Religious Freedom and Equality in Israel

What does freedom mean?  As Pesach approaches, we retell the story of our ancestors, and offer thanks to God that in this season we went forth from slavery to freedom.  The Haggadah reminds us that each of us must teach our children that “it is because of what God did for me, when I went out of Egypt”, in other words, each of us must view ourselves as having personally gone forth from Egypt. Freedom is defined as the absence of coercion or constraint imposed by another person or by the state.  A person is free to the extent that she can choose her own goals and course of life, can make choices between the alternatives available to her, and is not compelled to act in a manner that she would not choose; or is not prevented from acting as she would like.  In our world there is a practical connection between freedom and power. 

In Israel today there are many challenges posed by an imbalance of power that threatens the core values of Israeli society. Democracy and fairness are under attack because the ultra-Orthodox leadership insist that their Jewish vision is the only way. The power that the ultra-Orthodox religious authority currently holds, undermines the freedom for different religious expressions of Judaism to exist in Israel.  Israeli Reform, Masorti/Conservative, and secular Jews are uniting in support to strengthen pluralism in Israeli society and promote equal rights for different religious expressions of Judaism.

The Israel Religious Action Center is actively involved in challenging the ultra-Orthodox establishment, and is involved in more than 60 court cases each year.  

These cases include:

• Choice in wedding ceremonies – recognition of non-Orthodox rabbis as officiants and civil marriage in Israel as an alternative to religious ceremonies.

• Choice in burial procedures – implementing an already existing alternative burial law allowing for civil burial sections in all public cemeteries

• Recognizing non-Orthodox conversions

• Preventing discriminatory legislation against non-Orthodox practices

• Equal treatment of all streams of Judaism – the employment of non-orthodox Rabbis in municipal settings, providing equitable funding of communal, educational and religious activities

• Eliminating gender separation - on public buses and all public places and facilities

• Core curriculum for all - schools receiving any State funding must teach the Ministry of Education core curriculum which prepares students to participate in the job market and a democratic, civil society

• Reducing the authority of religious courts  – in family and life cycle matters

• The right for women to pray together at the Wall – Women of the Wall seek to pray aloud as a group, wear tallit and read from the Torah 

• Freedom of religion and conscience - as protected by the 1948 Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel.

Over the last several decades, the Reform and Masorti/Conservative movements have made progress. The outreach efforts of our congregations and education initiatives all over the country are bearing fruit. As more and more Reform congregations spring up and become established pillars of their communities, Israelis are starting to see that the Reform movement has a lot to offer them.  Anat Hoffman, head of the Israel Religious Action Center reports that “Many Israelis who oppose gender segregation, racist incitement by rabbis, or the Orthodox monopoly on marriage and divorce see that we are on the front lines pushing back against the ultra-Orthodox hegemony. They look at our work and think, "Here is a group that represents my Jewish values. If that is what it means to be Reform, then I'm Reform."”

As Rabbi Gilad Kariv, Executive Director of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, recently said "it is striking that the political and legal reality in Israel regarding relations between religion and state lags far behind the true position of Israeli society. For sure, both movements still face significant challenges, but it is no longer possible to dismiss their activities in Israel or their impact on Israeli society. We believe that the development of both movements will eventually lead to a change in their political and legal status.”

Within the last month one of the major issues that non-Orthodox Israelis have been concerned with has made progress.  The Tal law, that exempts the ultra-Orthodox from military service has been struck down. According to this recent court decision, now all Israelis, including the ultra-Orthodox, must share the burden of full army or national service. 

In January, Shimon Peres became the first president of Israel to appear publicly with the Masorti (Conservative) movement, after 35 years since the movement’s founding in Israel. Peres attended a performance of Shirat Machar, the Masorti co-ed performance troupe, and opened his remarks by saying, “I came here this evening to hear women singing,” referring to the haredi soldiers who walked out of an IDF event where women soldiers were performing. He also praised the Masorti movement’s “commitment to humanism, peace, human rights and the rights of citizens,” saying that it is time to recognize the religious rights of all Jews in Israel. “Different streams exist in Judaism,” Peres said, “which has room for conservative and liberal viewpoints.” 

Yet there is more work to be done. In response to the work of IRAC, Ultra-Orthodox Member of the Knesset Eichler has publicly referred to IRAC staff and Rabbi Gilad Kariv  as "Reform anti-semites" and "Reform enemies of the state". Certainly change needs to happen at the grassroots level by Israeli voters  who can focus their efforts to ensure that members in the next Knesset will promote legislation to protect the democratic, Jewish and pluralistic nature of the State of Israel.  As American Jews and supporters and lovers of Israel, we can also work for change to ensure that Israel lives up to the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel  which says: "[The State] will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex". What is at stake is nothing less than the morality of Israel’s motives, and the integrity of her actions; the democratic, pluralistic future of the modern state of Israel. Anat Hoffman, Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center reports that the internal issues currently plaguing Israel - religious pluralism, minority rights, and gender equality are as great a threat to Israel's future as the prospect of a nuclear Iran.

What can you do? Get involved.  Become informed - read the Israeli press, follow what is going on through organizations like Hiddush: for religious freedom and equality in Israel. Let Israel know that you care.  Send messages of support to the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, our Israeli counterparts in the Reform movement. Send contributions to support the work of the Israel Religious Action Center and the Women of the Wall. Sign petitions to let the Israeli government know that Israel is a place for all Jews. And go Visit Israel.

Women of the Wall website: www.womenofthewall.org.il.