A Thanksgivukkah Manifesto

A Thanksgivukkah Manifesto
By MISHAEL ZION (Hartman institute, Jerusalem) A once in a century holiday is upon us. The menurkey will soon sit at the table with thepumpkin pie and the latkes. Let us not underestimate this moment for the American Jewish community. Thanksgivukkah is here. Jews have always loved Thanksgiving. Now that their favorite American holiday finds itself face to face with America’s favorite Jewish holiday – Hanukkah – the encounter can say an enormous amount about the American Jewish collective story. In other words, Thanksgivukkah tells us something important about what Jews are doing in America. It starts with good timing. When Hanukkah falls on Christmas, it highlights Judaism as a religion, a fair contender on the scene of American denominations. But Thanksgivukkah yanks the carpet from under the convenient Christmas-Hanukkah dichotomy. The Thanksgiving of today grew out of its religious roots. The same could be said of the Judaism of many Americans. Thanksgiving is about America, but not in a celebration of patriotic triumphalism. It’s about America as a promise, an idea, a project. If, any other year, most American Jews sideline Judaism and celebrate Thanksgiving simply as Americans, this year’s calendar demands owning up to the Jewish take on the American story. In Thanksgivukkah this generation of Jews might just have found their model holiday. Indeed, if there is an “American Project”, Jews have been some of its most avid contributors. As narrators, critics, troubadours and activists, they took care of themselves while making plenty of room for others. To be sure, America is far from the only contemporary Jewish story. Jews have not one, but two Promised Lands: Israel and America have become the yin and yang of the Jewish people. As Hillel might have put it: “If I am not for myself – who will be for me?” – such is the Israeli project. “And if I am only for myself, what am I?” – the American Jewish project. “And if not now, when?” Thanksgivukkah brings home some of the challenges of a Jewry so invested in America. For the most part, American Judaism has failed at being a homemade identity, outsourcing the task to synagogues, Hebrew schools, Bnai Brith or AIPAC. Yet Hanukkah leaves the synagogues orphaned. With all due respect to public square Menorahs, any halakhist will tell you it’s the Menorah in the home that counts. Thanksgiving is the same: it is a homemade celebration of Americanism; it convenes the family in a feast of gratitude. Pilgrimages by air, track and road attest to the home’s centrality. Thanksgiving is a much needed model for an increasingly secular American Jewry. Where “cultural Judaism” is often “soft” and “optional”, Thanksgiving has an undeniably “commanding” presence. Who doesn’t come home for Thanksgiving, from wherever that may be? Who doesn’t have a turkey at the table, even if it’s made of tofu? Thanksgiving is an unapologetic model for a cultural identity being a commanding presence in one’s life. But Hanukkah one-ups Thanksgiving – it turns family time into story time. When asking where the Bible commanded us to light the Hanukkah candles, the Talmud responds: “We learn that we must light candles from the Biblical verse: ‘Ask your father, he will tell you’.” The candles set the stage for a story. Yet in those rare moments where a family Thanksgiving allows for a discussion, it is often of a “here and now” gratitude. Hanukkah’s gratitude, on the other hand, is rooted. A Thanksgiving-style family meal with Hanukkah-style stories ask us to place the individual narrative on a longer trajectory – why did we come here, how did we achieve the things for which we are grateful, and where do we – individuals, community and country – go from here. That is what Thanksgivukkah should be. It should turn a generation of immediate gratification into one of rooted gratitude. It’s not about religion or musty history, but about the power oflocal family stories. America and Judaism each face severe struggles adapting to a flat world. Both are undermined by an increasingly divided base. They need their stories more than ever. Ask your mother; she will tell you. For an American Jewish community increasingly consisting of families of both Jewish and non-Jewish members, Thanksgivukkah is a moment that allows for a diversity of stories at the table. Hanukkah’s Jewish coat over Thanksgiving’s American jersey throws us back to the vision of America as a series of cultural pluralisms. Thanksgivukkah asks us to keep telling the stories that go beyond America. Thanksgivukkah is an invitation to celebrate the places where Jewishness enriches America, and where America enriches the Jewish people. Jews have always preferred stories to dogma and ritual to creed. This November American Jews are invited to sit down at the Thanksgivukkah table and tell stories of rooted gratitude. Let’s make sure this happens more than just every 70,000 years. Happy Thanksgivukkah.

