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FORUM MOMENT'S Editorial Bias Shows in Intermarriage Articles Your two-part article on rabbinic offici-ation at mixed marriages ("Rabbis Who Perform Intermarriage," and ' 'Why I Won't Perform an...
...This paragraph was included precisely to prevent the resolution's being used the way the Statement uses it...
...Joyce D. Rudnick Port Washington, New York Breathing New Life and Verve Into MOMENT My husband and I have been subscribers to MOMENT since its inception...
...We realize, however, this is only an explanation, not an excuse.—Ed...
...Those of us who refuse to officiate simply distinguish between accepting the marriage (which we still do) and sanctioning it (which we do not...
...As a Jew who lived in Israel for several years, returned to the United States and is currently struggling with the possibility of "trying again" at aliyah, I have often been discouraged by the tendency of American Jewish intellectuals to portray America as the New Babylon if not, as Jacob Neusner does, "our Promised Land...
...If American Jewry really wants to help Israel, it will not only reject Dr...
...Or, should it seek to mirror the biblical injunction so tenaciously held by us through our history that demands recognition on the basis of merit...
...Because of the relationship I developed before and at their weddings, I have given scores of babies Hebrew names and welcomed them into the Jewish community...
...Eizenstat's splendid statement testifies, however, that for us, Zionism as we understand it does not require us to parrot as our policy and viewpoint whatever Israelis tell us that minute, in whatever words they dictate we should use...
...No way in 1937 could you have persuaded 250,000 Jews, and non-Jews, from coast to coast, to mobilize in the capital of the United States, even if Adolf Hitler had come to a Washington summit with President Roosevelt...
...Relationships between American Jewry and the State of Israel, once marked by our submission to their dictates, have now so changed that, in not a few aspects of shared discourse, we take the unfamiliar role of the self-confident, and they the equally strange role of the uncomfortable...
...Not everyone who reads and enjoys MOMENT is Jewish...
...However, after reading Julius Lester's "Lovesong: Becoming a Jew," (December 1987) -I felt compelled to write...
...If aliyah would get just a fraction of the attention currently devoted to fundraising and other organizational causes, Israeli society might be dramatically affected...
...Seen thus in its full context, the amendment alluded to does not, it seems to me, support Mr...
...Protektzia, a Function of Bureaucracy, Undermines Democratic Government Brenda Danet's ' 'The Two Faces of Protektzia" (January/February 1988) is disappointing—to say the least...
...True, when I scrutinized the picture, examining it very closely, I was able to identify a few women in the background, representing 20 percent of the figures pictured...
...While I basically agree with Eizenstat's call for more understanding on both sides of the Atlantic, I believe that like most of us, he gives up too easily on the importance of encouraging kliyah from the United States...
...We told him, as we usually do, "Say what you have to say, and when you've said it, stop...
...Here it was, broadcast around the Jewish community on the cover of MOMENT: women as background figures, quiet facilitators in the Jewish world...
...Judaism has not arrived at the bririk of the 21st century, however, by compromising and accommodating...
...I only wish that the other Reform rabbis would follow Rabbi Davis' lead...
...Your editorial bias is also clear from the articles' presentation: five pages devoted to rabbinic officiation, including the implied endorsement of Rabbi Fishbein's center (by virtue of your address reference...
...We cannot rely solely on the enthusiasm and intellectual quality of the few born Jews or their ability to biologically reproduce themselves...
...One wonders at the source of your quote...
...American Jewry should not only demand, but seek to have implemented policies that reduce the bureaucracy's granting favors to the privileged few and strive to release that creative spirit which has been with us since we stood together at Sinai...
...Egon Mayer Professor of Sociology Brooklyn College Brooklyn, New York The "resolution11 Rabbi Stevens questions was, as stated in the article, a statement, not a resolution...
...I was aware of the Holocaust as it was happening only because, as an employee of CBS Radio, I couldn't help but listen to the news day and night...
...As a rabbi, I consider it my function to act in a way that will promote the transmission of Judaism, to offer a Jewish perspective on the meaning of marriage and to help the couple and their families express their hopes and prayers for a life of mutual fulfillment and love...
