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SLOW, RADICAL CHANGE:
Israel's Conservative
movement wants American
counterparts to get a little more excited about its
challenges
by Neil Rubin, Senior Editor
Baltimore Jewish Times 9/27/03
Maybe Conservative Jews just aren't interested when it comes to their own movement's struggle for legitimacy in the State of Israel. "There is a verse in Shir HaShirim, ‘The guardian of the vineyards, I didn't guard my own vineyard,'" said Rabbi Ehud Bandel, president of the Masorti (Conservative) movement in Israel, referring to the text of the Song of Songs. "The time has come for the Conservative movement to talk seriously about its obligation of supporting its own movement, its own family in Eretz Yisrael."
Rabbi Bandel and Riva Silverman, president of the U.S.-based Masorti Foundation for Conservative Judaism in Israel, were in Baltimore last week to raise money and awareness. Their cause occasionally grabs a headline but seems continually stuck with the same issues – little progress over the lack of government recognition, which translates into funding that could propel growth.
Rabbi Bandel and his colleagues in Israel, who serve 50 congregations and about 30,000 Jews, are not forbidden from performing life cycle events. However, due to Orthodox hegemony over such events, the state will not register their weddings or other ceremonies.
Ironically, when performed outside of Israel, the Ministry of Interior registers any such event as valid. Thus, some couples have a religious ceremony in Israel with a Conservative rabbi and then head to nearby Cyprus for a secular wedding.
Still, the fight for Conservative Judaism alone is not enough, Rabbi Bandel said. "People are sick and tired of the Orthodox monopoly, but what we're trying to encourage is it's not enough to be against Orthodoxy," he said over the din of the coffee shop in Pikesville's Barnes & Noble Booksellers. "We ask, ‘What is your positive answer to this? What kind of Judaism do you choose?' It's a window of opportunity. The question is, do we have the means to take advantage of this?"
Rabbi Bandel's optimism soared in the early 2002 elections when Shinui, the ultra-secular party, grabbed 15 seats and a prominent role in Ariel Sharon's government. Shinui's campaign centered on crushing the Orthodox rabbinate's power, particularly that of the Haredi, or fervently Orthodox, leadership.
The enthusiasm has waned as Shinui made compromises to join the coalition, but Rabbi Bandel said he still sees seeds of hope. "Look, I was not satisfied when the coalition agreement was signed. But the change will not come from the government, or at least we need to have the pressure from grass-roots," he said. "You have to realize that until Shinui was in the government, we had no open channels. Now, when I call the Minister of the Interior, he returns my calls."
The Conservative message of moderation, Rabbi Bandel said, is more critical than ever. "The political situation is pushed to the extreme both on left and right. There is something really in common between the two opposites – that is kind of raising hands and giving up the Zionist dream of an independent, sovereign Jewish state that lives peacefully with its Arab neighbors," he said. "So what we need is a very strong center. I think that is the role of the Masorti movement. Our three basic principles are Zionism, Judaism and democracy."
One way to deal with this is to push for a separation of religion and state. But Rabbi Bandel said he does not favor such an American system in Israel.
"Government funding for religious institutions is a must because the State of Israel was founded not just to save Jews but Judaism itself based on equal standards and objective criteria and not favoring different streams," he said. "I'd love to see separation between religion and politics; that means no more religious parties. I don’t say ban them, but I'd like people to realize that the idea of religious parties has done terrible damage to religion in Israel."
One challenge has been the reluctance of American Conservative Jews to speak out. "Jewish leadership in general and Conservative leadership in particular is very reluctant to wash Israel's dirty laundry in public," said Mrs. Silverman. "I think there's a little bit more of a willingness to deal with all of this. Keeping quiet hasn't helped us."
And Rabbi Bandel said he wishes that Conservative Jews would be as excited as the Reform ones he meets when it comes to the struggles in Israel.
"They have the passion of the ba'alei teshuva," or Jews who have returned to observant Judaism, he said. "Conservative Jews were Zionists from the beginning, but we lack sometimes the passion. We need to raise money for the ambulances, but we also need the spiritual ambulances, and to realize that this also works for the security of the State of Israel.
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