Israeli Judaism is hardening and becoming more exclusive. There is a big problem with converts here, who are being rejected by the hard core of the religious establishment. The Army's rabbis tried to establish a military conversion channel that would allow soldiers to become Jews, but it is failing, as their conversions are not accepted by the establishment. Simply put, Israeli rabbinate is against conversions.
This situation has created a large group of Israelis who were born here and live full Israeli-Jewish life, but float in a religious limbo, not discriminated against in any way but considered not Jews or doubtful Jews (which is the same) by the religious establishment. And the tendency is not towards gradual integration but towards ever harder exclusion.
These people are already in Israel and in any religious reform (BTW, we had none in the last thousand years) or in any national emergency (like the Tchelmietzky children born to kosher Jewish girls kidnapped by the Kossacks) - they will be assimilated. Not so with American Jews. There will be a point when they are so intermarried and so unschooled in Orthodox Judaism that they will be unable to prove their belonging to the Jewish people and they will not be covered by the Law of Return. Even today there are many problems, which are not public because no one wants to alienate American Jewry. But the point is near where only Orthodox are recognized automatically as Jews, and the large mass of Reform Jews are finding growing difficulties to prove their Judaism. As my Mea Shearim uncle said: What kind of Jew are you if you dont keep the Shabbat?
The issue is not an important one today, because few American Jews are making aliyah to Israel. But Israel is fast becoming one of the most prosperous countries on Earth while American living standards have not improved in thirty years. May be I am imagining things, but American Jews may discover one day that their children are considered doubtful Jews, like the current immigration from Russia. Pic.: Rabbi Lewittes from the Sha'ar Community, Canada. She seems a nice person. She even seems to think that she is Jewish.
17 comments:
The common sense solution is to accept people as Jews if they have genetic markers for being Jews. The science is sophisticated enough. So many Jews aren't religious, there's no point in using religion as the membership card. Otherwise, you could have American black Jews flocking to Israel for the economic benefits, and these people are not rocket scientists, either.
There will be a point when they are so intermarried and so unschooled in Orthodox Judaism that they will be unable to prove their belonging to the Jewish people and they will not be covered by the Law of Return.
The problem nowadays is mostly with people whom the LoR does cover but Judaism itself doesn't.
You claim one day there will be significant amounts of self-identified "Jews" whom even the LoR doesn't cover?
Perhaps. Even if they don't want to immigrate, the resulting rift between millions of true Jews in Israel and millions of "pseudo-Jews" in North America will be historically unprecedented.
"But Israel is fast becoming one of the most prosperous countries on Earth while American living standards have not improved in thirty years. May be I am imagining things, but American Jews may discover one day that their children are considered doubtful Jews, like the current immigration from Russia."
All praise to Divine Providence for sheltering American Jews of the future from being subjected to the dictates of the ascendant Jewish Taliban in Israel. I wouldn't bet on Israel remaining prosperous for too long under the rule of the haredim who do not value secular or scientific education. Moreover, I wouldn't expect a very secure future for Israel if the haredim piss off the country's only real ally and protector (the U.S.) in their zeal to marginalize American Reform Jews and part-Jews.
I reported what I see and offer no value judgment. Israel is in no danger of haredi government, but their influence is clearly growing. Traditional Jewish communities were what we may call haredi (surprisingly, Oriental communities being even more extreme - vide Ovadia Joseph) but their members were traders and professionals, and they made a good living. Judaism per se is FOR trade and FOR the military.
Judaism is permeable at the present, but increasingly less so. Excepting some dramatic upheaval, most American Jews will be like the Jewish descendants in Kaifeng, having lost the ability to read the Torah and asking the Israeli Embassy of Beijing to be allowed to come to Israel (they are politely rejected).
I wish to add that historically Jewish communities rejected converts and cared little to attract mixed Jews. No security considerations ever impacted on who is a Jew and who is not. In many senses, some say, Judaism is like a suicide cult.
Judaism is not the only religion that rejected converts. At least Judaism has a conversion process. For the Druze, the concept doesn't exist.
The Druze are the Jews who never left Eretz Israel. They survived in the mountains and adopting a "secret" (fake) religion.