...it profoundly inhibits political expression by Palestinian Israelis...
...The larger the bureaucracy, the greater the protektzia...
...Hindsight is wonderful...
...it wasn't in any resolution adopted by the CCAR...
...Our leaders, too, must be out there telling people what's right about Judaism...
...And Stu Eizenstat's "Open Letter" ("We Are Still One: An Open Letter to an Israeli Friend on the Issues That Divide Us" January/February 1988) was a most worthwhile and well-written piece...
...During a visit to Israel this summer, I, too, found myself concerned with the growing threats to democracy, religious freedom (though I am a traditional Jew) and tolerance in Israeli society today...
...For example, Eizenstat decries the growing Orthodox "monopoly over religious matters" in the Jewish state...
...His reply is as follows: Rabbi Stevens's caveats about the use of statistics, be they from the Lenn Report of 1971 or the Fishbein survey of 1987, are well taken, of course...
...Here they are welcome...
...You should also know, incidentally, that the CCAR adopted a further resolution in 1982 "repudiating" (the operative word) the practice of co-officiating with clergy of other faiths...
...This is part of the success of the Reform movement's "Outreach Program...
...Much as we agree with Leonard Fein's goals and general philosophy, we were sorry to see MOMENT growing dull and predictable...
...He did much to clarify Jewish reality in Israel...
...Howard R Greenstem, Ph D, D.D...
...Protektzia is not just "unfair," as Dr...
...The truth, as Howard Sachar seems to suggest, is not sweet, but understanding it is not a bad idea...
...Calling it less than that (merely "Israel") is not Zionism...
...Rabbi Orkand Doesn't In regard to your article on intermarriage that appeared in the January/ February 1988 issue of MOMENT, you give the impression that Rabbi Charles Davidson is the rabbi of a Reform congregation in Westport, Connecticut...
...3) incitement to racism...
...Even among secular Israelis who may chafe under the strictures of the rabbinate and the religious parties, the feeling continues to prevail that ' 'the synagogue I don't go to is Orthodox...
...A melodramatic mixture of nostalgia and polemic, the article does more to muddy than clarify the issues surrounding a complex subject...
...Perhaps the more important question to ask CCAR members regarding their standards and practices as they relate to officiation is this: If the matter is indeed of such great concern and there is such doubt about the methods and motives of others who have conducted surveys in this area, why has the CCAR not done its own carefully controlled study on this subject...
...They teach us not to repeat in the 1980s the inactivity that characterized the American Jewish community of the 1930s and 1940s...
...Eastern European systems were established by the founders and perpetuated by the native born...
...In my experience, the answer is a resounding yes...
...It represents gratifying testimony that there does exist the kind of humaneness necessary for positive change to occur...
...Might part of the attraction of the Georgetown services be that there is no expense associated with attending them...
...These are the couples who are actually searching to find a Jewish family identity in the Jewish community...
...The authors of the Statement do not even hint, as minimal courtesy to one's colleagues would demand, that the resolution continues with a crystal affirmation of each rabbi's freedom to act in accordance with his I her interpretation of Jewish tradition...
...But as long as very few religiously liberal Jews make aliyah and actively work for the rights of their religious movements, can we realistically expect Israeli Jews to struggle on their behalf...
...It is the simple fact that nearly all of us are Zionists in the fundamental definition of Zionism: [1] the Jews are a people, one people, and [2] the Jews constitute not merely a religious but a political entity...
...Some have written me that had I refused to marry them, they would have been ' 'turned off' of Judaism...
...Of these, only the 506 pulpit rabbis were surveyed on their attitudes regarding mixed marriage...
...Rabbi Israel Zoberman Congregation Beth Chaverim Virginia Beach, Virginia Have Things Changed in 50 Years...
...I finally acted on this growing urge within me by taking a series of courses in a "Jews by Choice" program...
...We say the same thing to Rabbi Stevens.—Ed...
...Of these, only 478 responded...
...We had a problem, however...
...Now let's not rehash what we didn't do, or what we should have done...
...Lester's article meant to me...
...Max Singer is right...
...Eshed ought not blame the messenger for the message, particularly when the gap between the two Israeli authors is not as wide as we are led to believe...
