AP PHOTO BY MATI STEI N

Funding A Holy War

Reform, Conservative

movements plot to

wheel out a new

weapon in Israel's

pluralism battle

cash.

AVI MACHLIS

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

12

srael's Ministry of Religious Affairs
this year will dole out approximate-
ly $240 million to Orthodox insti-
tutions in the country. That works
out to $300 for each of Israel's esti-
mated 800,000 Orthodox Jews.
If they are lucky, Israel's fledgling
Reform and Conservative institu-
tions will get about $126,470 this
year from the same ministry — or
about $4.21 for each of the estimat-
ed 30,000 Conservative and Reform
Jews.
That staggering disparity has
been a source of anger and frustra-
tion for the Conservative and Reform
in Israel. Chided during the current
debate over non-Orthodox religious
rights in Israel for demanding so
much when their numbers are so
few, many fume quietly over how
many they might attract if only they
were favored with the resources giv-
en to the Orthodox, at least per capi-
ta.
That gap won't be closed any time
soon. But thanks to the furor -
sparked in the Diaspora over the

government's plans to codify Israel's Ehud Bandel, "we will translate
Orthodox religious preferenceS into these funds into many new members
law, considerably more cash may for our movements."
soon be flowing.
One Conservative leader would
At talks in Chicago recently, o•- like to see 10 times the funds being
cials of the United Jewish Appeal proposed by UJA.
considered a plan to allocate $20 mil-
Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, chancellor
lion per year — or $10 million each of the Jewish Theological Seminary
— to the Conservative and Reform of America, said, "Federations should
movements in Israel. UJA current- immediately begin to earmark the
ly allocates only about $1 million bulk of their Israel appropriations
each to Reform and Con-
to the institutions of the
servative programs in Is-
Conservative and Reform
rael, and about $500,000 to Shas Party supporters movements in Israel."
rally at the Israel
the Orthodox.
Rabbi Schorsch's prefer-
Supreme Court.
The proposal still has
ence is "to take a sum of
many hurdles to overcome.
$100 million to $150 mil-
But it comes in response to
lion a year off the top at
increasing pressure on American the national level" but would accept
Jewry's central charity to act as any other arrangement that would
Jerusalem comes closer to passing a "level the playing field in Israel as
law that would formally disallow soon as possible."
non-Orthodox conversions for Israeli
Defending the massive state fund-
residents.
ing to the Orthodox, Shimon Malka,
"If the rage among United States spokesman for the Religious Affairs
Jewry is translated into massive Ministry, said the funding to Reform
funding for non-Orthodox Judaism," and Conservative Judaism reflects
said Israeli Conservative Rabbi their proportion of the Israeli pop-

-

ulation. He added that the millions
received by the Orthodox are "one-
tenth of the funds that [secular] uni-
versity students and the arts receive
from the state."
A spokesman for Israel's chief rab-
binate declined to comment on the
outlays by the ministry.
Both the Orthodox and non-Or-
thodox religious movements view
their stake in the battle over this leg-
islation as exceedingly high, even
though, in practice, non-Orthodox
conversions performed in Israel have
long gone unrecognized.
Among other things, there is the
massive wave of 610,000 immigrants
from the former Soviet Union since
1990. Thousands of these immi-
grants are not Jewish, and were
granted citizenship under the Jew-
ish state's Law of Return because
they are married to a Jew or de-
scended from at least one Jewish
grandparent.
Many of these immigrants want
to convert for genuine personal rea-
sons and to participate fully in the