Israel Affairs
The mission is to actively support Israel.
This committee aims to increase community awareness of Israel, its culture, achievements, challenges and needs. The Israel committee organizes and supports a variety of Israel related events at Beth Shalom including facilitating discussions about Israel-related issues, organizing gatherings to celebrate Israeli culture, food and song, and publicizing Israel-related events in the broader community. Beth Shalom members are leaders in many local and national organizations that support Israel and there are many ways for you to get involved.
Additional information and articles are posted periodically. Please check back.
Would you like to be on the rabbi's email list for article of interest about Israel? If so, please let Marjie know.
An Israel Discussion Group meets on the first Shabbat of the Month.
From 1:15pm in the Beit Midrash -
Check the calendar each month to see what the Israel Committee has planned.
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For information on current tent protest against the cost of housing in Israel and our movement’s response, please read the following statement.
The Masorti movement in Israel will designate Tisha B'Av as a day of solidarity with the “tent protest” movement. On the evening of the fast, and for the duration of the day, we will hold events connecting the destruction of the ancient Temple with this struggle for the future of our homeland; linking the “senseless hatred” in their time with the gaping economic disparity in Israel today.
The Masorti movement emphasizes that social justice is among the most basic principles of Judaism and that for thousands of years the Halachah has harkened to the cry of the weak. We see the emerging shift of national priorities and the renewed vitality of the people in its land as the fulfillment of Zionism. The Masorti movement, as a religious movement, calls upon the government of Israel to concern itself with the welfare of the weak and disempowered in the society - not from the perspective of charity, but from that of justice. We call upon Israel to repair the historic failures which have brought the middle class to the brink.
The continuing erosion of the middle class in the State of Israel in the last few years strikes at the heart of democracy. It requires the government of Israel to alter the national priorities in a profound and comprehensive manner; to be attentive to the cry of the people, and to make decisions which will enable young families, and all those who experience the challenges of Israeli life, to see their future in the land.
The State of Israel is the expression of the longing of the Jewish people through the generations. An engaged citizenry should be a point of pride for any democracy. As such we seek to strengthen the hands of the protestors and believe that change will surely come.
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Fair-weather Zionists
Here is an interesting article on the challenges and hopes of fighting for a progressive Israel.
Click here.
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Say NO to Loyalty Oaths!
Prime Minister Netanyahu is supporting an amendment to the Citizenship Act, mandating that all aspiring citizens be required to pledge loyalty to a “Jewish, democratic state”.
- NO democracy requires a loyalty oath based on religious identity.
- NO multicultural society can survive by insisting that ethnic minorities pledge fealty, not to the state in which they live, but to the majority culture.
The vote went through the first round, so now the debate will continue in the Knesset's legislative committee and finally go to a full Knesset vote.
Prior attempts to pass similar legislation have been highly controversial, especially for Israeli Arabs, who make up approximately 20% of Israel’s population.
Two centrist Israeli cabinet ministers and the former head of the Jewish Agency, along with dozens of other mainstream Israeli leaders, are condemning Prime Minister Netanyahu’s backing of a new amendment to the Citizenship Act, which demands that new citizens pledge loyalty to a “Jewish, democratic state.”
“The [loyalty oath] proposal would harm relations with Israel's Arabs and damage the country's international reputation.” – Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, Likud
“This is an infuriating, irresponsible decision which will only fuel the fires of de-legitimization against Israel worldwide." – Minister for Minority Affairs Avishai Braverman, Labor
“….insulting, harmful, and is not enough to cement Israel's status as a Jewish democratic state…will cause more harm than good, and stems from the need to please radical coalitional elements." – Former Jewish Agency head Ze’ev Bielski, Kadima
If you joined us to protest the Rotem bill, which would allow the ultra-Orthodox to define who is a Jew. Make no mistake: instituting a loyalty oath to a “Jewish state” is the next dangerous step in allowing a coalition of ultra-nationalists and ultra-Orthodox with a stranglehold on the Netanyahu government to define who is Jewish, who is Israeli, who is “loyal.”
