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SECOND-CLASS JEW
by Shahar Ilan, Ha'aretz, Dec. 1, 2004
Rabbi Ismar Schorsch can also see the points of light. For instance, he is greatly encouraged by the success of the Tali school network (Tali is an acronym for Tigbur Limudei Yahadut - Jewish studies enrichment), which is identified with the Conservative Movement.
Schorsch, chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York and a leader of the Conservative movement worldwide, even views as progress the fact that the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies - the Conservative movement's academic institution in Israel - has received approval from the Council for Higher Education to confer Master's degrees.
For a movement that thirsts for recognition and equality in Israel, this too ranks as a major accomplishment.
But by the time he winds up his interview with Haaretz, Schorsch is gloomy.
"We have no more equality now than we had 10 years ago," he says. "Legally speaking, we are still boycotted and still marginalized."
A Conservative Jew in Israel, he says, is considered "a second-class Jew" and "a second-class citizen. The religious discrimination continues."
It is important to note that Schorsch is saying these things in what looks like the final days of the secular government. Any other government can only be worse for his cause.
Schorsch was among the leaders of the campaign against the Conversion Law during the Netanyahu government. At the time, he publicly called for the transfer of NIS 500 million from the United Jewish Communities funds to the progressive movements in Israel due to the discrimination against them in government budgetary allocations.
It was one of the steps that foiled passage of the law, the object of which was to bolster the Orthodox monopoly on conversion in Israel.
Schorsch says that even though the Conversion Law did not pass, the conversion situation in Israel right now is "more serious, more painful, more saddening. There is a considerable share of the population that cannot be accepted as Jews. It's difficult to understand."
In spite of the acerbic struggle he waged, Schorsch eventually backed cooperation with the Ne'eman process, which was a compromise put together by a committee headed by Yaakov Ne'eman, the finance minister in the Netanyahu cabinet. That compromise established a conversion institute common to the three main branches of Judaism, which would would allow those graduates of the institute who wanted an Orthodox conversion to be able to do so.
"Yaakov Ne'eman's effort failed," says Schorsch. "Only a small percentage of those who complete the institute are accepted by the rabbinic establishment."
Even if the conversion religious courts would convert every graduate of the institute, he says, "the institute does not solve the problem," because the number of immigrants needing conversion is too great.
"The demands of the institute are too great," he explains. "They require more than 400 hours of study, and require that the would-be converts observe the Sabbath. How many of the immigrants can comply with these demands?"
The Ne'eman committee was set up with the support of the High Court of Justice in order to move the decision from the court to the political establishment. "The High Court of Justice gave the government an option to solve the problem, and the government failed," says Schorsch.
Schorsch stresses that all of his bleak sentiments about inequality in conversion practices also apply to the fact that a large percentage of citizens cannot marry in Israel. "It's a disgrace for Israel," he says.
Back when the Sharon government was much more stable, a coalition committee headed by MK Ronnie Bar-On formulated the civil union compromise. This compromise created two types of registration of unions: the religious sort, which would be called marriage, and the civil registration of a union. Couples that would be registered in the civil format would receive all of the rights of a married couple.
This past Monday, the Justice Ministry unexpectedly distributed a memorandum on a proposed Civil Union Law. The distribution of such a memorandum is a preliminary action to the submission of a proposed government-sponsored law. The distribution of such a controversial memorandum at the height of a coalition crisis makes a statement and little else. The action could be the swan song of Justice Minister Yosef Lapid.
Schorsch said he is "not willing to accept this proposal. I would accept the solution only if every citizen wanting to marry had to first undergo civil registration. If they then wanted to be married in a religious ceremony, then that is their choice. If the religious are allowed to be married by a rabbi, then that is a special right - that is discrimination."
Nevertheless, the attempt demonstrates that when matters reach the negotiations stage, Schorsch can be very flexible. It's hard to believe that if the civil union compromise were implemented that Schorsch would oppose it.
Ten years ago, Schorsch was very disappointed with the Conservative Movement's inability to work its way into the hearts of Israelis. Next week he arrives in Israel for events marking the 20th anniversary of the Schechter Institute, and now he sings a different tune. "We have succeeded in penetrating the educational arena and creating broader contact with Israeli society," he says.
As opposed to Reform Jews, the Conservative movement considers itself obligated to halakh (Jewish law), including Sabbath observance. In the past few years, there has been a noticeable rapprochement between the Conservative position and that of the moderate national-religious mainstream in Israel. This is partly due to the increased demand by religious women for equality in religious ritual.
"There is cooperation and dialogue between the groups," notes Schorsch. For example, a considerable number of teachers teach at both Bar-Ilan University and the Schechter Institute.
But Schorsch is far from enthusiastic about projections that all of the differences between the Conservatives and the Modern Orthodox will become so blurred that they will become a single stream in Judaism. "Why do the differences have to be removed?" he asks. "The differences are not a negative thing. I am very much in favor of pluralism and in favor of many gates to the synagogue."
Schorsch vehemently objected to the war in Iraq and even spoke prior to the war of an "era of darkness." He's even more vehement now.
"I think that the war in Iraq is a disaster. We don't have any exit strategy. We're stuck. It was a tragedy, a tragedy for America and a tragedy for Israel. There's no doubt that the situation today is worse than it was before the war. The invasion did not reduce the number of terrorists; it increased it," he says.
If the United States leaves Iraq like it left Vietnam, says Schorsch, "it would leave a vacuum that would be filled by terrorists. Then Iraq would turn into an Afghanistan."
He is concerned about talk of a possible attack on Iran. "I'm very worried," he says. "I am opposed."
Nevertheless, he says, "I am certain the United States won't do anything. We don't have the strength now, and the president doesn't want to restart the draft. I don't think the United States will try to resolve the problem with Iran with force. America will continue to rely on the diplomatic process and I think that Israel has to cooperate with it."
Notwithstanding his obvious support for the diplomatic process, Schorsch has never been one to hold forth on the subject to the same degree as his counterpart in the Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Eric Yoffie.
Yoffie called on the Bush administration a few months ago to pressure Israel to suspend construction in settlements. However, things have changed since then, and it is not the appropriate time, in Schorsch's opinion, for attacks on the Israeli government.
"Right now I'm not criticizing," he says. "I'm willing to wait and see what will come of Sharon's effort to get the IDF out of Gaza. I hope that something positive will come of it. I would very much hope to see the renewal of negotiations. I hope that disengagement will lead to this."
So you're in a tough spot?
"True. We support the prime minister in his foreign policy. Insofar as domestic policy, we want change, and there is a connection. A debate on the issue of conversion is not for the good of Israel right now. Which is why we're in a tough spot."
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