The more I learn about orthodox Jewish traditions, the more they mirror the orthodox Muslims - Mike Ghouse
by Carlo Strenger
Courtesy - Haaretz
To protect their modus vivendi, the ultra-Orthodox sector must give up certain privileges and stop forcing their beliefs onto the rest of Israel's population.
Last week I gave some lectures in Switzerland on Israel and its interminable problems. My audience was mostly composed of Jews who care deeply for Israel, who want the best for it, and profoundly believe that only the basic liberal order, with its respect for human rights and tolerance for different ways of life can, in the long run, save Israel from its internal woes.
Originally Swiss myself, I found the audience profoundly sympathetic to my message, and I am grateful for the warm reception and hospitality. Why is it then that the simple message that the basic order of liberal democracy will save Israel is received with often venomous resistance in Israel?
In Israel’s currently charged atmosphere, the group that feels most threatened by the new revival of classical liberalism is the ultra-Orthodox sector. This sector has staged large demonstrations against Yair Lapid and his demands to adopt the ultra-Orthodox school system in a way that allows Haredim to participate in Israel’s economy and for them to help shoulder Israel’s security burden. This is a great pity; I am certain that Jewish pluralism will not threaten the ultra-Orthodox way of life, but will actually help to preserve it.
I am an avowed atheist, but I grew up in a family that combined ultra-Orthodoxy and religious Zionism. Most of my extended family is Haredi, and I have warm relations with them. It may sound strange if a secular atheist tells you, Haredim, to return to the model according to which Judaism has functioned for millennia, but I think that this modus operandi was much wiser than the way things have functioned in Israel in the last 65 years.
My message to you, dear Haredim, is very simple: I understand that you feel threatened in your way of life by the new government’s state of mind. But if you want to protect it, you just need to accept that you must stop forcing your beliefs onto the rest of Israel’s population. Let me explain.
The current situation in Israel is an anomaly in Jewish history. My grandparents were Haredim, and so is most of my extended family. None of them ever expected anybody else to pay for their children’s upbringing and education. They worked hard during the day, and studied the Torah and the Talmud in the time left. So did many of Judaism’s greatest figures: Maimonides was one of the great physicians of his time, Ibn Ezra, one of the great astronomers of his century and Don Yitzchak Abrabanel, a gifted businessman whose advice was coveted by many governments.
Let’s talk about money then, one of the obvious points of conflict, because you Haredim demand that Israel finance the Yeshiva system. You might do well to remember that for many centuries Yeshivot were financed by voluntary contributions of the members of the Jewish community and was not imposed by taxation. This is how Jewish life has been working for millennia, and for good reasons.
In the past each Jewish community found a delicate balance between its elected leadership and the rabbinical authority that was hired and paid by the community. Paradoxically, Jewish life was more democratic in the last two thousand years than it has been in Israel, where the state is paying rabbis, and gives religious monopoly to one of Judaism’s many currents.
If you want to protect your way of life, you need renounce some privileges, like payment of a large contingent of rabbis and kashrut supervisors by the state. But I seriously think that you stand to gain more from accepting the basic liberal order than you’ll lose from it.
The Haredi argument that without a single standard for Jewish conversion, marriage and divorce the Jewish people will fall apart doesn’t hold water. In any case, dear Haredim, you only marry those of your own belief and lifestyle anyway, so your monopoly on rabbinical state institutions in Israel is not necessary for you to assure your way of life.
And please do not tell us that the survival of the Jewish people depends on our accepting your particular interpretation of Judaism. The majority of the Jewish people in the world do not share your understanding of Judaism: Worldwide there are many more conservative, liberal, reform and secular Jews than Orthodox – never mind Haredi. You must realize that there are more Jews in the U.S. than in Israel, and US Jewry has flourished phenomenally under conditions of pluralism.
Israel’s situation is an anomaly in Western democracies of the last two hundred years. No modern democracy except Israel maintains a situation in which the clergy determines how its citizens can marry or how they will be buried. Dear Haredim, you must understand that the current status quo is intolerable for everybody but yourselves. Precisely because I feel close to you, I strongly suggest that you accept pluralism in Jewish life. This will prevent unnecessary conflict and will not threaten your way of life in any way.
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/strenger-than-fiction/memo-to-haredim-jewish-pluralism-won-t-destroy-your-way-of-life.premium-1.525411
Courtesy of Jewish Journal
Jewish pluralism in Israel: It’s flourishing
BY LARRY WEINMAN
While American Jews haven’t been looking — or have been looking in the wrong places — Jewish pluralism in Israel is booming. But like most things in Israel it looks much different than Jewish pluralism in the United States. In Israel, Jewish pluralism takes place almost totally outside of the synagogue. It can be seen in music, bestselling books, museum programs and film. But perhaps most importantly it takes place in encounters between all types of Israelis over Jewish texts.
