Yated Ne'eman has tracked every major development in
the battle of wits currently being waged in Eretz Yisroel
between the Orthodox community and American-based heterodox
movements, yet further research by our Israeli-based
correspondents proves conclusively that there are many more
elements to this war than meet the eye. Ironically, the
silent skirmishes that are being fought in silence, far away
from the footlights, are precisely those that will ultimately
determine the spiritual character of Eretz Yisroel. Unlike
the showcase battles, which are predominantly over matters of
principle, the side conflicts are about planting facts on the
ground.
The Torah community's relatively complacent response to the
Reform movement's current offensive is an indicator that many
of us remain unaware of the deep inroads that our spiritual
enemies have made in recent years. Well, the time has come to
snap out of our fantasy. If we wait any longer, Eretz Yisroel
may soon change beyond recognition.
Who are the invaders? And how are they attempting to
undermine the authority of Torah-true Judaism in Eretz
Yisroel?
The Reform movement's current all-out offensive is being
choreographed, directed and funded by the Association of
Reform Zionists of America (ARZA). This organization's
policies are implemented by its Israeli subsidiary, Israel
Religious Action Center (IRAC), which is headed by Uri
Regev.
These are the main components of its plan:
Political Lobbying and Legal Activism
The Supreme Court is the Reform movement's closest ally and
most effective weapon. A case in point is the Israeli Supreme
Court's ruling last spring concerning the inclusion of Reform
and Conservative members to local religious councils. Local
religious councils wield a great deal of authority, including
the right to allocate funds for the construction and
maintenance of public religious facilities such as
synagogues, mikvo'os and cultural centers, and hiring
or firing neighborhood rabbis. It does not take a great deal
of imagination to visualize the negative impact that a Reform
takeover of local religious councils could have on Israeli
society. In such an eventuality, neighborhood rabbis would be
replaced immediately with Reform puppets, funds for the
maintenance of synagogues and mikvo'os would be frozen
or redirected, and temples would sprout up throughout the
country like mushrooms after the rain.
Besides its own numerous appeals to the Supreme Court, IRAC
underwrites the expenses of similar hearings forwarded by
overtly anti-religious parties such as Meretz and Shinui, or,
for that matter, anyone else who has an ax to grind against
the Orthodox. IRAC openly admits this in its information
bulletins. By doing so the organization achieves two
important goals: to activate home grown Israeli mouthpieces
to trumpet its distinctively foreign call for "religious
pluralism"; and to ingratiate itself with influential
politicians by providing them with the financial means to
initiate Supreme Court hearings and enjoy free media
coverage.
The Reform movement also procures goodwill in the most time-
honored method of all -- bribery. There have been several
reports in the religious press that certain members of the
Knesset receive bribes from the Reform movement in exchange
for their votes on crucial bills. Likud's Reuven Rivlin
publicly voiced these accusations in the Knesset on January
26, 1999. United Torah Judaism Knesset member Rabbi Avrohom
Ravitz demanded an immediate investigation to determine the
identities of the persons involved.
Parties such as Meretz and Shinui reciprocate IRAC's kindness
by nominating IRAC's Reform candidates to local religious
councils as their representatives, supporting pro-Reform
legislation, and forming governmental committees to
investigate the refusal of religious council members to
comply with the Supreme Court's rulings. IRAC openly chortles
about these "fruitful relationships" in its newsletters and
publications. One hand washes the other, and everybody is
happy.
IRAC's lobbying campaign led to the Supreme Court's precedent-
setting ruling in 1994 to uphold the organization's petition
against the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv municipalities, which had
routinely disqualified Reform candidates from their religious
councils. Similar petitions were then launched against
religious councils in Haifa, Netanya, Rishon' leTsion and
Kiryat Tivon. That is how IRAC sparked the current religious
council crisis -- through crafty lobbying, and a liberal
application of money all around.
Public Relations
IRAC's primary means of reaching the Israeli public is
through media exposure. By its own admission the organization
"floods the country's major newspapers with hundreds of
eloquently written articles" that espouse its policies and
malign the Torah community. It also "maintains a unique data
base of published articles and documents pertaining to the
issues of Religion and State, and makes them available to
policy makers, journalists, academics and others seeking
access to information not readily available from other
sources."