...It frustrates those who come from disadvantaged groups—be they Jews of Moroccan descent or Arabs...
...His decision to marry an interfaith couple resulted in three Jewish children and two Jewish adults, committed to enriching their own religious lives and that of the Jewish community...
...How long must Jewish women wait to be recognized for who we are, half the Jewish world, persons capable of full partnership in the life and leadership of the Jewish community...
...It is still those who vote in Israel's elections, work in its political parties and activist organizations, serve in its army and raise its children who will determine the kind of society it becomes in the next forty years and beyond...
...Given that more than 60 percent of CCAR members did not respond to Rabbi Fishbein's survey, your extrapolation of his 50 percent officiation statistic to the entire Reform rabbinate is far-fetched, given the likelihood that rabbis opposed to rabbinic officiation would probably be inclined to discard the survey on receipt...
...Now we read MOMENT, instead of piling them up until we have time to read them...
...An objective presentation would have balanced the very ample space you . devote to Dr...
...But we non-Jews are very much interested in Jewish and Israeli life and culture, both past and present...
...Rabbi Neal I. Borovite Union Temple of Brooklyn Brooklyn, New York A Rabbi Who Does I am a Reform rabbi who does officiate at intermarriages if there is a firm commitment that any children of the marriage will be raised as Jews and given a Jewish education in a Religious School...
...no matter how benevolent an occupation might be, it remains an occupation with its troubling ethical dimension, bound to corrupt the conqueror along with the conquered, twisting one's self-identity and falsifying a value system...
...You completely dismissed the statistical error created in the Fishbein survey by the fact that many Reform rabbis who are opposed to intermarriage refused to respond...
...Traditional Jewish reluctance to seek converts among the gentiles is a medieval anachronism...
...Book of Laws, 5745/1985, p. 196) The clearly apparent intent of this piece of legislation was to keep out parties (a) that, like the PLO, espouse aims based on the denial of the Palestinian Jews' right of self-determination...
...I ask only that they do the same for me, no more, no less...
...Because I am so opposed to the position taken by Rabbi Davidson on the intermarriage question, I want to make it very clear that the rabbi of the Reform congregation in Westport, Connecticut does not officiate at intermarriages...
...I was disturbed because, as a Jewish woman, my answer to the captioned question, "Are We One...
...We have treated them exactly the same way as any other member of our Temple family...
...I am confident that their decision is based on the same concern for Jewish survival as mine...
...So let's not belabor what we should have done...
...Danet would have us believe...
...I too have converted to Judaism and like Mr...
...Further, with regard to Rabbi Irwin Fishbein's studies of current rates of officiation, statistical problems abound...
...Rabbi Stevens's suggestion that Reform rabbis who are opposed to officiating at mixed marriages are less likely to "cast their vote" in a survey dealing with that subject sounds highly improbable, to say the least...
...Believe me, only a small percentage of our people became involved, no matter how many heads we banged against the wall...
...They are willing to stand for hours," she reports, "for elsewhere they have found gates closed to them...
...At the same time, I resented the implications in the article by Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan, "Night of Awe" (January/February 1988), regarding the wholesale rejection which she believes "mainline" synagogues inflict on intermarried couples...
...Many mixed couples, some of whom I had married, have joined my congregation and I have the satisfaction of conducting the Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and Confirmations of their children, even though there has often been no conversion by the non-Jewish partner...
...In declaring that a rabbi who officiates at interfaith marriages is acting 'contrary to the clear guidelines of their rabbinic organization,' the Statement obviously implies, with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, that the first paragraph of the resolution is absolute, binding and no Reform rabbi dare deviate from it...
...That was a different time with different circumstances...
...2) negation of the democratic character of the state...
...They apparently seek from us a chance to demonstrate their Jewish commitment in spite of intermarriage...
...Congratulations— and thank you...
...here they can express their Jewishness...
...With the twofold love I have for my ethnic heritage as well as for the Jewish people, I now consider myself a daughter of Africa and a child of Israel...
...Two Scholars Respond," letter by Lenni Brenner with responses by Carl Hermann Voss and Melvin I. Urofsky, November 1987) regarding Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, have only one advantage...