The recent inaugural speech by Yesh Atid MK Ruth Calderon increased awareness of Jewish pluralism, but she and others have been actively involved in institutions in this arena for over 30 years. Calderon spoke of her experience in learning of Judaism” from the tanach to the palmach (from the bible to Zionist history) with nothing in between. Something was missing, she noted. Her sentiments are not unique they speak to a large sector of younger Israelis who find the strict dichotomy between dati and cheloni (secular and religious) a thing of the past.
These activities are an expression of Israelis that the texts belong to all the Jewish people not just a segment of the population. And these encounters take place in a new type of Beit Midrash (study hall).
One example is Beit Midrash Elul, founded by Ruth Calderon in Jerusalem in 1989 as a place for observant and non observant Jews to come together in encountering Jewish texts. Elul’s programs have grown over the years to and reach Israelis of all ages throughout the country. The programs range from text study to storytelling for children to a program where teenage “garage bands” work together to learn Jewish texts improve their musical skills and compose and perform a song based on the text. You can catch a great video at elul.org.il
Calderon went on to found and serve as director of Alma located right off of rechov shenkin in tel aviv, seen by many as the center of hip secular Tel Aviv. Inside the Alma beit midrash the same young people found at the cafes come to study Talmud.
Another major trend is the growth of mechinot (pre army) and midrashot (post army Pre University in most cases). In these institutions observant and non observant young people live and study together for several months.
At Midreshet Ein Prat participants study Western philosophy and Jewish texts. The study day literally begins at 8 am with Talmud and ends at midnight with Machiavelli with session on the Hebrew prophets Sufi Islam in between. At another midrasha, Beit Yisrael, students combine Jewish text study with community service. There I found students engrossed in their first exposure to the thought of Abraham Joshua Heschel both the Chassidic and the social justice sides.
Over and over again in conversations with participants in these programs I have encountered similar reactions to the experience. “I grew up in a Jewish state and never saw a page of Talmud…something was missing”, “I studied these texts in high school with teachers and students who all came from the same observant background I now have an opportunity to see these texts in a different light when learning them with people of different backgrounds”.
The batei midrash and midrashot all began from the bottom up (or to use the somewhat overused moniker they were typical of startup nation). The social change they may trigger is an unknown but there are some interesting developments coming at the top.
Yair Lapid, the leader of the upstart and highly successful Yeish Atid party has been involved in groups associated with this “jewish renaissance” movement for over a decade. In addition to Calderon, Yeish Atid’s MKs include Aliza Lavie a feminist activist within the Orthodox community founder of the group Kolech The new Minister of Education is Yaish Atid MK Rabbi Shai Piron a leader of the liberal Orthodox Tzohar group.
Further signs of change are the growing number of joint dati /lo dati schools across the county. The growth is such that an MA program in education specializing in preparation for this type of pedagogy was recently established.
A member of the Tzohar group Rav David Stav has positioned himself as a serious candidate for the Chief Rabbinate ..complete with an active Facebook feed. And of course the recent election has considerably reduced the influence of the ultra-orthodox parties in education and other areas
Do these developments mean Israel is on the way to a model of American Jewry with large congregations of Reform and Conservative Jews?…not likely. Yet many involved in these programs have been influenced by the openness they have seen in American Jewry. They then created distinctively Israeli institutions.
At the same time, Israelis are offering American Jews a different model of pluralism. It would be a place where participants leave their denominational labels at the door and enter a beit midrash where they can engage with Jewish texts together. If post denominationalism is the most appropriate description for 21st century American Judaism this is the perfect fit.
There is a potential for a new dimension to relations between Israelis and American Jews as well. Some steps have been made in this direction but there is potential for far more, involving American visitors to Israel be they individuals, synagogue groups, gap year programs or Rabbinical students studying for a year in Israel. Engagements over Jewish texts have historically been a central part of Jewish life they offer potential to be a focal point for interaction across American and Israeli Jews pluralism without labels.
On Shabbat May 3- 4 Los Angeles will have an opportunity to learn more about Beit Midrash Elul and pluralism. Leaders of the beit midrash will be at Ikar, Temple Emanuel, Temple Beth Am and Bnai David over the course of Shabbat. There are also limited spaces available at a Shabbat lunch and Saturday evening program contact leah@elu.org.il for more information. Interested in visiting some of these groups on your next trip to Israel contact larryweinman@yahoo.com check his Jewish Journal blog: chavayaexperiences.
http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/jewish_pluralism_in_israel_its_flourishing