Rabbinate's discrimination of Orthodox rabbis abroad prompts emergency Knesset meeting

Rabbinate's discrimination of Orthodox rabbis abroad 

prompts emergency Knesset meeting

Conservative and Reform movements increasingly demanding recognition of their 

conversions and marriages in Israel.

By Yair Ettinger | Nov. 13, 2013 | 

The Knesset’s Religion and State lobby will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday on what it describes as the “split between Israel's Chief Rabbinate and the Jewish Diaspora,” which is worsening with the exposure of the Rabbinate’s policies against moderate Orthodox rabbis overseas.Rabbinate officials have, in recent years, questioned the Jewish legal authority of a number of these liberal

 Orthodox rabbis abroad, and refused to recognize the conversions they have conducted. The latest case,
 involving prominent New York Rabbi Avi Weiss, has fueled suspicions that the Rabbinate maintains a secret
 "black list" containing the names of Orthodox rabbis from overseas.
The Knesset meeting was preceded by letters and protests from rabbis and various organizations in Israel,
such as the Tzohar group of rabbis, the religious Zionist Ne’emanei Torah Va’Avodah, the Shalom Hartman
Institute and ITIM, an organization that helps people navigate the religious authorities’ bureaucracy in Israel.
It will take place amidst increasing demands of the Conservative and Reform movements abroad for
recognition of their conversions and marriages in Israel, a central issue on the agenda of the General
Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, being held this week in Israel.
In the most recent case that sparked the anger of both Israeli rabbis and prominent American Jews, the
Rabbinate cast doubt on the authority of Rabbi Avi Weiss, a well known and influential liberal Orthodox
rabbi from New York. It rejected a letter by Weiss vouching for the Jewish credentials of an American couple
 seeking to wed in Israel (the Rabbinate routinely requires a letter from an Orthodox rabbi certifying one’s
 Jewish identity in cases of non-Israelis seeking to immigrate or marry in Israel). The couple was asked to
bring a letter from a different rabbi.
Weiss, the spiritual leader of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale and founder of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah,
 has been the subject of controversy in recent years for pushing the envelope when it comes to ordaining
Orthodox women as clergy. After learning that his credentials were being challenged by the Rabbinate,
Weiss penned an opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post earlier this month, calling on Israel to end the
Rabbinate’s “monopoly on religious dictates of the state.”
The case added to suspicions that the Rabbinate has a black list of Orthodox rabbis from overseas, whom
 they consider too liberal or improperly ordained - including rabbis who belong to mainstream Orthodox
 organizations such as the Rabbinical Council of America. Weiss left the RCA - some say he was forced to
 leave - after being criticized for ordaining the first woman as an Orthodox community rabbi.
Prominent law professor Alan Dershowitz asked President Shimon Peres to intervene in the case of the
 apparent blacklisting of Weiss by the Chief Rabbinate. Dershowitz, a practicing criminal and constitutional
 lawyer, wrote to Peres on Monday saying: “Rabbi Weiss is one of the foremost Modern Open Orthodox
rabbis in America and one of the strongest advocates anywhere for the State of Israel. As a person – I am
deeply saddened by the pubic shaming of my friend, Rabbi Avraham Weiss, the leader of a flagship
Orthodox congregation.
“As a Jew – I understand that today more than ever before there is a chasm between the Jews of the United
 States and the religious institutions in Israel. This is clearly expressed in the rejection of the most
elementary and fundamental testimonies and confirmations. I am disturbed by this, and by its
 ramifications, and call upon the leaders of Israel to first understand that there is a serious problem
which demands attention, and to understand that they mustn’t bend to baseless religious tyranny," wrote
Dershowitz.
“As a lawyer – I am forced to see yet again how basic rights, such as the right to marriage, the right to
self-definition and the right of religion, are trampled by none other than the Israeli democracy we value
 so. This is yet another result of the rather unsuccessful fusion of religious law and Israeli law, and the
problem seems to only intensify over time."

New civil marriage bill could land bride, groom and rabbi in jail for two years

New civil marriage bill could land bride, groom and rabbi in jail for two years

New bill expands existing clause barring ceremonies outside the Rabbinate, rendering hundreds of thousands of Israelis potential criminals.

