English readers unaware because much is not available in translation

Israeli media speaks out for recognizing the streams

Anti-Semites don’t distinguish between Jews according to their denominations. That is a practice reserved for the Israeli government. Israeli media personalities and others have drawn conclusions from the massacre in Pittsburgh, which links this tragedy to Israel's religion-state policies.

Uri Regev 07/11/2018 23:57

Tags: Yossi Beilin ·  Attila Somfalvi ·  Israeli media ·  Pittsburgh massacre ·  pluralism

Attila Somfalvi, source: Wikipedia

I’ve been spending the last few days in the US, and as can be expected the Pittsburgh massacre is occupying a central place in individual and collective consciousness in conversations and Jewish media. This is true particularly because additional anti-Semitic acts have been directed against synagogues, such as the Modern Orthodox Beth Jacob synagogue in Irvine and the Reform Union Temple in Brooklyn. This completes the full American denominational spectrum, including Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist.

Anti-Semites don’t distinguish between Jews according to their denominations. That is a practice reserved for the Israeli government. It is natural to focus on the threat of anti-Semitism and on the unifying Jewish fate and mutual responsibility. Yet, somewhat surprisingly, it was Israeli media personalities and others who have taken the next step in drawing conclusions from the horrific events, which offer additional dimension to the link between these events in the US and religion-state policies that have characterized Israeli coalition governments since the inception of the state, whether or right, center, or left. The English language readership is not aware of them because most are not available in translation. A sample of this significant media and public response could be seen in Deputy Minister Michael Oren’s op-ed in the NY Times, but most have been published in Hebrew, and the following two examples will illustrate the thrust that is now widely shared in Israel.

It is significant to point out that most of those that wrote in this manner have no known association with either Reform or Conservative Judaism.

A leading political columnist, Attila Somfalvi, in Israel’s most popular online news outlet (Ynet), which owned by the popular Yediot Ahronot Daily in print, wrote on October 30 under the title “In their lives and in their deaths – Reform and Conservative are Jews.” The following are some quotes from the article:

“When the bodies of our brothers are not lying on the ground, the attitudes towards are shocking and dismissive. They ‘are not Jews;’ they ‘assimilate;’ we are not willing to make room for them around the glorious Jewish table. How are the dead Jews in the body bags different than the Jews who engaged in prayer services only a short while before they were shot? …

“Out of the great and authentic pain that Israelis felt when horrific tragedy in the beautiful Pittsburgh congregation became known, rivers of warm and embracing words poured from all directions. The Israelis, secular and religious, traditional and Haredi, competed amongst themselves in the intensity of the embrace that they conveyed to our dead and wounded brethren across the ocean. It was a moving moment; one that reminded us of the ability of this people to bond together. A viewer from the outside, from another country, from another people, probably must have stood with his mouth open, as he witnessed this glorious demonstration of love of the Jewish people, without distinction of stream, yarmulke, worship, or faith.

“The problem is that these moments are rare. Even very rare. Altogether, they mask our true face, which is far less nice and smiling; and surely, much less embracing, caring, and accepting. Because day-to-day, and this you know well already even if you don’t care to hear about it, particularly now, Israelis treat our Conservative and Reform brothers – the overwhelming majority among American Jews – as a species of traitors. Traitors who have abandoned Judaism and Israel’s ruling Orthodoxy…

“This vast gap is difficult to explain because it’s a gap, which doesn’t correspond to any logic. Since what kind of logic is there in our willingness to give up on our brothers when they wish to be part of us in their own way, but we rush to demonstrate to them how important they are to us when they are no longer with us?

Reform and Conservative Jews are Jews. Always. In their lives and in their deaths. In order for us not to lose them, and not be reminded to weep for them, and actually also for us, only with something horrible and devastating occurs – we need to use the Pittsburgh events not only for soul searching, but for action.

“No logic, and herein lies the tragedy that needs to be spoken about. Because Reform and Conservative Jews are Jews. Always. In their lives and in their deaths. In order for us not to lose them, and not be reminded to weep for them, and actually also for us, only with something horrible and devastating occurs – we need to use the Pittsburgh events not only for soul searching, but for action. And in ‘action’ the meaning is to do away with the Israelo-Orthodox supremacy over Judaism in 2018, and instead build bridges of love and affinity, of partnership and unity. In life, as in death. In good times, as in bad times. In complex (matters), as in simple. Always.”

Attila Somfalvi’s moving message is clear an unequivocal, but it should be noted that in terms of the current public perceptions of Reform and Conservative, the state of affairs is far more positive than he believes, as was most recently demonstrated in the important study of Reform and Conservative Judaism in Israel conducted by JPPI, as well as in Hiddush’s surveys of Israeli public opinion.

The second writer is Dr. Yossi Beilin who wrote in Yisrael Hayom on November 1, 2018:

“Expressions of pain and condolences have come from all over the world, from Germany to Saudi Arabia. All these communications referred, naturally, to the murder of Jews qua Jews, and out of hatred of Jews. Only in Israel was it seen fit [he is referring to Minister Bennett’s and others’ comments regarding participation in the memorial events regarding the attack on a Conservative synagogue and non-Orthodox Jews] to stress the generosity granted to the slaughtered after their deaths, in that they are recognized as Jews.

“I don’t know the personal stories of all the victims. They will undoubtedly be revealed in the coming days, but one thing is clear: If there is a rabbi among them, he would not have been able to [fully] serve as a rabbi in Israel because the state has given Orthodox Judaism the monopoly over the decision on who is a Jew and who is a rabbi. Only Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox rabbis are considered rabbis by the state.

“The married couples among the victims would have been recognized as such in Israel, only because of a decision of the Supreme Court. In the State of Israel, they could not have gotten married, neither via civil marriage [because there isn’t any in Israel], nor in a Conservative ceremony. If there are, among them, Jews who have undergone Conservative conversions, the state will have to register them as Jews because of a Supreme Court ruling, but in every other respect they wouldn’t be recognized as Jews, including for the purpose of marriage.

“Maybe this horrific massacre will shake up somebody amongst us, maybe due to it Israel will internalize the need for cohesiveness and unity among all Jewish streams. Maybe, following the horror, there will be soul searching, which will lead to recognition of good and committed Jews who created, centuries ago, slightly different rituals, and who arrive, God forbid, to synagogue in cars on Shabbat and holidays; and don’t dispatch their wives, mothers, and daughters in the women’s section somewhere on the balcony… there is need for an appropriate Jewish-Israeli response to anti-Semitic acts around the world: all those who define themselves as Jews – are Jews in our eyes. If the Chief Rabbinate is not willing to treat them this way, the state should make it possible for them to marry within its borders and to recognize their rabbis. Our souls depend on it.”