I Opinion

OTHER VIEWS

Women Helping Women

M

arking 10 years of women help-
ing women, the Jewish Women's
Foundation of Metropolitan
Detroit (JWF) hosted its 2009 "Women
Lighting the Way" luncheon on June 9.
Rather than the usual event, the JWF
invited Jewish women in the community to
a taste of the trustee experience — a meet-
ing to support and participate in a critical
needs allocation exercise and learn a bit
about grant-making. Trustees meet regularly
at board and committee meetings to plan
and implement community forums and an
annual grant cycle.
This luncheon experience was one in
which we came together to nurture our
community by using our experience, finan-
cial resources and creativity to bring about
change. Together, 160 participants raised
more than $23,000 for critical needs in our
Jewish community.
In 1999, the JWF began with a whisper of
three simple words, "Imagine the possibili-
ties."We imagined what we could accomplish
if we combined our philanthropic dollars to
build a fund that would empower us to help
the Jewish women and girls of today, and
also those of future generations.

lArrith seed support from
help them through times of crisis.
the Jewish Federation of
Women of all ages and all
Metropolitan Detroit and the
streams of Judaism seek educa-
United Jewish Foundation of
tion and training. We are touch-
Metropolitan Detroit and 11
ing the lives of those who need
founding trustees, we launched
training to enter the job force as
an inspired experiment in collec-
well as older women, widows and
tive philanthropy.
women with developmental and
We are now 189 trustees strong
emotional disabilities by award-
and growing, with more that $3.3
ing
grants for a wide variety of
Margo
million in trustee commitments
programs
that enrich their lives,
Halperin
and a $3 million endowment.
prepare
them
for new challenges
Special
In our 10 short years, we have
and
protect
them
from the rav-
Commentary
awarded more than $1 million
ages of isolation. We offer hope
in grants and allocations. We are
and a sense of belonging to a
proud of that accomplishment, but we have
community that cares.
so much more to do. We are addressing the
We also respond quickly to urgent needs
real and present issues and challenges to
outside of our regular grant cycles. In 2006,
women and girls in the community and in
when war broke out on the Israel-Lebanon
Israel — and we are creating change.
border, we provided funds for crisis interven-
Yes, Jewish women suffer from addiction.
tion and post-traumatic stress-counseling
Yes, women in our community are victims
services for families in areas under intense
of domestic abuse and violence. Yes, Jewish
rocket attack.
girls need mentoring, as do Jewish women in
Last year, we provided funds for resettle-
Michigan's prisons.
ment services and counseling in the wake
Because many single Jewish mothers
of the devastating Hechtman II Jewish
experience significant economic distress and Apartments fire in West Bloomfield.
have nowhere to turn, they need free loans to
And throughout the past fiscal year, we

disbursed almost $100,000 to help commu-
nity agencies meet the enormous need for
emergency assistance to Jewish families.
The candlesticks on our logo speak to our
heritage, passing inspiration from genera-
tion to generation and to a future of "Women
Lighting the Way." There truly is no limit to
the positive change that we can make so long
as we continue to pool our resources and
imagine the possibilities.
We are bringing about change as only
women can — for women, by women. 111

Margo Halperin of Birmingham is founding

chair of the Jewish Women's Foundation.

For information about the JWF
and trustee commitments, contact
Director Helen Katz: (248) 203-1483
or katz@jfmd.org with the subject
line stating "JWF inquiry." To learn
about JWF grant awards and the
grant application process, go to the
JWF Web site: www.jewishdetroit.
org/jwf.

Israeli Marriage Bill Off Mark

Jerusalem/JTA

T

he promoters of Israel's new
bill for civil marriage for those
without religion are hurrying to
present it as a significant and historical
legal breakthrough, but actually it's noth-
ing other than political trickery.
According to the proposed legislation,
couples that do not belong to any of the
recognized religions in Israel will be able
to register in a civil union and enjoy the
same rights one would in a legal marriage.
The bill supposedly would solve the trou-
bles of 300,000 Israeli citizens who cannot
marry in their land because technically
they have no religion.
Practically, however, this law will fail to
achieve its intended goal and will not pro-
vide a solution to the depressing problem
of tens of thousands of couples who may
not wed because they don't fit the narrow
parameters allowed by the state.
The biggest problem with the bill is
that it applies only to couples in which
neither partner has a religion. A couple
in which one member is an immigrant
whose Jewish status is not recognized by

42

August 20 • 2009

the Chief Rabbinate and the
Jewish mother. Not identifying
other is a Jew still would not be
themselves as Christian, and
able to marry. In order to have
not receiving official Jewish
their marriage recognized by
status from the state, they were
Israel, such couples still will
classified as having no religion.
need to travel abroad and wed
(Ironically, religion in Russia was
in a foreign country for Israel
determined by the father.)
to recognize their union.
What an absurdity in the
Data from the Central Bureau
state of the Jewish people that
of Statistics says that of the
a Hebrew-speaking couple can
Gilad Kariv
31,655 Israeli couples that
marry only after a public denial
Spe cial
were married outside of Israel
of their Jewish identities and
Comm entary
from 2000 to 2005, only 1,219
connection to the Jewish people.
couples (less than 4 percent)
This proposed law provides
would have been able to benefit from this
an unfitting solution and an opportunity
law. Nearly 90 percent of the immigrants
missed.
who do not have a religious classification
Under these civil unions, couples must
marry a Jewish spouse, meaning that the
wait until 18 months have passed from the
passage of this law will have little bearing
moment they register as a couple in order
on its intended population.
to enjoy the rights that married couples
As if that weren't enough, this law would receive immediately, such as receiving an
create a blacklist of couples who do marry inheritance, adoption or naturalization.
this way.
The supporters of this initiative insist
This problem was born in the mass
that it's a crack in the walls of the Orthodox
immigration from the former Soviet Union
monopoly and in the future the crack will
in the 1990s, wherein many olim fit the
expand further. A closer reading of the leg-
criteria of the Law of Return by having
islation exposes the rift between the claims
a Jewish father or grandparent, but not a
of its supporters and the sad reality of its

potential outcomes.
According to the proposal, the couples
who will benefit from the law also will
have to request permission from the Chief
Rabbinate to affirm that they indeed are
not Jewish. As if we haven't heard enough
horrific stories of new immigrants having
to jump through hoops to prove they are
Jewish, this proposal will create another
set of hurdles. Olim without an official reli-
gious status now will have to prove they are
not Jewish.
It will be the first time that Israeli legisla-
tion will give rabbinic courts power over
Israel's non-Jewish citizens.
This law will be the tombstone on the
grave of the government's obligation to
solve the problem of non-Orthodox mar-
riage in Israel. It creates a dangerous illu-
sion of progress at a time when we should
be speaking about more creative ways to
solve this urgent issue.
Every person should have the right to
marry as they choose and in a way that
fits with their conscience.

Rabbi Gilad Kariv is executive director of the

Israeli Reform movement.