From Brian Blum: Will our children be Jewish?
"The new regulations announced in the last month require city rabbis and marriage registrars to send every convert and (this is new) every person whose parents were married abroad to the court for a determination of whether or not she or he’s a Jew.
While the main targets of the ruling are converts, the implications for Anglo immigrants are nevertheless astounding. Even though my wife Jody and I were both born Jewish, we were married in the
Brian said, "When I shared this article with my teenage daughter, she couldn’t understand what the Rabbinate was trying to achieve." It seems to me that the Israeli Chareidi rabbinate (Chareidi meaning fervently Orthodox, that is, extremely right-wing in religious practice) is trying to establish a reverse Inquisition, with the goal of proving, at any emotional and/or financial cost, that non-Chareidi Jews aren't Jews. To put it in blunt English, they're trying to rid Israel and the Jewish People of anyone who's not Chareidi, both because they oppose Zionism and because they don't believe that non-Chareidi Orthodox rabbis and/or laypeople, either in
posted by Shira Salamone at 12:44 PM
22 Comments:
This kind of madness will not affect the diaspora Jewish community, because so little is at stake in terms of controlling who is perceived as a Jew. I'm sorry the charedi controlled chief rabbinate is busily undoing the Zionist project, and I hope the Israeli electorate will care enough to stop them someday. Until then, I'm comfortable knowing that my community considers me Jewish.
"I hope the Israeli electorate will care enough to stop them someday." Fun dein mol in G-tt's oir arein--from your mouth to G-d's ear.
"Until then, I'm comfortable knowing that my community considers me Jewish." Likewise. So far, so good, thank heavens, and I hope it stays that way.
But I understand that converts aren't so lucky--I've read in various places that some converts are literally afraid to make aliyah (move to Israel) now, lest their conversions, even those performed by Orthodox rabbis, be rejected. That's not just sad, it's a slap in the face to all those who've cast their lot with the Jewish people, and a Chillul HaShem (desecration of the Name).
What could be a bigger part of undermining the ZIonist project than make galut Jews unwilling to make Aliyah? Converts are safe in the diaspora, they simply can't let themselves fall under the jurisdiction (not-so-tender mercies) of the Israeli rabbinate.
I think Brian has a framing problem.
I think the real question is whether the Chareidi leadership has scribed themselves out of Judaism, and if this is the case, whether Israel remains a Jewish state, or has been taken over by an abberrant faith that is no longer relevant to normative Jews.
And if this last is the case then the next question becomes how long do normative Jewish Institutions continue to give Israel their support.
As for me, any money I donate to Israel either goes through Reform or Conservative channels. I will not put my money behind the Charedization of Israel, and I wonder how to ensure my Federation won't either.
While I am very troubled by the political religious trend which presently afflicts Israel, I don't think RBT's position is the answer. For better or worse, the only way to meaningfully oppose the trend is for a significant number of religious North American Jews, covering the spectrum from MO to Reform, to make aliyah. 100,000 or more new arrivals of this flavor will make a substantial change to the political religious climate. But for the needs of three aging parents, I believe my family would already be there. One daughter is spending the summer there now, and I know she's already thinking about aliyah.
This is not a battle which can be fought from Highland Park, Teaneck, Queens or Coolidge Corner.
Steve : Off topic, Woty Regan aka wotyfree will be in HP this weekend. She'll probably be going to the C shul in town for Shabbos morning. Drop me a line at larry at lennhoff dot com for more details if you are interested.
"What could be a bigger part of undermining the ZIonist project than make galut Jews unwilling to make Aliyah?"
That's sadly true, Larry, and not just for converts, apparently. If our son made aliyah and chose to marry, he'd have to prove that he's a Jew, even though he was born to a born-Jewish mother who can trace her born-Jewish maternal ancestry back three generations, to Czarist Russia. How can anyone question the Jewishness of my mother's mother's mother? To the best of my knowledge, there were no non-Orthodox rabbis in 19th-century Czarist Russia!
"I think the real question is whether the Chareidi leadership has scribed themselves out of Judaism, and if this is the case, whether Israel remains a Jewish state, or has been taken over by an abberrant faith that is no longer relevant to normative Jews."
Giving the benefit of the doubt (dan z'kaf z'chut), Reform BT, I don't believe that all Chareidim are that fanatical--some in Israel do serve in the Israel Defense Force, and many in the Diaspora do attend institutions of higher education--but some of their leadership certainly is.
