https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/intermarriage-conservative-judaism/533637/
The question of Jewish pluralism becomes even more complicated in a global context. Increasingly, Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders do not recognize the validity of liberal, American forms of Judaism, including some aspects of Conservative Judaism. In the last month alone, the Knesset, or parliament, has signaled plans to move ahead with a bill which would give the Orthodox rabbinate sole authority over conversions in Israel. The rabbinate helped quash a long-standing plan to create a gender-mixed worship space at the Western Wall, a sacred site in Jerusalem which is currently divided into men’s and women’s sections. And it recently released a list of rabbis who performed conversions that were later challenged, which included several dozen American rabbis and prominent Orthodox clergy. Outraged critics in America have referred to it as a blacklist.
The division is already there.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I rarely agree with them, the Cross Currents gang (I think it was RYA) nailed it by pointing out that the Reformatives have dozens of standards of kashrus, Shabbos observance, etc. but turn to the Orthodox and demand "Jewish unity!"