Extensive coverage by radio and television keep IRAC squarely
in the public eye, where they malign the Torah community at
every opportunity. Much of the anti-religious propaganda
being disseminated by the media today is a direct result of
IRAC's public relations work. Uri Regev, IRAC's director, is
quite pleased with this achievement: "Our place at the
forefront of the challenge to the coercive powers of the
Orthodox Rabbinic authorities in Israel," Regev explains,
"makes us an important source for information for the media.
We are directly featured in their portrayal of the struggle
for religious equality and civil rights."
Several religious newspapers in Israel have accused the
organization of buying up key media officials by the dozen to
ensure that every Supreme Court hearing and anti-Orthodox
statement receives maximum, prime time media exposure. IRAC
achieves this by showering editors and reporters with
extravagant gifts and all-expenses-paid vacations in exotic
locations of their choice. Accusations against IRAC's
wholesale bribery of secular media officials have been lodged
on several occasions by religious representatives, yet these
accusations never seem to make headlines in the secular
media. One cannot help but wonder why.
In stark contrast to the Reform movement's well-oiled media
mechanism, the Israeli Torah community lacks a centralized
public relations scheme to counteract the character
assassination being inflicted against it by IRAC.
Gaining Equal Funding for Non-Orthodox Institutions
Last year IRAC launched a legal and legislative campaign to
gain governmental support for non-Orthodox institutions. The
Attorney General accepted the petition and instructed the
Ministry of Religious Affairs to amend its criteria for the
allocation of funds. Now, for the first time in Israel's
history, Reform centers will compete on an equal footing with
regular yeshivos for governmental funding, despite the fact
that they represent a minuscule number of Israeli
citizens.
In addition to funding, IRAC has demanded also equal
allocation of public land for the construction of Reform
temples and community centers. In yet another appeal to the
Supreme Court, the organization accused the Ramat Hasharon
municipality of refusing to comply with the Attorney
General's decision to allocate public land for a Reform
community center. Following this motion the Ramat Hasharon
municipality capitulated and allocated a plot for this
purpose. A similar suit was lodged against the municipality
of Ra'anana, with the same result -- a plot was allocated,
and building plans were swiftly approved. The next targets on
the list are Modi'in and Mevasseret Tzion.
On January 22, 1999 the media joyfully announced a decision
by the municipality of Tel Aviv to issue construction permits
for a new Reform facility in the impoverished area of Jaffa.
The planned $9,000,000 complex will include a temple, a
luxurious community center, and a 300-bed guest house. It
will offer the poverty-stricken residents of the area
preschool child care, barmitzvah classes, conversion courses
in three languages, adult courses and a dizzying range of
cultural activities -- all free of charge.
The Jaffa project is significant because until now the Reform
movement has stayed away from the lower strata of Israeli
society, focusing instead on the ritzy estates in North Tel
Aviv. Now it appears that the Reform movement has decided to
expand its influence to the general populace. This unexpected
development calls for a swift reanalysis of the situation,
and perhaps, for a reformulation of the Torah community's
response to the Reform movement's threat.
Legislating Marriage and Divorce Laws
Israel's civil law grants exclusive authority governing all
matters of marriage and divorce to the Orthodox Rabbinate.
The law does not provide for civil marriage or divorce, and
marriages performed by Reform or Conservative "rabbis" are
not legally valid.
IRAC is in the process of drafting a new bill which, if
passed, will grant legal validity to marriages performed by
non-Orthodox "rabbis," and also to mixed marriages. ARZA is
raising resources and support in North America for the
Israeli marriage-reform bill through a major fundraising
drive called Operation Equality.
IRAC has also launched a petition before the Rabbinic Court
of Appeal concerning a wedding conducted between a Cohen and
a divorcee, which the rabbinic court of Netanya recently
declared null and void. If the Rabbinic Court of Appeal
rejects the motion, then IRAC will take the case to the
Supreme Court, and will argue that the marriage be registered
in spite of the Rabbinic Court's opposition. This is a
classic case of the Reform movement's one-two punch strategy -
- instigate a controversy at the local level, and then
initiate a Supreme Court hearing on the issue. So far, the
formula has achieved excellent results.
Encouraging Israelis to Circumvent Existing Marriage
Laws
In addition to fighting for a legislative marriage-reform
bill in the Knesset, IRAC offers Israelis free advice on how
to circumvent existing laws. The organization calls this
program the Alternative Marriage Package. It involves a non-
Orthodox wedding ceremony (which is not recognized by Israeli
law), assistance in planning a civil marriage overseas and
subsequently registering it in Israel's Population
Registry.
