• From the editor's table
• Building for Hakrayot
• Rabbi Ehud Bandel re-elected Vice President of the ICCJ
• Tu Be’av with Marom
• Ramah-NOAM
Kotel Masorti
• Tish’a BeAv – Lessons for Today
• Adult Bat Mitzvah celebration at Bet Israel
• National Women’s Study Day
• Contact information
• Subscriptions and distribution

From the editor's table

This issue of e-masorti bears testimony to the wide range of activities that the Masorti Movement has to offer, both to its members and to the wider Israeli public.  Over the last two years, I have endeavored to give you a taste of Masorti life and present the unique contribution of our Movement to Israeli society.  It is thanks to your interest and support that we are able to continue our vital work in conveying our principles and attaining our goals .

This issue will also be my last one as editor, as I make way for Joe Brown, the Movement's new Resource Development Coordinator.  I would like to thank Joe for putting together this, his first edition, and wish him luck in his new position.

Best wishes from Jerusalem,

Mikie Goldstein
Resource Development Director

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Building for Hakrayot

Over the last 25 years, the Hakrayot Masorti Congregation in Kiriat Bialik, which numbers more than 250 families, has been using the city’s music conservatory as a synagogue.  Each Friday, volunteers wheel in the mobile Aron Kodesh and set up the hall as a synagogue, returning it to how it was when Shabbat finishes. Soon after his election in November 2003, mayor Rafi Wertheim visited the kehillah and promised to help find a fitting home for this vibrant community.

As Rabbi Balter’s letter shows, this is of utmost importance to us all:

Kiriat Bialik, Av 18th, 5764
August 5th, 2004

To all our friends in Israel and abroad,
Today I am a happy man! Yesterday, the city council of Kiriat Bialik authorized the construction of a synagogue for the Masorti congregation, for which we are all very appreciative.

In the name of the kehillah , I wish to thank you for your staunch support and for sending letters to the mayor and council members, protesting the objections to our existence by the Shas councilman.

Your support has been of invaluable assistance in showing the city council that we are not alone in our fight for a "home" and that we have many friends, both in Kiriat Bialik and far beyond, who are ready to stand by us in our moment of need.

Some of you have visited us on more than one occasion. You have seen the activities of the Masorti Movement and our efforts in trying to better Israeli society and the surrounding environment. You are convinced that our presence here is of extreme value and importance and therefore is worthy of your support.

We will still need your support in the future, to enable us to proceed with the building of the synagogue for which we have now received permission.

Once again, we express our profound thanks to you all.

With best wishes,
Rabbi Mauricio Balter
Hakrayot Masorti Congregation - Israel

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Rabbi Ehud Bandel re-elected Vice President of the ICCJ

Masorti president, Rabbi Ehud Bandel, was returned as vice president of the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ), in elections held during the organization’s recent Annual Conference, which took place in Aachen, Germany, in July. The ICCJ serves as the umbrella organization of 38 national Jewish-Christian dialogue organizations worldwide.

The Vatican was represented by a high-ranking delegation led by Cardinal Casper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.  The Jewish delegation was led by Rabbi Israel Singer, president of the World Jewish Congress, and Rabbi Joel Meyers, Executive Vice President of the Rabbinical Assembly.  Other Israelis who participated in the conference included Rabbi She’ar Yishuv Cohen, Chief Rabbi of Haifa, and Mr. Oded Wiener, Director General of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate.  Minister Natan Sharansky, responsible for Diaspora Affairs, also participated in the conference. 

The participants issued a joint declaration condemning terror and totally rejecting “anti-Semitism in all its forms, including anti-Zionism as a more recent manifestation of anti-Semitism”. During his visit to Buenos Aires, Rabbi Bandel met with Conservative Rabbis of local communities, and joined the Bet El and Amijai congregations for Shabbat services. 

Rabbi Bandel spoke to these congregations of the special ties between the Masorti Movement in Israel and the Conservative Movement in South America.  He encouraged the members to make aliya and join their brothers and sisters who have already made the move and who constitute an important element in the Masorti family.

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Tu Be’av with Marom

In order to celebrate Tu Be’av (15th day of Av – Festival of Love), Marom organized an evening on a romantic theme with olim (new immigrants) from Ulpan Etzion and native Israelis, at Jerusalem’s Maayanot Masorti Congregation. The evening started with social activities to break the ice, followed by a learning session led by Maayanot’s Rabbi Avi Deutsch, on the sources and reasons for celebrating Tu Be’av, which ended with smaller discussion groups in various languages.

Afterwards, three musicians played songs in both Hebrew and English, starting with popular songs and concluding with individual requests.  The evening was held in Hebrew, English and pantomime, because the 60-odd participants came from many countries, including the US, the UK, Holland, Russia, Argentina, Cuba and Israel. The evening was hailed as a great success, with many of the olim expressing interest in joining a local congregation.

The next large Marom event planned is a learning weekend this fall at Kibbutz Ketura, which will include combined activities with the movement’s Garin Nahal (army group), presently carrying out its community service year there.

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Ramah-NOAM

A total of almost 700 campers and staff took part in this year’s Ramah-NOAM Summer Camp , held in the beautiful setting of the Galilee.  The backbone of the camp, the three-week NOAM/Masorti experience, attracted some 350 youngsters, aged 12 to 16.  Younger children took part in the Nitzanim one-week program and the four-day Machanon.The theme of camp this summer was "Kehillah" (building a Jewish community). 

As Ze'ev Kainan, Director of both the camp and the NOAM youth movement phrased it, "Our goal is to build a community here, in order to disperse it at the end of the summer, and re-create many more such communities in each one's hometown".