View the website for sample e-mails and/or text for fax:.http://www.nif.org/media-center/citizenship-act-amendment.html
E-Mail - Prime Minister Netanyahu: pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
Please join us today and let Prime Minister Netanyahu know that Israel’s status as a liberal democracy is again at risk. Urge him to withdraw support for the Citizenship Act Amendment now. There is no time to lose.
Support Women of the Wall (WOW)
In response to the recent arrest of Anat Hoffman for holding a Torah scroll, WOW has created a campaign to gather 10,000 photos of women holding Torah scrolls, which will be sent to the powers-that-be in Israel. And they’ve made it very simple:
1. Take pictures of yourselves holding a Torah scroll.
2. Upload the photos to their website.
3. Input your contact info as signatory to the letter they’ve prepared.
4. Click on “submit.”
Here is the link: http://womenofthewall.org.il/take-a-stand
This is an incredible opportunity for CBS to show our support of Women of the Wall (WOW) and religious pluralism in Israel: http://womenofthewall.org.il/take-a-stand.
Please forward this link to every Jewish woman you know, even if you think she’s already gotten it from someone else. And get those photos taken now, before Simhat Torah!
Many of us rallied to make our voices heard about the Rotem bill (Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office received over 60,000 emails within a week). Now let’s make ourselves visible and show that Torah and women together are not an anomaly in the Jewish world.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, our 10,000 pictures will equal 10 million words!
With great optimism for the progress we can make in 5771.
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A cover story of Time Magazine presents a one sided viewpoint to the peace process and its conclusions of Israelis not being interested in peace has anti-semitic tones. The following is a link to a thoughtful response by Rabbi Danny Gordis to the Time Magazine article on Israel and peace.
http://danielgordis.org/2010/09/07/acceptable-in-polite-society-a-commentary-magazine-blog/
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Police Recommend Pressing Charges Against Anat Hoffman while Rabinowitz Tightens his Grip on the Western Wall
Jerusalem, Israel- This week brought with it more attempts to vilify Women of the Wall and protect the Western Wall as accessible for ultra-Orthodox prayer exclusively. The Jerusalem Police recommended this week that the Ministry of Justice press charges against Anat Hoffman for the felony of "gravely obstructing a police officer in the performance of his duties", in regards to her July arrest while holding a Torah at the Western Wall. The sentence for such a conviction is up to 3 years in prison. Members and supporters of Women of the Wall in Israel and abroad stand behind Hoffman, and have been busy sending hundreds of letters and pictures of women holding the Torah to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Head of the Opposition Tzipi Livni, Chairman of the Jewish Agency Natan Sharansky, and Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi in charge of the holy places. In these letters, women from all over the world ask Israeli leaders, "How is it that as Jewish women, we are free in Berlin, in Rome, and in Chicago, while in Jerusalem it is illegal and profane for us to read from the Torah?" Supporters are encouraged to continue to send letters and pictures from the website, http://womenofthewall.org.il/solidarity/take-a-stand, conveying a clear message to Israel's leaders that Women of the Wall will not be intimidated or silenced.
In response to Women of the Wall's twenty year battle to read Torah on the women's side of the Western Wall, Rabbi Rabinowitz issued a new regulation, giving him sole and complete control over who is permitted to enter the Western Wall Plaza with a Torah. This new dictatorial procedure extends the blockade against entering to the holy site with a Torah to not only women, but also men who might be determined unfit to carry a Torah by the extremist Rabinowitz. Adv. Nira Azriel is preparing a statement on behalf of Women of the Wall to the authorities regarding the unreasonable strictness of the new regulations, which promise to worsen conditions for women even further.
Women of the Wall is a group of Jewish women from around the world who strive to achieve the right, as women, to wear prayer shawls, pray and read from the Torah collectively and out loud at the Western Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem, Israel. The Western Wall is Judaism’s most sacred holy site and the principal symbol of Jewish people-hood and sovereignty and Women of the Wall works to make it a holy site where women can pray freely.
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