By Rabbi Dow Marmur
JERUSALEM — Hiddush is an organization that by its self-definition is “for religious freedom and equality.” I referred to an opinion poll it sponsored recently in my April 25 reflections when I argued in favor of a Likud-Blue and White unity government in Israel (without Orthodox and ultra-right parties).
In the words of the official statement by Hiddush: “The voters attach ‘great importance’ to the specific issues in the following order of priority: (1) operation of public transportation on the Sabbath; (2) recognition of civil marriage and divorce; (3) enlistment [in the Israel Defense Force] of yeshiva students; (4) cutting the allocations for yeshivas and religious institutions.”
Most of those polled also want equality for non-Orthodox streams as well as women’s prayer at the Western Wall, but they’re “at the bottom of the priority list.”
The four issues mentioned above are specifically Israeli; they affect all its citizens. The other two seem to be of concern for the Diaspora and it is there that they seem to get most publicity. Perhaps it’s this that prompted Interior Minister Arieh Deri, the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, to tell American Jews, “Don’t bring your controversies here.”
Deri’s self-serving plea deserves to be ignored. But the findings of the Hiddush poll suggest that though issues around the Wall should be taken seriously, they’re of secondary importance compared to the four fundamentals. Even if we choose to continue to advocate the rights for non-Orthodox Jews to have equal prayer space and for women to be able to read Torah at the Wall, we need to pay much more attention to the four more important issues listed in the findings.
Instead of styling themselves as sectarian groups that concentrate on their own specific needs, I understand the findings to suggest that the Conservative and Reform movements need to be in the forefront when it comes to championing the four priorities for the sake of the health and sanity of the Jewish state. They go far beyond their current narrow preoccupations, for they’re about the integrity of Israel and thus of Jewry as whole.
There’re cogent reasons for accepting the Hiddush contention that “continued capitulation to the dictates of the ultra-Orthodox parties harms the state and contradicts its basic values.” The organization seems to be telling Reform and Conservative Jews that, instead of being primarily concerned with what happens at the Western Wall, they should engage in the larger struggle for religious freedom. This may not give them as much publicity as they’re now receiving, and, in view of the horse trading between the political parties vying for power, may not yield immediate results, but it will reflect the true concerns of liberal Jews all over the world.
Ideally it’s the non-Orthodox political parties in government and in opposition that should be the champions. One – Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu – says that it is, because many of its members are immigrants from the former Soviet Union whose Jewish status is often questioned by the Orthodox establishment. But when push comes to shove, Lieberman may renege and receive another political favor as a reward for being part of the government coalition.
So it’s left to religiously progressive Jews outside the party system. Do they – do we – have enough clout and fire in our bellies?
*
Rabbi Marmur is spiritual leader emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. Now a resident citizen of Israel, he may be contacted via dow.marmur@sdjewishworld.com
It is a waste for the Conservative and Reform movement to allocate resources for the causes you are advocating. Both movements, although very large in the USA, are experiencing declines here in the USA, and the money would be better spent to attempt to prevent their current members from disaffiliating.