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December 20, 2012 - Image 22

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2012-12-20

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

Jewish Senior Life of
Metropolitan Detroit

metro

2 0 1 3

EIGHT
EIGHTY

Push For Pluralism from page 21

NOMINATE AND SAVE THE DATE!
SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2013 le The Tikkun Olam Award

WHAT:

Eight Over Eighty — The Tikkun Olam Award

Eight Over Eighty is an annual event where Jewish Senior Life
of Metropolitan Detroit honors eight senior adults, eighty
years or older, who have dedicated their time, talents and lives to
our community.

WHY

To recognize eight senior adults for their lifetime achievements

WHEN:

Sunday, May 19, 2013, LUNCHEON 11:30 AM (Dietary laws observed)

WHERE: Adat Shalom Synagogue, Farmington Hills

Nominations are due by January 11, 2013

How to Nominate:

Do you know
a deserving
older adult who...

• Is at least 80 years old?

• Has been a long-standing
volunteer in the community?

• Is active or volunteering today?

• Is dedicated to maintaining
strong Jewish values?

• Is an inspiring leader or mentor
in the community?

Honorees will be honored at a
community luncheon held on May 19th
during Older American's Month.

Proceeds will benefit:

The JSL Kosher Meal Program

Write or email JSL describing the
worthiness of the nominee. Please
include (as applicable):
• Name and age of nominee
• Duration of volunteer
• Involvement in Jewish organizations
and causes
• Leadership positions held
• Current accomplishments
• Letters and newspaper articles
supporting nominee's
accomplishments
• Explain how the nominee's long-
standing activities exemplify a
commitment to the Jewish value of
Tikkum Olam (Repairing The World).

Mail or email nominations to:
Eight Over Eighty
Jewish Senior Life of Metro Detroit
15000 W. Ten Mile
Oak Park, MI 48237
Attn: Michelle Buda
mbuda@jslmi.org
(248) 592-1101

Or nominate on-line at:
www.jslmi.org

JEWISH SENIOR LIFE

Audi Sylvania

5570 Monroe St. I Sylvania, OH
www.sylvaniaaudi.com

-at illg"

Keep your company top of mind with our readers.

ADVERTISE WITH US! CALL 248.351.5107

Visit theJEWISHNEWS.com

22

December 20 • 2012

JN

Coming Of Age
Regev and California-based business-
man Stanley Gold founded Hiddush on
Rosh Hashanah 2009. In Hebrew, hiddush
means "new/renewal" and is the acronym
for "religious freedom and equality:'
The organization was launched at 16
Rothschild Blvd. in Tel Aviv — the site
of Independence Hall where David Ben-
Gurion read the Israeli Declaration of
Independence, which sets forth "religious
freedom and equality for all."
"The urgency in creating Hiddush,"
Regev said, "is understood in looking at
the gap between that founding dream
and promise, on the one hand, and, on
the other hand, the painful realization
that Israel is at the bottom of all indices
among world democracies when it comes
to comparative religious freedom:'
Hiddush operates with a $500,000
annual budget built mainly from U.S.
donations. Regev works with a research-
er; three staff members who maintain
the website and social media in Hebrew,
English and Russian; and a part-time
office manager.
What should resonate in America,
Regev said, is that non-Orthodox con-
verts to Judaism, or their children if the
convert is the mother, cannot legally
marry in Israel. There is no civil mar-
riage in Israel and only Orthodox rabbis
can officiate at Israeli Jewish weddings.
Further, only Orthodox-sponsored con-
verts can be buried in most Israeli Jewish
cemeteries.
American Jewry's strong commitment
to bonding with Israel through Talit-
Birthright and other popular avenues
aside, Regev said, "Half to two-thirds
of American Jews growing up — either
children of intermarried families or
whose mothers converted but not under
Orthodox auspices — will either not be
recognized as Jews in Israel or will be
treated as second-class Jews there:'

A White - Hot Issue
Regev insisted Israel must recalibrate
its exemption from military service for
yeshivah students or face dire conse-
quences.
He explained that then-Prime Minister
Ben-Gurion exempted 400 yeshivah stu-
dents in 1948, remnants of the yeshivah
world destroyed in the Holocaust. By
1997, that number had grown to 800.
Today, 60,000 yeshivah students are
exempt
"Ten years ago, they constituted 7 per-
cent of annual conscription:' Regev said.
"Now that's 14 percent
"Today, 26 percent of Jewish first-
graders in Israel study in haredi schools.
So you understand why the heads of the
Israel Defense Forces come out openly
and loudly saying they worry for Israel's
security if this is not changed:'
According to the haredi newspaper

Yated Ne'eman, the senior rabbi of the
Lithuanian haredi, Rabbi Aharon Leib
Shteinman, declared on Dec. 10, the day
after Israel's Cabinet approved a tem-
porary law allowing yeshivah students
to perform national service in place of
military service: "We must warn publicly
against this serious and dangerous phe-
nomenon, which only aims to destroy the
foundations of our existence — against
the essence and mission of a yeshivah stu-
dent to devote his life to studying Torah:"
Also at issue is whether the state
should subsidize housing for yeshivah
students.
The special benefits afforded yeshi-
vah students, both the mass exemption
from service and the unique subsidies,
will command a front burner for Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu follow-
ing the January elections in Israel. What
Israel needs is a sturdy coalition not
dependent on the haredi parties, Regev
said.
"Something will have to give he said.

Bringing It Home

In hosting Regev, Rabbi Roman observed:
"We need consciousness-raising not only
of the organization and the rabbi, but also
of the message Hiddush represents. This
is an issue for the Jewish people, not just
the Jewish state:"
Hiddush polling
shows 80 percent of
the Israeli population
wants the country to
teach and inspire the
next generation dif-
ferently than what is
being imposed by the
government and the
Rabbi Roman
Ultra-Orthodox.
"There has to be a way of reconciling
our religious needs," Roman said.
"What's new are indigenous Israeli
expressions of Jewish identity and wor-
ship and religiosity. That's an exciting and
fulfilling moment. But ifs being stymied.
This doesn't mean we don't support Israel;
to the contrary:"
Said Rabbi Paul Yedwab of Temple
Israel, a Reform congregation near Kol
Ami: "It is certainly sad that our people
finally have a Jewish homeland, yet it is
the one democratic country in the world
where Reform and Conservative Jews are
denied the right to practice their religion
freely."
Ever animated, Regev shares his
agenda with confidence and gusto. "This
is about being denied basic civil liberties:'
he said. "This is a message for Israel on
behalf of Israelis. This is a message that
suggests we have an exciting possibility of
re-igniting a pioneering spirit of basically
living that founding dream, which yet
awaits being realized:'



The Hiddush website is at www.hiddush.org.

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