This agreement IS a compromise. The Rabbanut has won full legal control over what the world normally considers to be the Western Wall and its plaza. In return, liberal forces have gained a promise and guarantee (for whatever that is worth) that within two years a large space next to that other side of the Western Wall will be fully open for pluralistic services with no control … [Read more...] about A response to Kotel agreement skeptics by Rabbi Stanley Davids, RRFEI Executive Committee
Diaspora-Israel relations
Strategy: How to most effectively advocate for religious freedom and equality in Israel
Much praise should be extended to Rabbis Rick Jacobs and Steven Wernick for publicly airing the cause of full religious equality in Israel for all. Their exchange with President Rivlin at the 2015 Chanukah event sponsored by the UJA Federation of NY should encourage us to consider the issues they raised and the best strategy to be pursued in order to advance our shared interest … [Read more...] about Strategy: How to most effectively advocate for religious freedom and equality in Israel
Analysis: President Rivlin’s response to Rabbi Jacobs’ & Rabbi Wernick’s demands for religious equality in Israel
Ever since Chanukah, there has been a lot of media traffic regarding President Rivlin’s “change of heart” as to non-Orthodox Judaism. Much of it focused on the Chanukah event sponsored by the UJA Federation of NY, which brought together rabbis of different denominations to listen to President Rivlin, following “introductions” by Rabbi Rick Jacobs, head of the Reform Movement, … [Read more...] about Analysis: President Rivlin’s response to Rabbi Jacobs’ & Rabbi Wernick’s demands for religious equality in Israel
Responses to Chief Rabbi Lau’s publicly disdainful anti-pluralism
Friends, we assume you are aware of the public rabbinic debate that ensued following Chief Rabbi Lau's admonishment of Minister Bennett for visiting a Conservative day school in Manhattan. Rabbi Uri Regev has written about it in the Jerusalem Post and the LA Jewish Journal, and many other responses to Rabbi Lau have been coming out on a nearly daily basis. Below, you'll find … [Read more...] about Responses to Chief Rabbi Lau’s publicly disdainful anti-pluralism
J-REC and RRFEI By Rabbi Prof. Michael Chernick
Recently a coalition called J-REC, which RRFEI members may not be familiar with, made its first mission trip to Israel. The J-REC or Jewish Religious Equality Coalition is the brain child of Dov Zakheim, less known as an Orthodox rabbi than as an adviser to the American Defense Department and a neo-con. As a strategist and a lover of Israel Dov has concluded that the … [Read more...] about J-REC and RRFEI By Rabbi Prof. Michael Chernick