UPJ joins criticism of Israel conversion Bill
THE local Union for Progressive Judaism (UPJ) has added its voice to global Reform and Conservative condemnation of attempts to push a conversion Bill through the Knesset.
THE local Union for Progressive Judaism (UPJ) has added its voice to global Reform and Conservative condemnation of attempts to push a conversion Bill through the Knesset.
Sponsored by Yisrael Beitenu MK David Rotem, the Bill would delegate the authority to municipal rabbis to carry out conversions to, in an attempt to streamline the conversion process for non-Jewish Israelis.
The Bill’s opponents complain that the same clause effectively provides legal backing for the authority of the Orthodox rabbinate over all conversions, and threatens the status of those who converted overseas through non-Orthodox rabbis.
In a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, signed by UPJ president David Robinson and other senior officials, Progressive Judaism’s Asia-Pacific roof body expressed “great disappointment and shock” at news that Rotem had taken action to drive the Bill through the Knesset without coordination with representatives of all streams of Judaism.
Rotem’s action also drew the condemnation of Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky, who had been working to bridge Diaspora and Israeli concerns over the Bill since it was proposed earlier in the year.¬† While American Jewish organisations have been most vocal in speaking out against the Bill, the UPJ rejected Rotem’s view that some concerns about the proposed legislation are solely American, writing
“We believe that it is important for you to know that the grave concerns expressed about this legislation extend far beyond the United States .
“We join the leadership of the World Union for Progressive Judaism in viewing this Bill in its current form as an affront to all Progressive and Conservative Jews.”
The Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) also weighed into the debate. ZFA president Philip Chester wrote a letter to Netanyahu, warning that the passage of such legislation “would do incalulable harm to the unity of the Jewish people”.
Anat Hoffman, executive director of the Israel Religious Action Centre, the advocacy arm of the Progressive movement in Israel, told The AJN during a recent visit to Australia that those parts of the Bill “bring us back from our tremendous achievement [in Israel’s Supreme Court] of six years ago that all
Reform and Conservative conversions all around the world are recognised in Israel for purposes of aliyah”.
Rotem, defending the Bill on Monday, told The Jerusalem Post that he was unwilling to delay resolving a problem that affects thousands of immigrants.
PETER KOHN
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