MAKE MAPLE PHARMACY ….YOUR PHARMACY! *WARREN DRUG CUSTOMERS WELCOME* viewpoints » S end letters to: letters@thejewishnews.com editorial Israel Stirs Pursuit Of Pluralism MAPLE PHARMACY Maple Pharmacy offers: t-PX1SJDF.FEJDBUJPOT t%BZ4VQQMJFT t%VSBCMF.FEJDBM&RVJQNFOU t%JBCFUJD4VQQMJFT t/BUVSBM4VQQMFNFOUT 7JUBNJOT BOE/VUSBDFVUJDBMT t$PNQPVOEJOHCJPJEFOUJDBM IPSNPOFT QBJODSFBNT PUIFSNFEJDBUJPOT t#MJTUFS1BDLBHJOH"WBJMBCMF 5829 Maple Rd. Ste. 129 (Btw. Orchard Lake & Farmington Rd.) West Bloomfi eld, MI 48322 248.757.2503 www.maplepharmacyrx.com FREE DELIVERY MAPLE PHARMACY 10 OFF $ 10% purchase of OTC Medications & Vitamins SENIOR CITIZ EN DISCOUNT with any new or transferred prescriptions. OUR MISSION IS TO BRING SERVICE BACK TO PHARMACY FOR A HAPPIER, HEALTHIER YOU!! 1985340 The Detroit Jewish News Get your very own subscription to the Detroit Jewish News. Yes, it’s time you had your own copy of the paper instead of swiping your parents, Bubby’s, neighbors or even that occasional copy at the doctors office. Thought they didn’t notice! There’s so many ways you can save on your subscription. We are now offering a few subscription rates that could be right for you: The Business Rate: $50 year* Must have a business address to qualify. The Senior Rate: $40 year* Must be living in a senior housing facility The Online Rate: $32 year* S lowly but inexorably, Israel is chipping away at obstacles to the pluralistic practice of Judaism in the Jewish state. And that’s encouraging news. In the past few weeks, the Israeli government not only approved a land- mark compromise to expand the non- Orthodox prayer section of the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, but the Israeli Supreme Court also ruled that mikvot (ritual baths) must allow non-Orthodox conversion rites. That’s not to say Israel’s non-Orthodox streams are out of the discrimina- tion woods yet. Pressing issues remain for Israel’s Reform (Progressive) and Conservative (Masorti) Jews — and even for modern Orthodox Jews. For example, the hundreds of Israelis who convert to Judaism each year under the rubric of the Progressive and Masorti streams aren’t considered Jewish by Israel’s haredi Orthodox-controlled Chief Rabbinate though they’re counted as Jews by Israel’s Population Registry. In effect, Jewish converts in Israel can only be mar- ried or buried under Jewish law if their conversion fell under the strictures of Orthodox Judaism. Modern Orthodox Jews, meanwhile, still face uphill battles in bridging per- ceived indifference to their approach to religious law and ritual at the Wall, the historic government ruling enlarging and increasing the accessibility of the non- Orthodox prayer section notwithstanding. MIKVAHINDUCED INROAD The Feb. 11 mikvah ruling holds that Israel’s public mikvot, run by the haredi- influenced Religious Services Ministry, must extend access to groups seeking non-Orthodox conversions, not an insig- nificant move in a society where reli- gious battle lines long have been drawn. The ministry sought to deny such access on the grounds that non-Orthodox converts aren’t Jewish, ignoring that Orthodox converts aren’t Jewish either until they immerse. Gilad Kariv, president of Israel’s Reform movement, put it simply to JTA: “This ruling really goes beyond the issue of immersion in the mikvah. The justices are saying that even if we have an Orthodox establishment, this establishment cannot impose any policy that goes against the basic democratic values of the state.” Since modern statehood in 1948, Israel time and again has confronted being both a Jewish and democratic state. Non- Orthodox streams have had to beg for public funding as well as recognition of their rabbis. ROUGH TIDES AWAIT The Netanyahu government, with Women of the Wall at the epicenter, brokered Cabinet passage of the Jan. 31 agreement relating to the Wall. The accord creates a distinctive space at the Wall, in an archaeological area known as Robinson’s Arch, for egalitar- ian prayer. Following passage, haredi Orthodox lawmaker Moshe Gafni, who chairs the Knesset’s powerful finance committee, called Reform Jews, 1.5 million strong in America, “a group of clowns who stab the holy Torah.” The haredi Orthodox group Agudath Israel of America chimed in that desig- nating an area at the Wall for “feminist and mixed-gender prayer not only pro- fanes the holy site,” but also “creates yet a further lamentable rift between Jews.” Clearly, there’s plenty of work still to do to bring Jews in Israel together. Open mikvot and an egalitarian prayer section at the Wall alone won’t heal the rift wrought by haredi Jews who steadfastly oppose the full bloom of the faith we so love. They may not consider their opposi- tion reflective of religious intolerance or gender inequality, but it certainly seems ethically and symbolically demeaning. Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites, resisted Women of the Wall’s 20-year fight for freer women’s prayer at the Wall. But he had no choice but to accept the govern- ment-mandated agreement — although “with a heavy heart.” Further reforms won’t come easy. Israel is the ancestral home of the Jewish people. Labels distinguish the various levels of religious observance, but no Jew should fear being subject to religious discrimination in, of all places, our beloved Jewish state. Religious pluralism in Israel is far from a done deal, but it is taking root. * Go to www.thejewishnews.com/subscribe The Student Rate: $20 year* Must show proof of enrollment (*The above rates apply to In-State Only.) Give us a call to start your subscription: 248-351-5120 8 February 25 • 2016 Corrections • In “Jewish Fund” (Feb. 18, page 3), web addresses for the Jewish Fund’s survey should be www.jewishcommunitysurvey.morpace.com for adults 18 or older and www.jewishteensurvey.morpace.com for teens ages 13-17. • In “Living His Dream” (Feb. 18, page 40), film producer Harper Shecter should have been identified as female.