MERCAZ Newsletter — Summer 2007

MASORTI JUDAISM: NEW GROWTH AND DIRECTIONS

While news stories about the Masorti Movement tend to concentrate on current legal battles over limitations on religious pluralism being heard by the Israeli Supreme Court, quietly behind the scenes, new less controversial developments within the Movement and throughout the other Israeli institutions of Masorti Judaism point to new growth and directions.

For example, this past fall, an organization responsible for planning and developing for the Jerusalem area an "alternative cemetery" was formally registered. The new organization, known in Hebrew as "Menucha Nechona", brings together Israelis from all sectors of society — Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, secular, Russian immigrants and local civic leaders — to provide an alternative to the standard Orthodox practices that govern most Israeli funerals, such as the prohibition on the use of caskets and the saying of kaddish by women.

To date, the only such "alternative cemetery" currently operating is in Beersheba. However, leaders of the new Jerusalem organization, including Rabbi Tzvi Graetz, spiritual leader of the Masorti congregation Shevet Achim in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem, are optimistic that with the public support of Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupoliansky, himself Ultra-Orthodox, the new cemetery will become a reality soon and answer the needs of Israelis looking for an alternative burial arrangement for their loved ones.

Another behind-the-scenes development is the publication by the TALI Education Fund of a new prayer book for the 30,000 children studying in TALI (Hebrew acronym for "enriched Jewish studies") classrooms throughout the country. The siddur, entitled "Yachad BiTefillah" ("Together in Prayer") comes to provide an age-appropriate prayer book for children whose parents have enrolled them in the special school program to gain additional Jewish, but not Orthodox, enrichment over and above what is typically provided in the state secular schools.

Among the innovations found in the new prayer book are the substitution of the positive blessings "Who made me in His image" and "Who made me Israel" for the negative-phrased blessings in the preliminary prayer service, the abbreviation of the traditional weekday Amidah and the inclusion from the Sabbath liturgy of the prayers for the State of Israel and for the IDF.

The TALI Education Fund (TEF), which is part of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, is the professional lifeline for the 1,300 TALI teachers and principals who work with the more than 30,000 schoolchildren and their parents in the nearly 1,000 classrooms throughout Israel, providing them with the tools and training needed to create a "Solomon Schechter School-like" Jewish environment for their community of students and parents.

Of course, the legal battles for religious pluralism still continue. Recently, the Masorti Movement celebrated a victory in its struggle with the Israeli government over the question of paying for the right to pray at Robinson's Arch. As reported in the last MERCAZ USA newsletter, for the past year, worshippers arriving after 8:00am at Robinson's Arch, the area designated for egalitarian prayer services at the southern end of the Western Wall, were being required to pay an entrance fee of 30 NIS ($7.00) since the site is located within the Davidson Archeological Park.

Now, with an agreement reached in February between the Masorti Movement and the government on the eve of a second hearing by the High Court of Justice, worshippers will be able to enter the archeological park for free until 10:30am on weekdays and on Friday evenings and holidays. As Rabbi Barry Schlesinger, President of the Rabbinical Assembly-Israel Region, remarked, "The Conservative Movement sees this as recognition of the right for non-Orthodox worshippers to pray as they see fit at the Western Wall."

MERCAZ USA President Dr. Stephen S. Wolnek remarked: "We can be proud of the growth of Masorti Judaism in Israel. In our own way, as the lobby of the Conservative Movement in the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency, we are partners in this growth through the annual JAFI 'stream' allocation of about $1.7 million for these institutions, including $700,000 for the Masorti Movement, $400,000 for the Schechter Institute and $400,000 for the TALI Education Fund."