New at ajcwire
Visit ajcwire, the official blog of the American Jewish Committee, to read insights into the denigration of Reform Jews in Israel. Rabbi Edward Rettig, associate director of AJC's Israel/Middle East office, and Steven Bayme, director of AJC's department of Contemporary Jewish Life, both weigh in on the controversy.
Fighting for Democracy and Pluralism in the Jewish World
by Edward Rettig
The enormity of this event lies in its pettiness. A few weeks ago, Rabbi Micky Boyden, a well-liked Reform rabbi in the town of Hod Hasharon, a quiet Tel Aviv suburb, was invited to recite a prayer at the local commemoration of Israel?s war dead on Yom Hazikaron, Israel's Memorial Day. Rabbi Boyden, who lost his son Yonatan in combat in Lebanon in 1993, founded the local "Kehilat Yonatan" synagogue and was active in the Yad Labanim organization that memorializes Israel?s war dead. However, a few days before the ceremony, he was called by the organizers and given an ultimatum: Either he agrees to deliver the prayer without the use of his "rabbi" title or he would not be allowed to participate. Stunned, he refused.
Continue reading 'Fighting for Democracy and Pluralism in the Jewish World' @ www.ajcblog.org
The Chief Rabbi, Reform Judaism and the Holocaust
by Steve Bayme
As the Passover holiday receded on the Jewish calendar, public attention turned to Yom Hashoah and Holocaust commemoration. Unfortunately, however, we experienced a renewal of internal Jewish tensions and polarization. Former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu articulated the theological lesson that those who suffered through the Holocaust did so as punishment for the sins of Reform Judaism. One week later, a Reform rabbi and father of an Israeli soldier killed in the line of duty, who had previously been asked to recite the memorial prayer for Israel's Yom Hazikaron (Remembrance Day), was disinvited because he would not relinquish his right to be called a rabbi. That these incidents occurred at a time of collective Jewish grief only further exposed the degree of internal Jewish intolerance of the Israeli Orthodox Rabbinate.
The issue of assigning theological blame for the Holocaust is by no means new. On the contrary, claiming that suffering results from sin originates as far back as biblical times.
Continue reading 'The Chief Rabbi, Reform Judaism, and the Holocaust' @ www.ajcblog.org
Ari M. Gordon Assistant Director Department of Interreligious Affairs American Jewish Committee 165 E56th St. New York, NY 10022 (212) 891-6768 (212) 751-4000 x266 www.ajc.org www.engagingamerica.org