The camp staff consisted of NOAM graduates, many of them members of NOAM's NAHAL Gar'inim, together with staff who encountered NOAM and the Masorti Movement's values and customs for the first time. Alongside Ramah-NOAM, and continuing in the NOAM spirit of community integration, 12 children with special needs, graduates of Masorti’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah for the Special Child program, took part in the two-week Netaim camp, enjoying their own program and joint activities with the other campers. 

Also, 4 young adults with special needs participated in the Maayan  program, working at Ramah-NOAM as staff members for the full duration of the camp, where their full acceptance by both staff and campers proves NOAM’s success in educating toward equality.

This year, Masorti provided grants for more than 40 olim (new immigrants), mostly from Latin America and the FSU, to enjoy the camp and become immersed in Israeli society with the help of their peers.  In addition, a separate weeklong camp was held at the Masorti kibbutz, Hanaton, for 75 recently arrived olim from Latin America, with programming in Spanish.

These various Ramah-NOAM programs are supported by the Masorti Foundation for Conservative Judaism in Israel, the Jewish Agency for Israel, the Israel Emergency Campaign, the Jewish Federation of Greater Monmouth County, the Ben N. Teitel Charitable Trust, Rubin and Serene Lazar, the George Levy Scholarship Fund, and the Hazelton Federated Charities.

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Shavuot prayers at the Kotel Masorti

Most congregations held a Tikkun Leil Shavuot, with many members taking part also in the teaching.  As is customary, the kehillot in Jerusalem joined together for shacharit services at the Kotel Masorti, after a night of learning in the various congregations.  The hundreds of attendees also included members of Marom and NOAM, as well as many visitors from abroad.  Also present at the prayer service was a group from the Bet El Masorti Congregation in Natzeret Illit, who were in Jerusalem for the festival.

See also: All Study, All Night, Ha’aretz, May 12, 2004

Kotel Masorti very active over the summer

The Kotel Masorti, at Robinson’s Arch, has become a popular site for holding Bnei and Bnot Mitzvah ceremonies, both for Israelis and visitors from abroad.  Through the offices of the Religious Affairs Bureau, Masorti and Conservative Movement members from around the world can book a service at the Kotel.  The Movement keeps a Sefer Torah and siddurim on site.

A new program, devised by Kehillot Coordinator Aviva Groen, and in conjunction with the Ethan and Marla Davidson Center at the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, will allow for the Bar/Bat Mitzvah child to take a short course on guiding people around the park.  After the Bar/Bat Mitzvah service, the child will then guide family and friends around the site, adding to the experience of the occasion.

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Tish’a BeAv – Lessons for Today

A diverse company of special guests symbolically extinguished five flames, each representing an injustice or form of hatred within Israeli society.  A single-mother doused the torch of discrimination, an Arab soccer club chairman – racism, a foreign worker – exploitation, a coexistence activist – violence, and a settlement rabbi – extremism. The ceremony concluded with Rabbi Ehud Bandel, head of the Masorti Movement, lighting the fire of ahavat hinam (selfless love ).

"The importance of Tisha Be'av is not only the destruction of the Temple, but also what led to it, and those issues are still present in Israeli society today," said Kol Yehudi event coordinator Michelle Mond.  "We hope to communicate that unjustified hatred is what could lead to the third destruction of the Temple," said Mond, adding that issues of social injustice are "bringing the country to its destruction, and aren't being properly dealt with."

See also:
Tisha Be’av takes a pluralistic twist, Jerusalem Post, July 24, 2004
Flames of hatred extinguished, Jerusalem Post, July 26, 2004

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Adult Bat Mitzvah celebration at Bet Israel

Netanya women who had not celebrated a Bat Mitvah on reaching the age of 12, had an opportunity to do so at the Bet Israel Masorti Congregation, on Yom Ha’atzmaut.  Three women, aged 28, 50 and 70, spent a number of weeks learning to lead prayers and read from the Torah, in anticipation of their dream to have a Bat Mitzvah. Some 60 kehillah members, family and friends joined them at this important spiritual celebration.

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National Women’s Study Day

The 4th National Masorti Women’s Study Day took place at the Schechter Institute, Jerusalem, on Friday, June 18.  Almost 300 women from all around Israel attended the day of learning, based on the theme, "Do our conceptions or misconceptions of Eve affect the attitude of all of us toward women?"  Near to 100 of the participants were Spanish- and Russian-speaking olim (new immigrants) – some of whom had just recently come on aliya .

Lectures included: "Give me children or I will die: Rachel’s mistake?" delivered by Dr. Penina Feller; "Surrogate mother: Hagar and Sarah," by Prof. Alice Shalvi; "Eve in Art and Midrash," by Dr. Joe Milgram; "Eve in Art and Literature," delivered in Spanish by Dr. Adolfo Roitman, curator of the Shrine of the Book;  "Eve and motherhood in Jewish and other Art," delivered in Russian by Ilena Luvarco; and "Eve in Agnon’s stories," also delivered in Russian, by Alla Cherencho, a Hebrew University MA student in Hebrew Literature.

The Women’s Study Days program was created by the Women's League for Conservative Judaism  (WLCJ) and is coordinated by their Israel liaison officer, Diane Friedgut, of the Moreshet Avraham Masorti Congregation.  The study days are held in conjunction with the Masorti Movement and the Schechter Institute and preparation is going ahead for the February 2005 regional study days, to which the WLCJ hopes to bring over a group of US women.

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Contact information

e-masorti is produced by the Development Department of the Masorti Movement in Israel.
13 Ben Yehuda Street, PO Box 7559, Jerusalem 91074 ISRAEL Web: www.masorti.org
Telephone: +972 (2) 624 6510 Fax: +972 (2) 624 6869 E-mail: development@masorti.org

Donations

Israel and all other countries : to the offices in Jerusalem (above).

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