The problem here isn't so much the conversion process, its the expectation that if you convert the only way you can live is as a Hasid. In other words its a power struggle between the Lithuanians against the Sepharadim. The question is can the Lithuanians go against the army which is the compromise situation currently? I'd bet that after all the screaming and outcry some quiet status-quo compromise backed up by the threat of cracking the rabbinate will happen. Its not like any of those rabbis complaining now are going to allow their families to marry or associate with anyone who is a convert. Conversion for those who choose it in Israel is just another means of assimilating into the more moderate general population, not the first step in admission to a Kollel.
As for the Jewish community in America, I wouldn't be so quick to write it off despite the clear problems it faces. Lets maintain some perspective; the arguments now on this topic (on every topic to be honest) are mellow compared to the fights of the 18th and 19th century.
Brooklyn,
I dont know where did you get the idea that there is a fight between Litwaks and Sepharadim. The Sepharadim (Shas in Israel) are much intolerant and fanatic than we Ashkenazim ever allowed ourselves to be. The main opposition to Army conversion comes from the Sepharadi rabbis.
Oy, gottenyu, with her bare arms and head she is holding a Torah. She is probably even niddah.
The "who is a Jew" thing is already a problem and it will only get worse. The problem is this - from the point of view of the secular state, Israel, especially the military, could always use more bodies, especially assimilable whites. Heaven knows the haredi aren't contributing. But from the point of view of the Rabbis, the rules are the rules - they never change and must be applied strictly. This is the essence of Orthodoxy.
In a way, the Orthodox were pushed into this corner by the Reform movement in the 19th century, when in order to make a point and rub their enlightenment in the face of the Orthodox, they intentionally flouted all the rules. See for example the famous "trayf banquet" incident. If they had not done this, Orthodoxy might have evolved gradually and not turned into a reactionary movement. The same thing goes on today - the more the secular insist on walking around naked on the beach, the more the Orthodox cover their women from head to toe, so over time the differences get bigger and bigger instead of disappearing. If you look at, for example, the films of the Warsaw Ghetto, you can't tell the frum from the less frum - everyone dressed about the same.
There was always a certain tension in putting the rabbis in charge of family law in a secular society but at least in the 1st generation there were not a lot of questions as to who was Jewish - you could be the biggest atheist socialist around but everyone knew that your parents were both Jewish and you were a Jew too. Now it's much harder. Just like exempting the haredi from the military, what once seemed to be a minor concession has now turned into a big thing.
Ultimately (and I sensed this from the moment I set foot in Israel) Israel is a Middle Eastern country and not a European country and over the long run it will have a culture like that of a Middle Eastern country - something like Turkey or Lebanon. It will not be a secular, Western, European country. In a way, this was the goal or at least the inevitable consequence of Zionism.
K
http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=205244
Unless things are being misrepresented in the press to an unusual degree it looks like what I said, the Ashkenazic rabbis are up in arms especially over the Sephardic rabbis giving the ok on army conversions. I take it from articles like this that the matter essentially boils down to a fight over who is in charge.
J is wrong. The Lithuanian rabbis are the true power behind the opposition toe conversions. They scare the Sephardi rabbis into opposing it more fiercely.
if you convert the only way you can live is as a Hasid. In other words its a power struggle between the Lithuanians against the Sepharadim.
Actually, Hasiddim are a separate third group. Litvaks would definately not prefer converts to become a drunken, mystical Habadnik.
Actually, Hasiddim are a separate third group. Litvaks would definately not prefer converts to become a drunken, mystical Habadnik.
I know; I just tend to use "Hasid" as a shorthand for ultra-ultra-Orthodox.
You are right, this army conversion issue has developed into a fight between Ovadya Yoseph and the Litwak rabbis. The trend is clear, there are active forces pushing us in Israel toward a more traditional non-liberal Judaism, while in America a hyper-liberal almost Episcopal model is dominating.
"...while in America a hyper-liberal almost Episcopal model is dominating."
In the future the Reform Jews won't be Episcopal like...they will literally be Episcopalians (or atheists or whatever). Reform Jewry is really a step on the road to oblivion...if you look at the descendants of the German Reform Jews of the 19th century, they are not Jewish anymore. Today's Reform Jews are the descendants of the more recent E. European immigrants. To the extent that Reform Jews exist 100 years from now, it will only be because there is always a supply of Orthodox Jews who stray from the path. 1st generation Orthodox, next Conservative, next Reform, next intermarried, next Christian or nothing. Israel is unique because you can be "Jewish" just by being alive - no participation in any special religious or cultural activities is required. This is not true in the Diaspora.
K
It is like in the Soviet Union, it is written in your identity card (aka passport). You cannot change it.
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