...It helps to create and perpetuate a caste system...
...The wedding was my husband's first personal experience with formal Jewish ceremony...
...Philip Horn Teaneck, New Jersey An Old Subscriber Reacts to the New MOMENT I have been a subscriber to MOMENT since its very first issue...
...Outreach would improve the morale and steadfastness of current Jews...
...We have watched and tried to share in its growing pains and its growth...
...Your few months' editorship are breathing new life and verve into the publication...
...In fact, I am not part of the ' 'we" at all...
...Obviously, statistics conceal as much as they reveal, and must be used with great care, which was not done in your article...
...Rabbi Daniel G Zemel Temple Micah Washington, D.C...
...story by Stuart Eizenstat represents a Jewish world peopled and led by male Jews...
...Through outreach programs and classes, we try to meet the needs of these couples and are welcoming them in growing numbers into our congregations...
...After nine years of marriage and three children who were being raised Jewish, my husband converted to Judaism (a conversion according to halacha, although we're Reform) because of a commitment to the Jewish faith as he had come to know it—not because he had to in order to secure his bride or a rabbi...
...If, in its wake and in light of recent unsettling occurrences, a measure of human suffering and anguish will be uplifted, its contribution will be critical...
...I guess it is especially puzzling considering the double burden of being Black and Jewish...
...Jacob Neusner Ungerleider Distinguished Scholar of Judaic Studies Brown University Providence, Rhode Island MOMENT Ignores Half the Jewish World I was deeply disturbed by the cover of the January/February 1988 edition of MOMENT, an apparently conciliatory portrait of American and Israeli Jews reaching out to one another across the globe...
...Of these, 620 submitted usable responses...
...You may well protest that, in the world as it is, most Jewish leaders are males...
...What about Reform Jews and non-religious Jews who, unlike the Jews pictured on your cover, do not wear kippot...
...That is what my friend, Stuart Eizenstat, has done once again, with that wonderful tact and intelligence that mark him as a man of moral authority in Jewish America...
...Diana Ober Mt Pleasant, Michigan Three Cheers for Rabbi Davis Three cheers and congratulations to Rabbi Maurice Davis on his article "Why I Won't Perform an Intermarriage" (January/February 1988...
...The only symbol we could come up with was a kippah, inadequate though it was...
...Ironically, the illustration was created by a woman, presumably one of the 20 percent...
...Had she been attending services over the last 30 years, she might have known that the gates of most Reform syn- • agogues are open to intermarried couples...
...So I participated in Washington D.C., my hometown, in every meeting at which Rabbi Wise or Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver spoke...
...The case at hand is also a demographic time-bomb, challenging Israel as both a Jewish and democratic state, perhaps even as an existing entity...
...Outreach to non-Jews is the most realistic way to address our diminishing demographic, hence political, strength...
...What I don't understand is why, because I would not officiate at their marriage, they are any more justified in rejecting the Jewish community...
...Night of Awe" particularly contained a great deal of misleading and incorrect information...
...Rabbi Fishbein's Influence Thirteen years ago, my husband, a Southern Baptist, and I, a Jewish woman with no knowledge of Judaism, were married by Rabbi Irwin Fishbein ("Rabbis Who Perform Intermarriages," January/February 1988) after we had been refused by several other rabbis...
...Your reliance on Irwin Fishbein's statistics have led you to write an article that can only lead the uninformed reader to believe that most Reform rabbis officiate at intermarriages, and that they do so despite their public statements to the contrary...
...I am not...
...Although we have not seen Rabbi Fishbein since our wedding, we are grateful he took a chance on us...
...We are telling them precisely what we think, even when they do not want to hear it, and they do not like it one bit...
...We are committed to our Jewish life together and to providing a fulfilling Jewish life for our three sons...
...That is an opportunity they deserve...
...My turning to Judaism occurred after many years of consideration...
...Though no particular saving formula is offered by Grossman, contrary to what Eshed perceives, it is clear that all are presently victims...
...You quote a 1973 Reform resolution that rabbis officiating at mixed marriages "do so contrary to the clear guidelines of their rabbinic organization...
...Surely, our tradition has a life-affirming message for mankind...
