Of Vital Importance- Progressive Judaism in Israel

Again, my apologies for NEVER posting... I'm going to try an every other day approach to see if it's easier to write short blogs often as opposed to long blogs once a week. We'll see :)

I posted the last entry as an attempt to explain some of what HUC students and Jerusalemites in general are feeling in regards to the pigua this week. If you want to talk with me about it, please feel free to email. Otherwise, know that I am fine, and like all my classmates, am working on my feelings about Jerusalem, Israel, the conflict here, etc, with friends, HUC professors and staff.

This week was the first week of my two summer classes- Modern Hebrew Ulpan and Bible History. Ulpan is intensive modern Hebrew study- we will take Hebrew all year long, but during the summer, we study Hebrew Sunday through Wednesday for four hours each day. We are divided into four levels, Hebrew letters aleph, bet, gimel, and dalet- I am in aleph, but pretty okay with it, seeing as though I only started learning modern Hebrew last summer. The classes are small, with 10-11 students in each class, and are taught by Israeli teachers who speak almost entirely in Hebrew. On Wednesday evenings, we have two-hour long Bible History lectures, followed by Thursday tiyyulim (trips) around the country to see what we learned the night before. This past Thursday had a two-part Jerusalem tiyyul, but we will be heading out further, all around the country, in the next few weeks. Of special note today is that my friend Sara has been in Israel on Taglit-Birthright Israel this week, and has spent the last few nights in Jerusalem, giving us a chance to see each other. I am definitely enjoying my first "visitor."

On Wednesday, we had an afternoon visit in HUC's sister complex, Beit Shmuel, with the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) and the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ). We learned all about progressive Judaism in both Israel and around the world. In Israel, Reform/Progressive Judaism (as well as Conservative Judaism, called the Masorti movement in Israel) is not recognized as a form of Judaism- Orthodox Judaism is the only kind that exists here. The interesting part of this is that most Israelis are secular Jews... the secular Jews' joke goes: "The shul I don't go to is Orthodox". In other words, though most of the country is secular, the only kind of Judaism anyone knows exists is Orthodox Judaism. Progressive movements are certainly not new, but are still very small in Israel- there are currently only 24 Reform/Progressive congregations in all of Israel (there are another 10ish organizations that are affiliated with Progressive Judaism in Israel, including the IMPJ, the WUPJ, and Hebrew Union College- my school). In the United States, Reform Judaism is the largest stream, with over 1.5 million adherents in over 900 congregations. Just to put this into perspective, there are 5.3 million Jews in Israel and 5.2 million Jews in the United States.

Now, just a side note before I come back to the complexities of Progressive Judaism. I spent Friday with another rabbinic student, Harrison, at Kibbutz Gezer, outside of Jerusalem. We were checking out a community service internship opportunity at the Kibbutz, which will eventually involve doing some "social work" and music programming with convicts from a nearby prison, as well as leading Shabbat services and song session at congregation Birkat Shalom, the Progressive synagogue located at the Kibbutz. It was a fantastic day, filled with more food than I think I've eaten in the entire three weeks I've been here, a warm welcome from the Rabbi of Birkat Shalom and her husband, the director of a education center (called Pinat Shorashim) located on the Kibbutz, and a visit from a group from Leo Baeck temple in Los Angeles (whose Rabbi was the rabbinic intern at my temple when I was younger- it was great to catch up with him and his family!). Harrison and I helped to lead Shabbat services, hung out with the Rabbi and her husband (named Miri and David) and their family, and got to know people at the Kibbutz. Needless to say, we'll be accepting this internship and spending one Friday a month at the Kibbutz!

Coming back around to my point... Rabbi Miri Gold of Birkat Shalom at Kibbutz Gezer is the plaintiff in a groundbreaking lawsuit, aimed to gain rights for non-Orthodox Rabbis, as well as their congregations and communities. In Israel, each community/region elects a community Rabbi who is then given a teken (salary) by the Israeli government for serving their community- the teken comes from a religious tax that is paid by ALL Jewish Israelis. The problem here is that only Orthodox Rabbis may "run" for and be elected to the post of community Rabbi. This poses a problem for Rabbis like Miri Gold and communities like Kibbutz Gezer- the community at Gezer is clearly served by Rabbi Miri (and in fact has not seen their community Rabbi in three years) and is not interested in an Orthodox rabbi. Unfortunately, Rabbi Miri is not eligible to be the official community Rabbi (though she does all of the work in the community) nor is she eligible for the teken earned by Orthodox Rabbis. While some of you may know that Reform and Conservative Rabbis in the United States are paid rather nicely (congregational Rabbis right out of school make approximately 80k per year), Progressive Rabbis in Israel make very little money- not really enough to support a family. Add in the fact that Progressive Rabbis are not even recognized by the Orthodox movement (which is again the only movement recognized by the State of Israel, since the Orthodox movement controls the religious areas of government), and we have ourselves a problem here in Israel.

I don't say all of these things about the Progressive movement in Israel to make anyone upset with Israel- in fact, I hope you aren't. Many Israelis are very slowly warming up to the idea of non-Orthodox Judaism and non-Orthodox Rabbis... a few are even warming up to the idea of female Rabbis! There is a lot of work to be done within Israel to work for equal rights for the Progressive movement, its adherents, and its clergy- this work is already being tackled by congregations and clergy, the IMPJ, the WUPJ, and HUC. However, look again at the numbers associated with Progressive Judaism in the United States and in Israel. Now look at another number- 6.7 million shekels. This is the usual yearly budget for the IMPJ. But here are two other numbers- 30% or 2 million shekels. This is the amount lost in IMPJ funding this year, mostly due to the declining dollar. The grand majority of funding for the IMPJ actually comes from American Reform Jewry. You would think, with the amount of money given by American Reform Jews each year, that we care deeply about Progressive Judaism in the State of Israel. Unfortunately, this support only extends to the financial end. Less than half of the incoming Year in Israel HUC class (remember, we will all eventually be Rabbis, Cantors, and Jewish educators) even knew what the IMPJ and WUPJ were when asked this week! Progressive Judaism cannot be pushed to thrive in the United States while it is neglected in Israel, the home of the Jewish people. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the head of the Union for Reform Judaism, the congregational and organizational arm of Reform Judaism in the US, said:

"For Reform Jews, the stakes are especially high. If we fail to establish a significant presence on Israeli soil and do not become a powerful force in the next generation, we will have consigned ourselves to the margins of Jewish history. While Reform success in Israel gives me confidence that this will not happen, it is for this reason that our support of Reform Judaism in Israel is so vitally important. "

I urge those of you who are Progressive Jews in the United States to think about the complex nature of Progressive Judaism in Israel, and consider how you might support (and I don't mean financially) it at home. Even though it may not affect you personally, it will affect the Reform movement in the United States, choices (or lackthereof) for Israelis and Jews all over the world with regard to how they are able to practice Judaism, and if not anything else, me. As a future female Reform Rabbi, I will be in a tough position outside of the United States if changes don't continue to be made in Israel and around the world. Progressive Judaism is growing worldwide and will have a fighting chance if those of us in the strongest position- Reform Jews in the US- are willing to help.

With that said, I want to say again that I am having a wonderful time here in Israel, and am already learning so much. I am enjoying hearing from many of you via email and phone calls, and I ask that you continue to keep in touch. I miss you all. Look for pictures of my apartment and HUC's beautiful campus coming soon!!