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country's life, say non-Orthodox
leaders. By converting they will
also eliminate the many prob-
lems being a non-Jew can cause
in the Jewish state, such as the
lack of civil marriage, which ne-
cessitates going abroad for a non-
religious ceremony to marry a
Jew.
But, says Reform movement
leader Rabbi Richard Hirsch,
many of these immigrants do not
want to convert to Orthodox Ju-
daism, or to lie about it. If the pro-
posed law passes, it would even
prevent them from going abroad
for their conversion after study-
ing Judaism under a Reform or
Conservative rabbi in Israel, as
some have done.
No one knows how the legisla-
tive and political battle now rag-
ing will end. But Israel's
struggling Reform and Conserv-
ative leaders view the possible fi-
nancial backlash in their favor as
a welcome byproduct.
Since becoming the first na-
tive-born Israeli ordained as a
Conservative rabbi in 1988, Ehud
Bandel has been at the forefront
of the struggle to gain legitima-
cy for liberal streams of Judaism
in the Jewish state. New funds,
he said, would pave the way for
a flood of educational programs
aimed at showing Israelis that
Judaism is not synonymous with
Orthodoxy.
"The problem is that nobody
hears about us in Israel today be-
cause the doors to the education
system are locked, and because
we have no resources," he said.
"We are competing against an
[Orthodox] establishment that
not only receives massive fund-
ing, but uses that funding to in-
cite against us and slander our
stream of Judaism."
To emphasize his point, Rabbi
Bandel pulled a poster from his
briefcase printed by the publicly
funded chief rabbinate, appeal-
ing to Israelis not to pray in
Conservative and Reform syna-
gogues.
Rabbi Hirsch, executive direc-
tor of the World Union for Pro-
gressive Judaism, the Reform
movement's Diaspora-Israeli li-
aison, predicted that increased
funding would "go a great way"
toward "creation of a society with
which American Jews would be
proud to identify."
But even some sympathizers
wonder if the non-Orthodox reli-
gious advocates have truly
grasped Israeli political realities.
One Israeli official, while re-
spectful of the religious leaders'
emphasis on education initia-
tives, asked bluntly, "Where's the
political money?"
To be successful, argued this
official, who spoke only on condi-
tion of anonymity, `They have to
use money the same way the Or-
thodox do — to bribe politicians."
To be sure, they could not ac-
quire clout in the same way as
the Orthodox, who have their
own political parties in Israel, he
said. These Orthodox parties
make up more than one-third of
the Likud-led government coali-
tion elected one year ago.
The proposed law, in fact, was
a response by these parties to the
victory the non-Orthodox move-
ments won in a case they brought
before the Supreme Court last
year. The court ruled against the
state's refusal to recognize non-Or-
thodox conversions in the absence
of any legislation justifying it
These parties all benefit from
government patronage and have
powerful fund-raising operations.
But the non-Orthodox religious
groups could marshal money to
influence Knesset members in
ways of their own, said the Israeli
official.
"They should offer free trips to
every Knesset member to come
to America" and meet Conserva-
tive and Reform Jews, and their
Judaism up close, said the Israeli
official. To assure takers, he said,
the trips should be "first class" —
and offered especially to Knesset
members who supported the bill
last month in the first of three
readings it must pass.
These Knesset members
should be wined and dined, and
directly exposed to the strong feel-
ings America's 85-percent non-
Orthodox majority holds on this
issue, said the official.
Instead, American Conserva-
tive and Reform leaders have
done the opposite. In a joint com-
munique to their synagogues and
other institutions, these leaders
urged rabbis nationwide to refuse
to host any Knesset members
who voted for the Orthodox con-
version bill or to attend any com-
munal functions at which they
were present.
"That's exactly who they
should be spending money on
courting," said the official.
Rabbis Bandel and Hirsch,
perhaps because they are both
educators by training, put an al-
most exclusive stress on the need
for funds for education.
"When I present the three
foundations of our movement —
Judaism, Zionism and democra-
cy — people here say, `That's
me,' " said Rabbi Bandel.
A poll published in the Israeli
daily Yediot Ahronot showed that
44 percent of Israelis feel closer
to religion than their parents,
compared to 22 percent who feel
more distanced than their par-
ents.
And even though religion re-
mains synonymous with Ortho-
doxy to most Israelis, Rabbi
Bandel believes the feelings in-
dicated in this poll can be culti-
vated to strengthen his
movement.
"The moment the Israeli pub-
lic is made aware of our option,"
he said enthusiastically, "they
will choose us." ❑
N. Y. Jewish Week
_ `
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