By Tomer Persico | Nov. 5, 2013 | 1:34 PM

Family law in Israel is a bit like Frankenstein, constructed in a patch-like manner, limb by limb, with a law here and a High Court ruling there. Before one realizes it, the impressive legal entity we are faced with is an entire body. The facts speak for themselves – ever-increasing numbers of Israel’s Jewish citizens opt to wed outside the rabbinical framework. While running for the chief rabbi’s office, Rabbi David Stav warned that one third of secular couples today find other ways of getting married. The subsequent election of two conservative chief rabbis will presumably strengthen this growing trend.

Last week, a flash of light flickered in the darkness. A law calling for the expansion of registration zones and easing up on restrictions was passed by the Knesset, and every citizen will now be able to choose the religious council in which his marriage will take place. Theoretically, this will allow one to find more tolerant officials, such as ones who won’t insist on the bride producing a note confirming her dipping in a mikve. This is a positive development, making things easier, but it doesn’t really solve the problem. We are still bound by law to get married exclusively by Orthodox rabbis. We can console ourselves with the hope that we might find a nice rabbi.

However, this wasn’t the only change to the law that was enacted last week. In addition to increasing the number of registration offices, there was a change to the clause which penalizes those who marry outside the Chief Rabbinate. While the original law stated that anyone "who does not register a marriage or divorce at the Rabbinate will be charged according to the amendments to clause 99 of the Ottoman criminal code," the new amendment stipulates that in addition to the couple getting married the officiating rabbi will also be charged. Instead of the breezy reference to the old Ottoman law, the new legislation stipulates that both husband and wife and the rabbi performing the ceremony will be subject to two years’ imprisonment.

Don’t rub your eyes in amazement. You read it correctly. Anyone who dares to get married outside the official framework of the Rabbinate will end up in jail for two years. It should be noted that the law in its previous form was never enforced, and couples marrying outside the fold were not prosecuted. However, there is no valid reason for turning hundreds of thousands of Israelis into criminals.

One should remember that among those who wed outside the Rabbinate there are many who do so for lack of choice. There are currently more than 300,000 people in Israel, mainly veteran immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who are not considered Jews according to Orthodox Jewish law, preventing them from marrying within the rabbinical framework. The new law adds to this injustice. The fact that they cannot marry in their own country is scandalous enough. Now, if they hold a ceremony not through the Rabbinate, which in any case will not be recognized by the state, they are breaking the law and are liable to be imprisoned for two years. Maybe they have to stay single forever.

In addition to this group, other people who are ineligible for marriage by Orthodox Jewish law, such as ‘bastards’ born out of wedlock (mamzerim), divorcees, Cohanim, will all become fugitive criminals if they try and arrange a chuppa (wedding canopy) for themselves, after being rejected by the state. Israel is the only democracy in the world in which family law is subject to a religion. It is now taking a fundamentalist step forward by joining the small number of states in which transgression against a religious law is punished by a jail sentence. Indeed, a light unto the nations!

The process is as clear as it is pitiful. In its attempts to maintain an orthodox monopoly in the public sphere, the state of Israel must run faster and faster just to stay in one place. The ancient phobia directed at assimilation and bastards is creating ugly hybrids of religious law and bureaucracy, monsters of religious coercion roughly put together, presenting an ugly visage. There is nothing like the threat of imprisonment that emphasizes the bankruptcy of the Chief Rabbinate in its values and image, no better sign of its impending collapse.

After I got married three years ago I joined a group that arranges civil, secular wedding ceremonies as part of the ‘Havaya’ organization. I wanted to join the effort to establish an alternative to marriage within the Rabbinate for two Israeli populations: those hundreds of thousands who are forbidden from getting married in their country, and those hundreds of thousands who are permitted to but for whom the last thing they wish for is a ceremony conducted by an Orthodox rabbi who doesn’t share their values.

I’ve conducted several ceremonies since then, which I obviously did not register at the Rabbinate. I and my friends will continue with this sacred work, from now on specifically challenging this law, which uses the power of the state for religious coercion, and which stands in contrast to democratic principles.

The writer is a researcher of contemporary religions at Tel Aviv University.