...Our source was a responsum of Rabbi Mihaly, which reads as follows: "The very resolution of the [Central] Conference [of American Rabbis] alluded to in the [1973] statement, which . . . declares its opposition to participation by its (CCAR) members in any ceremony which solemnizes a mixed marriage, asserts in the second paragraph: "The Central Conference recognizes that historically its members have held and continue to hold divergent interpretations of Jewish tradition...
...Apparently, we are not one yet...
...Beyond that, the articles themselves were woefully inadequate...
...maleness is the norm, the very definition of Jewishness, not to mention the locus of power...
...Fred N. Reiner, Senior Rabbi Temple Sinai Washington, D.C...
...Those rabbis who perform intermarriages lend the dignity of their title to an interfaith marriage and try to make it religiously acceptable...
...Belmont's contention...
...Hirshan researched her article more fully, she would have found that virtually every Reform congregation in the United States has a not insignificant percentage of intermarried couples who are made to feel welcome and participate actively in the life of their congregations...
...We have always welcomed mixed couples as warmly and lovingly as we possibly can...
...The Jewish population in Israel is overwhelmingly from either Eastern Europe or Arabic-speaking countries— areas of the world known for corruption and retarded development...
...I would have hoped that by 1988 we would have moved farther than that...
...Stephen Lanset Hoboken, New Jersey Black and Jewish I am not in the habit of writing to comment on a magazine article...
...The making of this declaration is a bone that most Israeli Arabs cannot swallow...
...They a're simply given "a free ticket for the holidays...
...The most effective response is to develop a Judaism that speaks to the spiritual and moral needs of the younger generation and to keep the door open wide for all those who would explore what Judaism has to offer...
...The only difference between us is that they are convinced officiating at such ceremonies will help...
...The Consul General wrote that, in effect, the registration of political parties in Israel is an easy matter for Arab Israelis...
...The resolution went on to say that the CCAR ' 'recognizes that historically its members have held and continue to hold divergent interpretations of Jewish tradition...
...Esther K. Cannon Pompano Beach, Florida Correcting the Consul General I enjoyed the December 1987 issue, especially the interview with Howard Sachar...
...In my 26 years of experience as a rabbi, that indictment has never applied to any congregation I served or to colleagues I have spoken with...
...it's much more...
...No such mobilization of Jews could have happened during Hitler's reign...
...I also encourage the non-Jewish partner to study Judaism...
...The students with whom I have been involved more often than not develop a strong attachment to Judaism...
...My experience of 34 years in the rabbinate has convinced me that my openness to the couple, my willingness to officiate and my attempts to follow up over the years do make it more likely that Judaism will be transmitted through the home and school...
...An amendment of Knesset Law (No...
...Peter Belmont Search For Justice and Equality in Palestine/Israel Lexington, Massachusetts The Consul General replies: The laws of Israel do not require a political party wishing to participate in national elections to ' 'declare that Israel is the state of the Jewish people...
...Rabbi Henry Cohen Beth David Reform Congregation Gladwyne, Pennsylvania Welcoming Intermarried Couples I count myself among those Reform rabbis who do not officiate at intermarriages but who fully respect the vast majority of my colleagues who do...
...I (and thirteen of fifteen sociologists and psychologists whom I surveyed) do not believe that by refusing to officiate, a rabbi makes it less likely that mixed marriages will take place in our society...
...It undermines government when it seeks to implement programs to benefit the disadvantaged...
...I was particularly moved by Julius Lester's ' 'Lovesong" (December 1987...
...and (b) that advocate the denial or curtailment of democratic representation or other democratic rights to the country's Arab citizens, particularly when this is done on the basis of ethnic bias and incitement...
...A grand total of 16 of us turned up in a classroom of the Jewish Community Center to hear a dynamic report by David Ben-Gurion...
...FORUM MOMENT'S Editorial Bias Shows in Intermarriage Articles Your two-part article on rabbinic offici-ation at mixed marriages ("Rabbis Who Perform Intermarriage," and ' 'Why I Won't Perform an Intermarriage," January/February 1988) is, unfortunately, marred by several misstatements of fact and, I believe, an editorial slant that presents a misleading picture of how the contemporary Reform rabbinate responds to this delicate and difficult issue...
