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Politics, Not Principle

The arrest of Nofrat Frenkel, an active member of the Masorti movement as she was leaving the Kotel plaza after a women’s only Rosh Hodesh service where an attempt was made to read from a Torah scroll, though obviously outrageous, ought not to be surprising. That a woman praying in a way acceptable to the majority of world Jewry could be arrested at what is supposedly a sacred space for the entire Jewish people simply demonstrates a well known truth — there is no religious pluralism in Israel as it relates to different forms of Judaism.

Reactions were predictable. Kotel Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitz said the women were "like Korach," and their actions, "a desecration of the sacred," fueling the very divisiveness that he was condemning. Frenkel offered that she "was not trying to be provocative" and that her "sole intention was to pray to God," as if this was merely some apolitical act. Liberal religious leaders in Israel proclaimed their sadness, anger, and contempt for the Orthodox hegemony and urged their American counterparts to rise up.

As significant an issue as this is, and as a Conservative rabbi who feels the pain that my form of Jewish expression is not recognized as legitimate and that my rabbinate has no authority in the Jewish state, I have concluded that riling up American Jews about this would only further distance them from Israel.

Stepping back from the heated rhetoric and the hurt feelings, it seems that this is not about democracy or even religious freedom, but simply a case of hardball politics and millions of dollars. Ironically, in some strange way the Orthodox monopoly in Israel reflects a working democracy. In a good democracy, minorities, if they are willing to organize around a single issue, can gain power if that one issue is not a primary concern for the majority. This feature actually protects minorities from the tyranny of a majority. Thus a minority constituency in Israel, those for whom Orthodox control of certain areas of religious life is primary, can wield disproportionate power. The fact is that not enough Israelis care about this issue for there to be any change, and so there is no political cost for either supporting the status quo or not supporting religious pluralism.

This is analogous to why in America, though every poll says the majority wants gun control, we don’t have it. The anti–gun control folks organize around their single issue with great passion and discipline, and since for the average pro–gun control person the issue is not as important as other concerns — the economy, jobs, health care — there is no push for it. Religious pluralism in Israel is a million times more complicated than gun control.

I feel for my non-Orthodox colleagues and for non–Orthodox Jews who do not have the same rights as Orthodox Jews, but there is little we can do from here except support institutions committed to religious pluralism, though even here we always need to ask at what expense, given that dollars are limited. Is religious pluralism more important than taking care of the poor, or immigrants, or insuring a strong strategic relationship with the United States? Let’s be honest, even when the Israeli courts order the government to address issues; the courts are ignored.

It may be that given Israelis lack of interest in changing the status quo, our making a big deal of Israel’s lack of religious pluralism and the corruption of the Orthodox establishment will simply alienate more Jews from Israel, which is already considered by many American Jews to be problematic with regard to liberal issues of rights and freedom. Only an explicitly explained boycott of all businesses and institutions under the control of the Orthodox political establishment has any chance of even getting significant attention. This would mean no visits to Meah Shearim or the Kotel, no spending money in the Old City, no praying at Heichal Shlomo or the Central Synagogue, and no support of Old City yeshivas. As with any policy of "sanctions," this needs to be targeted to hurt those in power, and not those who are vulnerable but caught in the fray. Local Israeli civil disobedience on this issue — a few thousand Israeli women and men demonstrating and yes, even getting arrested as is necessary in any genuine civil rights battle — would probably be helpful. These activists would be a wonderful constituency for Jews living here to connect with, as they already feel alienated from Israel due to these issues.

Let’s also be honest, it is not at all clear that Masorti, or Conservative rabbis feel any differently about Reform rabbis who do intermarriages and conversions without milah–ritual circumcision and/or tvilah–ritual immersion than the Orthodox establishment in Israel feels about Conservative rabbis. Turns out this isn’t some grand principled debate on religious pluralism. It is politics, which is always the art of determining which battles to fight, when, and at what cost. So let’s not the outrage surrounding Nofrat Frenkel get out of hand. It is just one piece of the debate about the Jewish future.

By Rabbi Irwin Kula from Clal

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