Jewish Life

In My Ms

Some things are better left unsaid.

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN STAFF WRITER

R

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ecently, I learned that my
brother thinks he is not
considered Jewish by
some Orthodox rabbis. Oh
brother (no pun intended). That
again.
Immediately, I knew he was
referring to the March 31 com-
mentary by the Union of Or-
thodox Rabbis in the
United States and
Canada, a group of
right-wing rabbis
who said they do
not recognize the
non-Orthodox
movements ofJu-
daism.
Their statement
related specifically
to the issue of con-
version — which
ones are accepted as
Jewish under Is-
rael's Law of Re-
turn. Not who is
Jewish by birth.
Which means
only that if you are
a non-Orthodox con-
vert, and you want to make
aliyah, you may have problems
becoming an automatic Israeli
citizen. That's all it means. Ac-
cording to Jewish law, the child
of a Jewish mother is a Jew.
Full-blooded. And the Reform
and Reconstructionist move-
ments recognize the children of
a Jewish father as Jews under
patrilineal descent.
I am really sick of hearing
about this. I'm sick of hearing
Jews who were born to two Jew-
ish parents and who affiliate as
Reform, Reconstructionist or
Conservative, think they're not
Jewish. I'm sick of this infight-
ing. And I'm extremely dis-
turbed that my own brother,
who is as Jewish as they come,
thinks that he's not Jewish in
some rabbis' eyes.
What is the point of all this?
The comments those rabbis
made last Spring served no pur-
pose other than to further divide
American Jewry. I know what
they're saying, and understand
where they're coming from.
They're saying that living the
Torah way is specific and over-
arching. They believe in it

wholeheartedly and are crushed
that other Jews either do not or
do not know about it.
But, the context in which
these comments must be un-
derstood falls by the wayside
among most of American Jew-
ry. There is no purpose in telling
someone that their movement is
not wholly Jewish; it only
serves to alienate, offend
and ostracize.
The bottom line is
that Jews affiliate
congregate
and
where they feel most
comfortable. And, I
am willing to bet that
they will certainly not
find comfort nor wel-
come among com-
munities which
take steps to
push them away
from Judaism
because their lev-
el of observance is
not up to par in
someone's eyes.
The truth is that the
only one who is apt to
judge how we observe or how
much we observe is God. Peri-
od. Not your next-door neighbor,
not even your rabbi. It's all about
how we approach the Almighty,
how we understand Him, if we
understand Him and the Torah,
and how we live our lives. That's
extremely personal, and no one
human being has the right to
stand as judge.
Maybe some Jews don't un-
derstand the liturgy and seek
solace in a community with a
hand-holding bent. Maybe some
Jews have an affinity for what
the other movements stand for.
And, just maybe, some Jews
want to learn more but don't
know where to start.
You're not going to pull them
in by pushing them out.
It made me terribly sad to
hear my brother, in an angry, al-
most hurt tone, say that he is
not considered a Jew. The fact
that he is a thinking Jew who
understands the movement with
which he affiliates says more
about Judaism than a person
who observes the laws and then
badmouths other Jews.

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