...In this cover illustration, we wanted to comment on the partnership between American and Israeli Jews...
...Despite all the effort that went into Egon Mayer's study, sponsored by the American Jewish Committee, I could not detect any data that would answer the critical question: When rabbis do officiate at mixed marriages, does this make it more likely that the children will receive a Jewish education...
...I am a Reform Jew...
...I still love them and accept them, and seek to understand them...
...There are any number of well-qualified social scientists who can help them put the debate to rest to everyone's scientific satisfaction...
...Rabbi Davidson is connected with the Congregation for Humanistic Judaism...
...How to indicate that these people were Jewish—not Americans as a whole...
...You cite the 1972 Lenn report as showing that 41 percent of Reform rabbis at that time officiated at mixed marriages...
...Although there are many things I miss about Leonard Fein's MOMENT, I have enjoyed the new MOMENT...
...Non-response to any survey leaves open to question whether those who didn't respond would have had a similar pattern of answers to those who did...
...Elaine Cogan Portland, Oregon MOMENTS No Longer Piling Up The new format is great...
...The issue—simply put—is what kind of country should Israel be: Should it mimic those Eastern European countries from where its founders came...
...Why also can they not give us a chance to demonstrate our acceptance, even if we do not officiate at their marriage...
...Therefore, it was encouraging to see the problem of Israeli-American Jewish relations addressed in a more sympathetic way towards Israel in Stuart Eizenstat's open letter, ' 'We are Still One" (January/February 1988...
...However, to suggest bias on the part of the interpreters of the available data for assuming that those data are indeed representative of the larger population of Reform rabbis, would be like suggesting that the American electoral process is invalid because almost half the eligible population does not come out to vote...
...A Free Ticket For the Holidays If your quest for new subscribers translates into publishing directories of rabbis who officiate at intermarriages, you can be assured that I will be among those who do not resubscribe...
...Please consider this an extra, meaningful addition to your magazine...
...True, I have disappointed them, but they also have disappointed me (and millions of other Jews...
...Because they decided to marry outside the Jewish community, we are in no way rejecting them...
...Yes, Israel should be more sensitive to American Jewish concerns, but the most effective way to make that happen is for more American Jews to start considering aliyah a viable option for themselves and, as Eizenstat says, for their children...
...4 We in no way limited the length of Rabbi Davis's response...
...James Planchard Coden, Alabama...
...As one who was an active adult 50 years ago, I can confirm that it was a different era...
...As more young people do not appreciate the value of religious tradition, as more are skeptical of faith commitments, as more have personal contacts with those of different religious backgrounds, as more assert personal autonomy in making maritial choices, those young people who are willing to go against their parents' norms will not be dissuaded because a rabbi says no...
...I also know there are those—Blacks and Jews included—who will never understand how or why one would make such a move...
...Your style of reporting in this article not only makes my refutation of the facts almost impossible, but will also undoubtedly add fuel to the fire now raging between Orthodox and Reform Jewry...
...Yellow Wind's heart-rending and piercing account has the power of a classic...
...Rabbi Maurice Davis's statement of opposition comes second, with less than half the space, -and with no photo (his being relegated to the Introduction [In A Moment...
...Bureaucracy and its concurrent regulations stifle initiative and, consequently, Israel's development...
...Rabbi Amy Eilberg Indianapolis, Indiana We wholeheartedly agree with the sentiments expressed in this letter...
...Surrounded by friends and family (both Jewish and non-Jewish), this first positive experience began a journey into Judaism for both of us, initiated by that one small tie to the Jewish community Rabbi Fishbein provided by officiating at our marriage...
...I have frequently been told that my counseling and officiating influenced the couple to join the synagogue and send the children to its school...
...Who will passionately and successfully fight for liberal Jewish causes in Israel if not liberal Jewish immigrants...
...You then quote Rabbi Eugene Mihaly as castigating the authors of the 1973 resolution for omitting what is actually quite explicit there, namely, the divergent interpretations within our membership...
...Those who celebrate the High Holidays at the Georgetown Chapel may be applauded for attending those services, but where are they the rest of the year...