"religious North American Jews, covering the spectrum from MO to Reform."
TOTJS,
I cannot thank you enough for this phrase.
And you are right of course. The problem is that as long as Jews like Blum are willing to cede their self-definition to the Haredi, there will be little incentive for normative Jews to make Aliyah. In order for it to happen we need to change our own rhetoric from "but the Haredim will define us out" to "we're coming to take our country back."
"For better or worse, the only way to meaningfully oppose the trend is for a significant number of religious North American Jews, covering the spectrum from MO to Reform, to make aliyah. 100,000 or more new arrivals of this flavor will make a substantial change to the political religious climate."
To be honest, TOTJ Steve, I have even less faith in the Israeli political "system," (such as it is) than I have in the American one, but I hope you're right.
"In order for it to happen we need to change our own rhetoric from "but the Haredim will define us out" to "we're coming to take our country back."
Reform BT, go for it!
100,000 Reform Jews landing in Israel would change the dynamic instantaneously. 1 Million and they could have their own liberal political party, or take over Labour.
The problem is non-Orthodox Jewry is a statistical anomoly in Israel, and doesn't have much of an appeal. I know that there are dedicated, caring, religious Reform and Conservative Jews, that are truly dedicated to the tenants of Judaism as they see it through their movement's lens. However, having grown up in a Reform congregation with 1000 families that were nominal members, there were maybe 5-8 families like that. The unfortunate reality is the the overwhelming majority of Reform/Conservative Jews in America are there for a social connection to Judaism and other Jews. For Israelis, they don't need that, their social connection to Judaism and Jews is waking up in the morning. It's living in a country where Christmas is a work day but Sukkot is not. It's living in a country with Pesach Break, not an Easter (Spring) Break that sometimes includes first/last days of Pesach.
If the Reform/Conservative movement were to focus on their true believers, they'd be empty. There was an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post about a year ago, talking about how the Conservative Movement failed their youth, where their most dedicated children that adopted what they claimed were their Jewish values, found no community to join and therefore joined Modern Orthodoxy to find it.
So while I appreciate a desire to support Israel through Reform/Conservative groups to avoid the Charedization issue, you're also giving money through an agenda driven organization whose agenda in Israel is attempting to push diaspora concepts into Israel.
Reform was an attempt to create a New Jew post-enlightenment. Conservative was an attempt to bring Reform Judaism back to something that "felt" Jewish... the story of the shrimp at the Rabbinic ordination story. The Modern Orthodoxy in Germany and later here was an attempt to integrate with their new citizenship while still observing (or pretending to observe) Mitzvot.
The fact is, in Israel, around 40% of the population calls themselves secular, but aren't so different from their non-religious Ashkenazi Reform/Conservative brethren. The difference is, instead of "doing Jewish" at "high holidays," they "do Jewish" by being, and intermarriage isn't (or wasn't) really an issue, since the people around them were Jews.
The 40% that call themselves Masorti aren't very much like American Conservative Jews. They are much more like 1950s American Young Israel types, the Judaism they practice is Orthodox, but they don't practice it much. Kosher homes but eating out, Shabbat dinner but then going out, etc., etc. Those people don't "need" a non-Orthodox synagogue or movement, because the Sephardic or Orthodox Ashkenazic ones work fine for them when they need something related to life cycle events.
The Jewish "social club" aspect is a big part of the synagogue's financial support, which is important for a minority group, but not a majority group. There was a Polish American club near us, that older Polish Americans would go to, eat Polish food, drink, dance, etc., on Friday/Saturday nights. I'm pretty sure that in Poland, you wouldn't have a "Polish" club, you would just spend your time with other Poles.
And each generation of American Jews is more and more of Jewish Americans, where Judaism is their nominal religion, but it's not a core part of their identity. Since cultural Judaism became foods and music, it just doesn't have as much meaning for people that it wasn't a part of their childhood.
"The Jewish "social club" aspect is a big part of the synagogue's financial support, "
That's probably true, Miami Al. In fact, re the "social club" aspect of shul, methinks we've been down this road before.
"And each generation of American Jews is more and more of Jewish Americans, where Judaism is their nominal religion, but it's not a core part of their identity."
