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CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT LEADERS DRAFT PRAYER FOR PM'S SAFETY
by Amiram Barkat, Ha'aretz, Oct. 20, 2004
Following warnings of an imminent assassination attempt on the
life of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, leaders of Judaism's Conservative
movement are asking their followers around the world to pray for the prime
minister's safety and well-being. The unprecedented request was made
Wednesday in Jerusalem by leaders of the United Synagogue of Conservative
Judaism and the Conservative (Masorti) Movement in Israel.
A newly drafted prayer, in English and in Hebrew, will be added
this Saturday to the ritual prayer for the safety of the State of Israel.
The prayer mentions the late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was
assassinated by a Jewish extremist nine years ago. It calls on the Lord to
"nullify the actions and words of those spewing hatred against the Prime
Minister (and) rupturing the fabric of Israeli society."
The Masorti movement in Israel is relatively small and numbers
several thousand members, but the movement in the U.S. represents some
800,000 Jews, according to the National Jewish Population Survey for
2000-2001.
The president of the Masorti Movement in Israel, Rabbi Ehud
Bandel, said the decision to act on the matter was taken in response to
warnings of security services of an imminent assassination attempt on the
life of Sharon, which were widely quoted Tuesday in the media.
"It's shocking to see the level of security around the prime
minister. Today we are wiser then we were before the assassination of the
late Rabin and the feeling is that the there is a clear and present threat,"
said Rabbi Bandel, who wrote the Hebrew version of the prayer. He added
that, "At a time like this we, as religious leadership, must take a stand,
moreover so because the threat is coming from religious people."
Earlier Thursday, the Masorti Movement published a declaration
condemning the latest halachic-verdicts of prominent Orthodox rabbis who
ordered religious soldiers to refuse orders to evacuate Jewish settlements.
The Masorti Movement encouraged its members who serve in the IDF to obey
such orders.
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