...But MOMENT must never underestimate the power of art and journalism to shape and reinforce communal myths about the way the world is and the way it can be...
...Protektzia is a function of bureaucracy...
...In fact, I am the rabbi of Temple Israel, the Reform congregation in Westport...
...The drawing that you chose to accompany the ' 'Are We One...
...Sharon A Gibson Milwaukee, Wisconsin In Defense of Yellow Wind Haggai Eshed's lengthy and passionate diatribe ("Yellow Wind—A Whirlwind of Controversy," November 1987) in response to David Grossman's Yellow Wind, should not go unchallenged...
...At the time of the survey, membership in the Central Conference of American Rabbis was 1,014, of whom 942 received questionnaires (foreign members, for example, were totally excluded...
...9), passed three years ago, reads as follows: ' 'A list of candidates shall not participate in elections to the Knesset if its goals or actions explicitly or implicitly include any of the following: (1) negation of the existence of Israel as the state of the Jewish people...
...Lester, I am Black...
...He feels, as most of us do, that Israel should be more religiously tolerant and pluralistic...
...Phyllis Freedman Pittsburgh, New York Thanks From the United Synagogue of America I was pleased to read the acknowledgment of the United Synagogue of America's openness in providing an exhibit booth to MOMENT at our recently held Biennial Convention this past November...
...At these weddings, I do officiate as a rabbi, although not according to Jewish law (k'dat moshe v'ytsrael—according to the laws of Moses and Israel), to which as a Reform rabbi I am not bound...
...Today, my husband is vice president of our synagogue and I am a Sunday School teacher...
...Danet's "doublethink," but will also strive in all of the institutions in which it has a voice to reduce this stifling bureaucracy and its concomitant protektzia—be it in the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Israeli universities or private investments...
...Your editorial bias becomes apparent in your assumption that ' 'an increase of 9 percent since 1972 would not be surprising...
...Moshe Aumann Consul General Embassy of Israel Washington, D.C Does MOMENT Need a Glossary...
...In fact, I believe the trend to be the opposite: With all Reform rabbinic students having spent a year in Israel since 1970 and with the increasing emphasis on ritual and practice among many younger colleagues (as witness the impressive popularity of guides to Jewish practice published by CCAR since 1972, the very concept of which was unthinkable not many years before), my own sense is that most of the more recently ordained rabbis do not officiate at mixed marriages...
...We wish MOMENT success as it endeavors to raise the awareness of the American Jewish community...
...Once my studies were completed at Congregation Emmanu-El B'ne Jeshurun in Milwaukee, I became Shoshana bat Avraham v'Sarah on June 11, 1987...
...Had Ms...
...When the myth is one that denies the personhood of half the Jewish people, all of us must be vigilant...
...Robert H. Lipschutz Poughkeepsie, New York Intermarriage Article Is Unbalanced, Superficial and Distorted Your article entitled "Rabbis Who Perform Intermarriages: Who They Are and Why They Do It" (January/February 1988) is unbalanced, superficial and a distortion of reality...
...It must have slipped his mind, for he can hardly have wished to mislead your readers, that no political party can participate in national elections in Israel which does not declare that Israel is the state of the Jewish people (and, thus, not of the citizens of Israel, especially not of its Arab citizens...
...So [3] the State of Israel is not merely a place where lots of Jews live but the Jewish state, that is, precisely what its name claims: the State of Israel...
...As beautifully written as it is, I sincerely hope his essay has given some insight to those fortunate enough to have been born to Judaism to enjoy for an entire lifetime all it has to offer...
...That is an opportunity we deserve...
...People forget that Judaism was an aggressively proselytizing religion in the Mediterranean world of the 1st and 2nd centuries C.E...
...Until such time as the CCAR is prepared to do such an investigation of its members on officiation as well as other important matters relating to mixed marriages, it ill behooves them to decry the biases of others...
...She continues with a reference to the rabbi's appeal that "these individuals should not be forced to choose between love and religion...
...Rabbi Elliot L Stevens Administrative Secretary Central Conference of American Rabbis New York, New York As for Rabbi Stevens' comments regarding our use of the available statistics, we have asked Professor Egon Mayer, a leading authority on Jewish intermarriage, to reply...
