I shuddered in the late 60s when I read Simon Herman's prediction that Israeli and American Jewish societies were growing apart. Now I am watching the fruition of his prediction. Narratives matter. This weekend's Haaretz contained an article [click here] about how the informal education system under the Natanyahu regime is purposefully teaching their right-wing political … [Read more...] about Now or never – the need for political pressure
Kotel (Western Wall)
Updates on the Kotel agreement and the Supreme Court’s ruling on access to Israel’s public mikva’ot
Since last week's bulletin, there have been a number of developments in the ultra-Orthodox political and rabbinical leadership's battle against the implementation of the Kotel agreement, as well as their battle against the Supreme Court's ruling to make Israel's public mikva'ot available for non-Orthodox conversion ceremonies. These developments reflect, in essence, an … [Read more...] about Updates on the Kotel agreement and the Supreme Court’s ruling on access to Israel’s public mikva’ot
Rising flames of resistance to the Western Wall agreement
Since last week’s RRFEI bulletin [link], the flames of religious detraction against the Kotel agreement have been rising. This has been covered widely in the Anglo Jewish and international media; below, RRFEI provides you with the original Hebrew pronouncements of: the Chief Rabbinate, the Ashkenazi Council of [Great] Torah Sages [link], the Sephardic Council of [Wise] Torah … [Read more...] about Rising flames of resistance to the Western Wall agreement
The “Disputatious” Kotel
The so-called compromise over prayer access to the Kotel has turned been attacked as giving away too much, as irrelevant to the real religious dispute in Israel, and as exclusionary of Orthodox women who refuse to give up their praying place. It has been lauded as a great advance, as a first in the legal recognition by the State of Israel of Liberal Judaism, as a triumph after … [Read more...] about The “Disputatious” Kotel
The Kotel agreement – which path shall we choose?
Since the beginning of the rabbinic era Jews have embraced the ideal of creative debate, makhloket l'shem shamayim (M. Avot 5:17), and contrasted it with the political notion of a conflict for self-aggrandizing and strickly political reasons, like Korach's rebellion against Moses (Numbers 16). The Report of the Advisory Team for the Issue of Prayer Arrangements at the … [Read more...] about The Kotel agreement – which path shall we choose?