I'm sorry to say that that's the direction in which our son currently appears to be headed. :(
Shira,
Regarding your son. Well, there's a reason why my blog carries the name it carries - after over a decade away from Judaism, I returned by means of a reform synagogue, with praxis that resembles Conservative. I'm now active in a Conservative synagogue that has the kind of intellectual rigor that I need. But it is an exceptional shul in many regards.
I wish I could refute what Miami Al has said, but I can't - it meshes well with my own observations, especially in our Reform community - the Conservative one is, as I said, exceptional.
The thing is, Shira, I suspect that as your son grows older, he will return to his roots, as I did. Remember, even Jacob's sojourn in Haran was marked by a very conditional relationship to the God of Abraham and Isaac, conditioned on his safe return.
Shira,
If it makes you feel any better, I walked out on Judaism at age 13, spent years with intellectual curiosity around Catholicism, but generally enjoyed decades of agnosticism and irreligious life. However, with a Jewish nationalism, I stayed in the Jewish social world (I find the world of camps, school clubs, synagogues, fraternities/sororities, Hillels, etc., EXTREMELY valuable to keep Jews connected, I just think that they make little sense in Israel). While I certainly "dated" non-Jews, I never took it seriously, since I had every intention of marrying a Jew.
I returned to Judaism a bit through some meaningful services at Aish, personal changes for which religion provided a bit of a hook, and online learning with emails from Chabad.org and Aish.com. A few years later, felt observant enough that we wanted to move to a religious community, and there we go.
So your son may very likely return to Judaism, most children of committed Jews do. The ONLY "roll of the dice" is if he meets his wife before/after the return. The ones that do so after are those sad intermarried families where the Jewish spouse sneaks out for Pesach, or sends the kids to Jewish Sunday school after Church, or other oddity.
I hope your son returns pre-marriage.
Fortunately, in that regard, if he in anyway socially resembles the physics majors/PhDs I know, you have a few years, most of them aren't running into marriage... :)
"The ONLY "roll of the dice" is if he meets his wife before/after the return. "
Even here, don't discount the possibility that a gentile woman will select a Jewish man because she sees that as a path to learning about Judaism. I've known such things to happen. In some such cases it is even the woman's curiosity that leads the man back into the fold.
Miami Al, I'm sorry to say that, because our son was a bit delayed in developing age-appropriate social skills, he was never in the Jewish social world. We tried twice to put him into United Synagogue Youth, but he simply wasn't ready for it. By the time he was ready, he was no longer interested in doing just about anything Jewish. :) I joke that the only thing keeping him Jewish is that he loves challah and matzah. Time will tell whether he eventually decides that he wants to become actively involved in the Jewish world. In the interim, we're just as happy as that he's too busy going to grad school to have much of a social life. As you were saying (more or less), with any luck, our son's studies will keep him from getting seriously involved with anyone until he's old enough to realize that being Jewish matters.
On the other hand, I know that Reform BT has a point because we've been there and done that--two good friends of ours are a Jew by Choice and the husband whom she encouraged to become a synagogue-goer. (He was raised a Secular Yiddishist. Yes, we're that old. :) ) Their kids are both Jewish Day School grads, one of whom has a Master's in Jewish Studies and works for a Jewish non-profit. One never knows.
The great thing about going into Physics at the doctoral level is that if you have social awkwardness from developmental delays, you are relatively indistinguishable from the other physics PhD candidates, who are just socially awkward from lack of personal hygiene. :)
" . . . if you have social awkwardness from developmental delays, you are relatively indistinguishable from the other physics PhD candidates . . . "
Our son, the geek. :)
Shira,
have you considered making aliyah?
As an Israeli, your son would, as Miami Al pointed out, be connected to Judaism and Jews by simply waking up in the morning.
And he would most likely date only Jewish girls, even though he perhaps would have to take a day trip to Cyprus to get married...
Isak, my husband and I decided not to make aliyah because we were too established in the US, and didn't think we could be the kind of Jews that we wanted to be in Israel. At this point, it's way too late for our aliyah to make any difference for our son, who's a 27-year-old grad student and mostly certainly would not make aliyah with us.
I think you should consider aliyah from a retirement strategy perspective. Seriously. Start with the nefesh b'nefesh website. You may find that it actually makes economic sense to do so.
Steve, at this point I hesitate to make aliyah because I'm concerned about leaving an older member of my family here with no caretaker.
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