The danger from within: The Israeli story - comment
We are about to experience our fourth election within two years, arguably the dirtiest ever, when one group of Jews called another “dogs”
By WALTER BINGHAMIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures after speaking to supporters following the announcement of exit polls in Israel's election at his Likud party headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel March 3, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
If serious controversies about our internal affairs turn you on, then Israel is the place for you. Our country is small, but there is never a dull moment.We are about to experience our fourth election within two years, arguably the dirtiest ever, when one group of Jews called another “dogs,” when politicians’ mutual criticism is the order of the day instead of presenting the electorate with definitive alternatives, and when our prime minister is trying to manipulate the law to avoid a conviction on three charges of corruption that could affect his personal freedom.Then there is the perennial dispute of our legislature vs. the judiciary that has turned into a competition that has now reached a deeper-than-ever low.An expanded nine-judge panel of Israel’s High Court of Justice has ruled 8 to 1, in a highly questionable decision that conversions to Judaism carried out by the Reform and Conservative movements in Israel shall be recognized as qualification within Law of Return and Israeli citizenship. This now applies to conversions carried out within Israel as well as those in countries abroad. The Reform and Conservative movements are celebrating the end of their struggle that began in 2005. They argue that the days of the unfair Orthodox domination of what is Jewish or indeed who is a Jew has finally been removed as unlawful by the affirmation of the High Court ruling.That ruling triggered opposition from many quarters. Although strangely, more than 55 years ago, Reform conversions abroad were recognized for the Law of Return and the right to Israeli citizenship.The specifics were, however, never spelled out and Israel’s Orthodox rabbinate does not accept any conversion documents unless they were issued by listed Orthodox rabbinical courts.Israel’s Orthodox establishment maintains that the High Court’s jurisdiction extends only to secular matters and that it does not have any justification to rule on matters of Halacha, Jewish law.Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said, “What the Reform and Conservatives call conversion is nothing but the forgery of Judaism enabling the entry of thousands of non-Jews into the Jewish people.” The Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel David Lau concurred that Israel would be flooded with non-Jewish immigrants and said, “Those who convert through the Reform movement are simply not Jewish.”The leadership of Israel’s religious parties vociferously denounced the decision, as did Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, although that might be a tactical move connected to the forthcoming election.Rabbi Steven Pruzansky of Teaneck, New Jersey, wrote, “At most, they are authorized to determine who is an Israeli. Injudicious decisions like this one further divide people and inflame the Torah world against the state. The branches of government have no more right to opine on who is a Jew than they have to move Shabbat to Tuesday. In truth, they can declare any Mongolian, Zambian, Brazilian or American to be eligible for Israeli citizenship, but at what cost to the vision of Israel as the Jewish State?”ACCORDING TO the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) Yearbook 3 (1893), pp. 73–95; and the updated American Reform Responsa no. 68, pp. 236–237, in the United States, Reform Judaism rejects the concept that any rules or rituals should be considered necessary for conversion to Judaism. In the late 19th century, the CCAR, the official body of American Reform rabbis, formally resolved to permit the admission of converts “without any initiatory rite, ceremony, or observance whatsoever.”Although this resolution has often been examined critically by many Reform rabbis, it still remains the official policy of American Reform Judaism. Thus, according to American Reform Judaism, immersion in a mikveh (ritual bath), circumcision, or acceptance of mitzvot is not a necessary condition for conversion. Appearance before a beit din (rabbinical court) is recommended but not considered essential. Converts are asked to commit to religious standards set by the local Reform community. That means the requirements for conversion of any individual are determined by the rabbi who sponsors the convert. That mirrors the conversion method of the Christian world.In essence, there is only one Judaism, and to demand equality of conversion rights for every watered-down version, as Jewish People Policy Institute president Yedidia Stern advocates, is defeating the purpose of a Jewish state, and would totally change its character.Rabbi Noa Sattath, director of the misnamed Israel Religious Action Center, believes, “Since most Jews around the world belong to the progressive movements, it is natural that a large number of those who tie their fate to the Jewish people in the Diaspora would convert through the progressive movement.” That indicates conversion for the wrong reasons. Only when the prospective convert has decided that Judaism based on Torah and its mitzvot is the way to live, should he or she be admitted to join the Jewish people. It is a sad fact that large numbers of those who are born Jewish according to Halacha and describe themselves as progressive are attempting to redefine the Jewish codes.Our pusillanimous politicians should have long ago laid down definitive guidelines for this one and only Jewish state, declaring that the quintessence of its modern existence is the ingathering of our people, to guard our Jewish heritage and scriptures, and to maintain our Jewish laws, tradition and values.If this law will be allowed to stand, Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, already under siege through intermarriage with non-Jewish Israelis mainly from the former Soviet Union, will be further irreversibly diluted.Finally, a word of advice to some of the militant sections of our community: Violent non-licensed demonstrations and attacking the police are counter-productive and will never achieve the desired result.The writer, 97, holds the Guinness world record as the world’s oldest active journalist and radio host. He presents ‘Walter’s World’ on Israel National Radio (Arutz 7) and ‘The Walter Bingham File’ on Israel News Talk Radio. Both are in English.
Related TagshalachaOrthodox Jews
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