• From the Editor's Desk
• Communal Seder at Kehillat Eshel Avraham
• Court Rules on Conversions
• Court Rules on Brenda Kaufman Case
• Yaltha Women Seders
• NOAM Yom Kef
• Marom Update
• Contact information
• Subscriptions and distribution

From the Editor's Desk

For me, Masorti Judaism in Israel has two main fronts.  One is the practice of Masorti Judaism within new and refreshing ways, that are meaningful without breaking from Halakhah, such as the Yaltha Women's Seders, held this year for the second time.  Its growth symbolizes to a great degree the success of the Movement. 

The other, and perhaps the more important front, is the induction of Masorti Judaism into Israeli everyday existence. The recent ruling of the High Court shows that our conversion should, and perhaps in the near future will, be treated equally.  This decision is a foothold in Masorti becoming a significant part of the Jewish State.

Joe Brown
Masorti Movement in Israel

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Communal Seder at Kehillat Eshel Avraham

Conducting a congregational Seder for 117 people without a microphone is quite a challenge.  It is more of a challenge when 25 of them speak only Spanish, 25 speak mainly Russian and the rest are fluent in Hebrew.  This is not the first year that Eshel Avraham, the Masorti Congregation in Beersheva, organizes a community celebration on the first night of Passover, but it was the most attended one so far.  Rabbi Gil Nativ said that he agreed to conduct a public, rather than a family Seder, when he realized that several congregants, especially some of the new olim (immigrants), would otherwise have no Seder at all.

Why is such a 'Seder' different than all other Passover Sedarim?  First of all you must take into account that the participants have a variety of customs and backgrounds, e.g. Which green herbs do you use as Maror and what do you mix in the Charosset when there are many Sephardic and Mid-East Jews around the table?  Many steps, e.g. washing hands, take much more time than in a family Seder. 

If you do not want the Seder to last until dawn, you must select from the Hagaddah only the most essential passages, and this is not an easy task, said Rabbi Nativ.  Already 30 years ago he suggested to change the order of the 'Order' (Seder): As soon as we break and hide half a Matza, and invite those who are hungry to share the meal with us, we bless and eat the matza, the Maror, the famous sandwich of Hillel, and a hard boiled egg (symbolizing the Hagiga sacrifice), and only then we let the children ask the four questions and continue with the whole story. 

Thus, the four questions that children ask become relevant questions (related to food which they have already eaten, and in addition, everyone has already had something to eat, so people around the table have much more patience to hear the story of the Exodus).

Prof. Pinchas Vardin, President of the congregation, went out of his way to ensure that we will not turn down anyone who wanted to join our communal Seder. He withdrew money from several charity funds to subsidize those individuals and families who could not afford the full cost of the meal. 

The congregation literally carried out the policy of 'kol dikhfin' - 'Whoever is hungry may come and eat'.  The four-hour Seder included many unique elements, such as the 'Four Daughters', which followed the 'Four Sons', and individual Exodus stories, including a holocaust survivor's story of the 'illegal ship' she boarded in the Black Sea, and how the British captured the ship and took her and 3000 other 'olim' into a prison camp in Atlit and a man who grew up in Argentina related how he arrived in the Promised Land in 1987 without having a friend or a relative in Israel, and without knowing any Hebrew.

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Court Rules on Conversions

On March 31, the Supreme Court delivered a majority ruling that non-Orthodox conversions performed abroad should be recognized for purposes of citizenship according to the Law of Return, even if the convert studied in Israel and was not part of a community abroad before or after conversion. The ruling was passed down in response to an appeal submitted by IRAC on behalf of 14 petitioners who requested to obtain the status of Olim and Israeli citizenship, all of whom had studied in either the Masorti Movement in Israel or the Israeli Reform Movement and had stood before a Beit Din of either movement abroad.

This ruling is the next step in a long line of earlier rulings that give equal status to conversions performed by non-Orthodox rabbis. Already in 2002 it was decided, in response to an appeal by the Masorti Movement, that non-Orthodx conversions performed in Israel would be recognized in order to be listed in the census. This having been said, the last word has not been said yet, since the court has refused to deal with the question of the validity of non-Orthodox conversions executed completely in Israel.

"It is worthy," said Chief Justice Prof. Aharon Barak, "that the arrangements of the arising problem - recognition of Reform and Conservative conversions performed in Israel - will be set by the legislator." He added that "as long as the Knesset has not had its say, the problem of recognizing conversions for the purpose of the Law of Return should be resolved within the Law of Return."  This interpretation of the law means that all conversions receive equal status.