Another legal loophole dug up by IRAC's legal advisors is
called Consular Marriages. According to one interpretation of
the law, people in possession of dual citizenship (e.g.,
American and Israeli citizenship) may demand to have their
marriage registered by the Interior Ministry. Once again,
IRAC petitioned the Supreme Court to force the Interior
Ministry to register these marriages, and as expected, the
Supreme Court rubber-stamped the request.
This law is of major significance to hundreds of thousands of
non-Jewish Russian immigrants who flooded the country in
recent years. Many of these unwanted non-Jews left Israel of
their own accord as a result of the strictly enforced
marriage laws. Now, however, due to IRAC's intervention,
these non-Jewish Russians no longer have an incentive to
leave Israel. They can simply drive to the Russian Consulate
in Tel Aviv, show proof of Russian citizenship, undergo a
brief civil marriage ceremony, and presto! -- the mixed
marriage gets entered into the Interior Ministry registry, no
questions asked.
The religious parties scored a minor victory when they
brought considerable pressure to bear on governmental
officials to put an end to this ruse. As a result, a joint
committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Interior
Ministry and the Ministry of Justice approached foreign
consulates and requested of them to ignore the above
mentioned Supreme Court ruling and cease to perform consular
marriages. The Russian Consulate, for one, has so far
complied with the request, but ultimately everything depends
on which side will exert more pressure -- the Reform
movement, or the Torah community.
Importing Reform Rabbis into Israel From America
Despite the huge sums of money the Reform movement has poured
into this land, it has failed to strike roots in the holy
soil of Eretz Yisroel. This dearth of a solid grassroots
infrastructure and home grown "rabbinical" talent is the
greatest single obstacle in the movement's path. Imported
"rabbis" from North America who deliver sermons with a thick
gringo accent undermine the Reform movement's attempt to
become a firmly entrenched element of Israeli society.
However, having no other choice, the Reform movement
continues to import dozens of "rabbis" annually into
Israel.
Consider the disturbing implications of this advertisement
posted by a branch of the Reform movement:
"As you know, the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism
(IMPJ) is currently undergoing a significant process of
development and expansion in Israel. We are now in the
fortunate position of needing more rabbis -- Hebrew-speaking
rabbis -- who are willing to make aliya to build and be built
in the Israeli Reform Movement's frameworks. Positions at
this initial stage for community rabbis are available in the
following Kehilot areas:
Nahariya, Kiryat Tivon, Rishon Lezion, Be'er Sheva, Ramat Gan
and Arad. Rabbis interested in further details and wishing to
propose their candidacy for one or more of the posts are
requested to send their resume and relevant information to .
. .
This is how the Reform movement is keeping its Israeli
facilities staffed, and herein lies its greatest weakness.
Who is a Jew?
Contrary to popular opinion, the "Who is a Jew?" issue is far
from resolved. The Law of Return admits to Israel not only
halachic Jews, but also spouses and descendants of Jewish
families. Moreover, as a result of a Supreme Court petition
by IRAC in 1989, non-Orthodox converts from abroad are
granted citizenship and registered as Jews in Israel's
Population Registry.
A subsequent 1995 IRAC petition resulted in a Supreme Court
decision that Reform and Conservative conversions conducted
within Israel must be recognized in the same way as those
performed abroad -- i.e., the Interior Ministry must register
them as Jews. Orthodox Knesset members blocked the drafting
of a proposed bill to implement the Court's radical ruling,
and later, the ill-fated Ne'eman Committee was established to
try to find a solution to the problem. (No acceptable
solution was found, and the committee has since been
disbanded.)
In an attempt to break the stalemate, IRAC is in the process
of organizing a powerful coalition of non-Orthodox
organizations to force the government to implement the
Supreme Court's ruling to grant legal Jewish status to those
who undergo Reform and Conservative conversions in Israel. As
Yigal Bibi (Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs) puts it,
"If this law goes through, for fifty dollars and five minutes
anyone will be able to get a Reform conversion and obtain
Jewish status."
The list goes on and on: Public education, freedom of
worship, burial, adoption -- IRAC is intent on uprooting
every vestige of Torah law from Israeli society, and barring
a miracle, it has the financial and organizational means to
accomplish its aim. Clearly the time has come for the Torah
community to formulate an effective, long-range strategy to
contain the Reform threat.