...As a result of surveys and personal contacts, I estimate that two-thirds of the mixed couples I have married are living up to their commitment...
...Rabbi, Congregation Ahavath Chesed Jacksonville, Florida A Cheap Shot at Synagogues Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan ("Night of Awe—A Mother at Kol Nidre" January/February 1988) has not attended a synagogue service in more than 30 years...
...As one of the 250,000 in Washington on Freedom Sunday, December 6, 1987, who added their voice to the cry "Let My People Go," I feel blessed for having lived to this day to participate at long last in such a public effort...
...Julie Hilton Danan San Antonio, Texas Neusner on Eizenstat Stuart Eizenstat's judicious and well-crafted statement ("We Are Still One," January/February 1988), does credit not only to him, but, more importantly, to the American Jewish community, and the splendid treatment you accorded to that statement augurs well for MOMENT...
...We didn't have television to bring us shocking instant bulletins of distant news...
...Dumb Rules and Playing Favorites at the UAHC General Assembly," Notes and News, January/February 1988) There are so many times when the media criticize establishment organizations that it is heartening to receive positive acknowledgment when it is due...
...Religious freedom is usually perceived as freedom from Orthodox dictates, not freedom to be married by a Reform or Conservative rabbi...
...The operative clause stated, ' 'The Central Conference of American Rabbis, recalling its stand adopted in 1909 'that mixed marriage is contrary to the Jewish tradition and should be discouraged,' now declares its opposition to participation by its members in any ceremony which solemnizes a mixed marriage...
...We have an historic window of opportunity...
...We live in a world where many different belief systems actively compete for souls...
...Maurice Davis, whose wonderful article ("Why I Won't Perform an Intermarriage: A Reform Rabbi Responds," January/February 1988), is included in this same issue, speaks for the majority of Reform rabbis when he masterfully explains why he will not officiate at an intermarriage, but will also not condemn the intermarried, nor close his doors to them or their children...
...Rabbi Robert Orkand Westport, Connecticut Who Will Champion the Non-Orthodox Cause in Israel If Reform and Conservative Jews Don't Make Aliyah...
...An ironic and tragic outcome of a justifiably celebrated military victory for the sake of survival itself has been the threat to Israel's soul...
...The conflicting reports by Lenni Brenner and Carl Voss ("Did Stephen S. Wise and American Jews Do Enough for Europe's Jews...
...I must take issue with your publishing her cheap shot at synagogues— about which she can hardly speak with knowledge or authority...
...If not, there are plenty of aggressive competitors eager to poach on marginal Jews and buy empty synagogues...
...This affirmation, I believe, confirms the pride I have in my Afro-American heritage and the passion of the love I have for Judaism...
...I must question, however, the letter from the Israeli Consul General (p...
...Let's open it...
...I cannot begin to tell you how much Mr...
...I find myself in substantial agreement with the position he outlines on Zionism and American Judaism...
...While it is true that protektzia is found to some degree in every country, it is also true that it is most prevalent in the most corrupt and backward countries...
...is clearly "no...
...Mihaly with at least a sentence by a professor in opposition— your article almost makes it seem as if the weight of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is supportive of mixed-marrying rabbis, which is just not so...
...54), referring to a comment by Senator Abourezk...
...Next time don't publish half a story...
...The turbulent events in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, beginning in December, are ample proof that Grossman's insightful warning of the explosive nature and the disconcerting dimensions of the occupation are firmly rooted in painful reality...
...One could say, therefore, that only 19 percent of the total membership affirmed that they so officiate...
...This paragraph affirms the right of all rabbis to act in accordance with their interpretation of Jewish tradition and the dictates of their conscience...
...Rabbi Jerome M Epstein Senior Vice President Chief Executive Officer The United Synagogue of America New York, New York More Jews Through Outreach I agree with Max Singer ("A Futurist Looks at the Jewish Future," December 1987) concerning Jewish demographics and proselytism...
...I think MOMENT is an excellent magazine but I do see a need for parentheses defining Jewish terms or a page that describes the meaning of such words as kibbutz, Zionism, Sephardic, etc...
Vol. 13 • April 1988 • No. 2