See also: High Court in Israel Accepts Some Non-Orthodox Conversions, JTA, March 31, 2005
Exposing Orthodox Conversion Myths, Jerusalem Post, April 6, 2005
Israel Courts Expands Conversion Definition, Newsday, March 31, 2005

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Court Rules on Brenda Kaufman Case

Jerusalem Magistrates' Court Judge Haim Li-Ran recently issued an acquittal in the Brenda Kaufman case. The accused parties - Bikur Holim and five of its senior staff physicians - had been accused of criminal negligence in Brenda's death. All the parties were acquitted. The trial was launched five years ago.

In early 1994, Brenda died at the age of 30 due to complications in the wake of surgery she underwent because of abdominal pains she had been suffering from for a lengthy period of time. Two months after the operation, she succumbed to death due to a total collapse of all her vital systems. The collapse was caused by a rare syndrome in which the nitrate level in her blood became significantly low.

Brenda, a rabbinical student at the Schechter Institute in Jerusalem, devoted her entire life to advancing pluralism in Judaism and to promoting the rights of the individual. The Brenda Fund attempts to carry on this important work by supporting projects that advance social justice and encouraging community programs in that spirit.

Doris Kaufman, Brenda's mother, reacted to the court ruling with the following statement: "It is very difficult to prove criminal negligence in medical cases; thus, we were not surprised by the verdict. I find it intolerable that I was barred from testifying on the grounds that I am a relative and that this fact would have prejudiced my testimony. That would mean that none of Brenda's relatives could ever testify. The court ruled that physicians cannot be held responsible if they have no experience in the particular procedure for which they are being sued. This is a major decision that may be used in the courts in future."

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Yaltha Women Seders

Last week, over ten Women Seders were held by Yaltha - the Masorti Rabbinical Women's Forum, in Masorti communities across the country. Rabbi Idit Lev, one of the leading figures in Yaltha, said how much this event meant for her: "Yaltha is a support group, which helps us deal with problems in the field and with the fact that we are in non-classically-women's positions. Beyond that, this is a group that enables promotion of ideas and projects. The group empowers us, and it gives me the strength to keep working. These encounters help us to remember why we are here in a place that is by no means easy. The group reminds us what we can contribute."

This is the second year that Yalta has organized Women's Seders, as well as study nights and creative ceremonies revolving around Passover. Last year, the seven Seders held across Israel were attended by 150. The Seders were managed by Yaltha members who volunteered their time and services and who had to contend with a minimalist budget contributed by the Rabbinical Assembly. This year, the number of participants was greater, with 70 women and men participating in the Jerusalem Seder alone.

The Seders were conducted in a relaxed atmosphere. Most of the participants sat on the floor in and the candle-illuminated room. In the evening, a study session was held on the topic "You Must Tell Your Daughter." This is the first step in making Women's Seders a tradition in the Masorti Movement, by providing both women and men an opportunity to give to the Festival of Freedom additional personal meaning.

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NOAM Yom Kef

On April 18, hundreds of NOAM  (No'ar Masorti - Masorti Youth) members participated in the Yom Kef (fun day) in the Hulda Forest near Rehovot. In the course of thee Yom Kef, the members became involved in the activities offered at the various booths, which focused on NOAM'S subject for this year, "Rights and Obligations," as well as booths on "My Country."

There were also amusement rides and a brief tour of the landscape of the coastal plain in all its springtime green splendor. The participants visited the statue garden of artist Gadi Shami. Fun Day wound up with a ceremony entitled the National Noam Festival, which was held at the Mazkeret Batya community center where a documentary film was screened on the activities and overall atmosphere in each of NOAM'S branches throughout Israel.

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Marom Update

The Scroll of Esther was read before 100 participants in a Purim celebration that was held at the Fuchsberg Center in Jerusalem on Thursday evening, March 24, and which was organized jointly by Marom, the Conservative Yeshiva and the rabbinical students attending the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.

In a youthful, egalitarian atmosphere, the Scroll was read out, with the various readers, each of whom was costumed, adopting their own unique style of reading. The reading was followed by a party and a competition for the best Purim outfit.

More than 200 persons attended Marom's program in Beersheba, which was held on March 27, in conjunction with Hillel House and which focused on the subject of "Same-sex relations and Judaism." The program included the screening of the film "The One Whom My Soul Loves," which was followed by a panel discussion with the film's creator, Ilil Alexander and one of its actresses. The event generated considerable publicity for Marom on the campus of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

On April 12, a panel discussion was held on the subject of weddings. The event was organized by Marom's Beersheba branch in conjunction with Hillel House on the BGU campus. The panel discussion gave the audience an opportunity to learn about wedding ceremonies in Judaism's three major religious movements, Orthodox, Conservative and Reform.

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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

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