the statement so much em-
phasis.
"A lot of this is politics dressed
up as religion because in Israel
there's no real separation of shul
and state; recognition by the gov-
ernment doesn't just mean they
give us the stamp of approval —
it translates into money, what
sort of membership you can reach,
access into Israeli society, bar-
gaining tools in the Israeli gov-
ernment." But Rabbi Bergman
adds, "I believe that God is the fi-
nal judge." ❑
Rabbinic Debate
The Knesset gives preliminary approval to a bill
barring Reform and Conservative conversions.
But the next step may be compromise.
LARRY DERFNER ISRAEL CORRESPONDENT
0
n the eve of Tuesday's
Knesset vote on the Con-
version Law, Jewish
Agency Chairman Avra-
ham Burg was on a mission to
convince lawmakers from the
ruling coalition parties to re-
turn the proposal to the back
burner. In the end, Mr. Burg
stormed out of the meeting, say-
ing loudly, 'This is a shame and
disgrace!"
Mr. Burg had given an im-
passioned_specch about how the
law would be a slap to Diaspo-
ra Reform and Conservative
Jews. The consequences, he
warned, could be that these
groups wouldhecome decided-
ly less enthuSIOstic about con-
tributing to IStiel.
That's wheraitzhak Cohen,
a first-time Icriesset member
from the Sh4TSephardi Or-
thodox) party*oke up: "You
just care about getting money
for the Jewish 'Agency's salaries
and budgets," he told the Jew-
ish Agency chairman. "You
can't buy Judaism with mon-
ey."
In the end, backers of the
Conversion Law won the day.
By a vote of 51-32, the Knesset
gave initial approval to the bill
which invalidates conversions
performed in Israel by non-Or-
thodox rabbis.
The vote came with the
proviso that Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu's coali-
tion would try to head off
its final acceptance (requiring
two more Knesset votes of ap-
proval) by setting up a com-
mittee that would seek a
compromise solution. This, on
condition that the Reform and
Conservative movements held
off on their attempt to get the
Supreme Court to force recog-
nition of their conversions in Is-
rael. ❑
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