• From the editor's table
• 10th Year Anniversary of Bar/Bat Mitzvah for Special Child Program
• Dvar Torah
• High Court Brief Filed to Allow Masorti Access to Mikvaot
• Lazar in Qatar
• Marom Tel Chai Agunot Evening
• Bet Midrash in Yavneh
• Contact information
• Subscriptions and distribution

From the editor's table

Things are heating up in Israel, but I mean it in a positive way. The hip-hop group, the Black Eyed Peas kicked off their summer tour last night in Tel Aviv -- after six years of no live performances from abroad in Israel due to security concerns. Others, including 50 Cent, Roger Waters and Sting are also on their way here. The Israel Book Week is beginning, which always draws large crowds at book fairs across the country. This is the kind of heat we need in Israel, the celebration of normal life. Now if only the temperature would cool off a bit before the Ramah-NOAM summer camp begins.

Rabbi Paul Arberman
Editor, e-masorti

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10th Year Anniversary of Bar/Bat Mitzvah for Special Child Program

On May 8th , the Masorti Movement celebrated ten years of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah for the Special Child Program. The celebration, held at Kehillat Moreshet Avraham in Jerusalem, began with a service for ten bar/bat mitzvah students. Founder of the Program, Judith Edelman-Green was honored for her years of work as director. In attendance adding kavod and spirit was the Masorti Leadership Mission led by Roz and Dick Kaufman.

Current program director, Zivah Nativ, described with pride the importance of running Israel's only program dedicated to helping special children prepare and celebrate their Jewish coming of age. The preparation for each child is significant; for six months, teachers in the program visit Onn School in Tel Aviv once a week to go over basic synagogue and bar mitzvah rituals, prayers and the concept of mitzvoth.

Each child composes his or her own bracha, and these are included in the ceremony according to the abilities of each child. Devora Rowen commented that she was touched by one of her students' blessing: "Thank you god for my electric wheelchair that takes the place of my legs and allows me to get around." Said Rowen, "it symbolizes for me, that even when life is difficult...there is always something for which to be thankful." In the past ten years, over 2000 students have celebrated their bar/bat mitzvah through this program.

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Dvar Torah

The fourth book of the Torah which goes by two names: Bamidbar ("in the desert") and the book of Numbers. These names appropriately describe the contents of the book: the description of the travels and adventures of the children of Israel in the desert; and the census counts of the Israelites at that time.

At first glance, the lists of names and numbers seem to be only technical details which are collected and presented in order to help organize the nation in their march across the desert. However, these details are actually important not just for knowing how many we are, but for knowing who we are. In the Jewish tradition, the details of our names are important: our full name which includes our parents' names makes it clear that we are connected to the generations who have come before us. It helps us find our place as the latest link in an ancient chain of Jewish continuity.

Rabbi Sandra Kochmann
Kehillah Masortit-Mishpachtit, Beit Hakerem, Jerusalem

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High Court Brief Filed to Allow Masorti Access to Mikvaot

On May 7th , the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) filed a brief with the High Court in Israel to demand that the Israeli government allow the Masorti and Reform Movements' rabbis to use public mikvaot to help their conversion candidates complete their course with a ritual immersion. The two Movements each year convert hundreds of people who require ritual immersion in a mikveh before two rabbis who serve as witnesses. However, attempts by rabbis of the two Movements to enter mikvaot as any other person were blocked. Attempts to schedule appointments for mikvaot in advance were also not successful. Rabbi Andy Sacks, the Director of the Rabbinical Assembly's Religious Affairs Bureau, commented: "The mikvaot were built with public funds, and must be available to serve the Israeli public. It is not acceptable for the Rabbanut to prevent us from doing mitzvot in which you need a mikveh."

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Lazar in Qatar

Rabbi David Lazar of Kehillat Tiferet Shalom in Ramat Aviv spent two days in Qatar in April as one of two Israeli participants in the 4th Doha Conference on Religions Dialogue. Held under the auspices of the Emir of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and chaired by Prof. Aishaa Yousef Al-Manae, the conference covered diverse topics including: Religions and civil rights; religion, women and the family; religious pluralism; and religions and protection of the environment.

At the conference, Rabbi Lazar gave a speech in a session on "religion pluralism and repect for the other;" he spoke about each spiritual tradition containing sources for how to arrive at religious truth, and that pluralism involves recognizing that "we are all in need of others' interpretations of God's presence to make society - whether it be here at this conference, in the State of Israel or at a Global level - whole or shalem..." Rabbi Lazar also spoke of his work as the director of RIKMA (Spiritual Community Leadership Training) to create the next generation of Jewish religious leadership in Israel.

In his opening speech to the conference, Foreign Affairs Minister, His Excellency Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud, spoke of his hope of having the conference "realize the lofty goal of bringing people of the faith and specialists together in order to explore avenues of mutual understanding and prospects for cooperation so that peace and amicable affection will prevail throughout the globe..." Reflecting that sentiment, Rabbi Lazar, commented on the conference: "I went to make connections with real people; leaders whom I can continue to dialogue after the conference -- and thankfully, I am already in touch with an imam from the UK, a Jesuit monk from Germany, and a professor of Islamic studies from Qatar."

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Marom Tel Chai Agunot Evening

In April, the Tel Chai chapter of Marom ran a program on chained women (agunot), whose husbands have refused to grant them the traditional Jewish bill of divorce (get). A representative from the organization "Mavoi Satum" screened "Mekudeshet," a film on chained women, for the forty students in attendance. The film highlights the halakhic problems involved in Jewish divorce and shares the stories and plight of four Israeli women who are unable to remarry because of their husbands' refusal to grant them a divorce.

Following the film, Marom students took part in an engaging discussion regarding possible halakhic solutions for agunot. They left with a deeper knowledge of the issue and its relevance to welfare of the Jewish family. Equally important, they left committed to finding solutions that are dignified, egalitarian, and traditional. This is especially crucial since the Chief Rabbinate of Israel refuses to act in a meaningful way to alleviate the problem of chained women.

Olya Weinstein Marom
Coordinator

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Bet Midrash in Yavneh

This is the second year that Rabbi Hagit Sabag led a bet midrash program for parents and teachers of the Tali school, "Ben Gurion," in Yavneh. It brings together religious, traditional and secular parents, new immigrants and sabras -- to learn, to create, and to discuss issues in an open and equal forum. In the first year of the bet midrash, participants examined the relations of children and parents in the Torah, midrash, and in the every day life of the participants. This year the topic is the human body. Participants choose various texts from Jewish sources, that deal with the body, the soul and the spirit of human beings. Rabbi Sabag commented: "Without the bet midrash, it is safe to assume that these people would never see a Jewish text. The parents enjoy coming to class because the meetings are relevant to their lives and this is their opportunity to have an uplifting spiritual experience. My dream is to expand the program and to bring this idea to other schools."

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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 ext. 24  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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Subscriptions and Distribution

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