Our Masorti Affiliates in Israel

Mazal Tov around the Conservative/Masorti Movement (Winter Newsletter 2011-12)

. . . to Professor Lee Levine, senior professor of Archeology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a founder of the Ramot Zion synagogue in Jerusalem, the TALI school program, the Masorti Movement and the Beit Midrash (now the Schechter Institute), who was appointed as the Chairman of the Board of the Hannaton Education and Spiritual Center. For more information about the Hannaton Center, go to eng.echannaton.org.

. . . to the Jewish Theological Seminary's William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education, which is inaugurating in January an innovative semester-in-Israel program, "Kesher Hadash". The new study program in Israel, which will have visiting students enrolled together with Israeli students of education to explore the meaning and complexities of Israel and our relationship to the Jewish state, will provide graduates with a concentration in Israel education, as part of their Davidson degree. For more information about the new program, go to www.jtsa.edu/davidson/kesherhadash.

. . . to Diane Friedgut, the Jerusalem-based member of the Board of Directors of Women's League for Conservative Judaism and the organization's Israel Liaison, who is being honored with the Yakir HaTnuah Award at the 35th anniversary celebration of the Masorti Movement for her work and commitment over the past dozen years for the Masorti Women's Study Days. The event brings women from all over Israel to Jerusalem for a full day of Jewish learning sponsored by Women's League for Conservative Judaism in cooperation with the Schechter Institute, the Masorti Movement, the Jewish Federation of Chicago and the Dorot Foundation. This year, some 400 women attended the national event, where classes are taught in Hebrew, Russian and Spanish, held at the Schechter Institute on June 17. For more information about the Masorti Women's Study Days, write to friedgut@zahav.net.il.

Conservative Programs Benefit Lone Soldiers (Summer Newsletter 2011)

As part of the annual Purim campaign organized by the American Zionist Movement and its constituent organizations, MERCAZ USA once again provided gift baskets to the Masorti Outreach program of Congregation Moreshet Yisrael in Jerusalem to IDF Lone Soldiers. Other Purim gift baskets were supplied to children at the Neve Hanna Children's Village in Kiryat Gat.

Another initiative for lone soldiers was recently launched by the United Synagogue's Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center. The new program, being run in conjunction with the Lone Soldier Center in memory of Michael Levin, provides soldiers housing and meals to celebrate Shabbat and holidays. For more information about the USCJ Lone Soldier Initiative, contact Barry Mael at 212-533-7800 or mael@uscj.org.

Masorti Criticizes Ruling on 'Mehdarin' Bus Lines (Summer Newsletter 2011)

The Masorti Movement has attacked the decision of the Israeli High Court to permit the continuation of voluntary gender segregation on selected bus lines: "The 'mehadrin' lines were conceived in sin. It is important to remember that the 'separate but equal' equation is usually refuted, since the side that pays the price is the weak one. Not only women are excluded in the mehadrin lines. It is human dignity that diminishes."

In other news from the Masorti Movement, three leading Israeli politicians, representing different political parties, addressed the movement's annual convention that was held in January. Keynote speakers included Tzipi Livni, Leader of the Opposition from the Kadima Party, Gideon Saar, Minister of Education from the Likud Party, and Isaac Herzog, the former Minister of Social Services from the Labor Party. Go to www.masorti.org or www.masorti.org.il (Hebrew) for more information about the Masorti Movement.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program Wins Excellence Prize (Spring Newsletter 2011)

The Masorti Movement's Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program for Children with Special Needs has won the prestigious 2010 Shalem Foundation Excellence Prize for its work in support of the needs of individuals with disabilities.

The Special Child Bar/Bat Mitzvah program annually works with 40 special educational schools in Israel to prepare children with special needs for their Bar or Bat Mitzvah ceremony, including those with Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, mild and moderate mental retardation and other disabilities.The teaching staff comprises rabbis, cantors, and other teachers who hail from the Masorti Movement.

Since the Program's inception, more than 3,000 young Israelis and their families have celebrated this Jewish milestone in a way most never thought possible.

For further information, contact the Masorti Foundation for Conservative Judaism in Israel at 212-870-2216 or info@masorti.org or visit www.masorti.org.il/en/page.php?pageId=264. Go to www.mercazusa.org/pdf/Mercaz-within-WZO-and-Jewish-Agency.pdf to learn how MERCAZ lobbying within the Jewish Agency brings financial benefits to the Masorti Movement.

Masorti Protests Housing Discrimination (Spring Newsletter 2011)

Masorti Protests Housing Discrimination Masorti Judaism in Israel continues to present a different public face from what most Israelis identify as Jewish religion. At a time when many have come to equate religious observance with narrow Jewish interests, as exemplified in a recent letter by nearly 50 government-employed Orthodox municipal rabbis prohibiting Jews from selling or renting housing to non-Jews – Israeli Arab citizens and African refugees – over 60 Masorti rabbis have signed a halachic statement permitting such transactions.

In the statement drafted by Rabbi David Golinkin, the Schechter Institute president concluded that there is no bar according to Jewish law to sell or rent houses to non-Jews in the Land of Israel. Furthermore, as he noted, "if we are concerned that certain areas of the country such as the Galilee need more Jews, we must achieve that by Zionist education, not by discrimination". Go to www.schechter.edu/Responsa.aspx to read the entire responsum.

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