"To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner.  I am not a teacher, only a fellow student."  (Soren Kierkegaard)

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A FEW PRE-SHABBAT WORDS FROM RABBI AARON

Joy
Tomorrow we celebrate as we count the 33rd day of the omer. What does it all mean? The Torah describes the kohen waving a measure of barley in whatseems to be a gesture of gratitude to God for blessing our fields with a good yield. Through the ages, layers of new meanings have transformed Lag (#33) b'omer into a combination of a mystical celebration of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, credited by tradition (not by history) with authoring the Zohar. Bonfires have been a favorite pastime for people of many cultures - the fire itself is mesmerizing, people enjoy the warmth, it's fun to roast marshmallows in the flames, it speaks to some deeply primal element within us.  The haircuts (our son had his hair cut on lag b'omer, not in Meron, alas, but in our Macon, Georgia backyard - big fun party!) are another layer of Jewish folklore, another ingredient in the complex brew of the day. Little boys look so different, changed after those long locks of hair have been cut off; it's a rite of passage. And then there's a resonance between pe'ah, the uncut corner of the field, and the long flowing side-locks of the boys (and men) in some hassidic circles.

In terms of the journey toward receiving Torah (culminating in Shavuot), Lag B'omer is past the halfway mark. There's a talmudic layer of semi-mourning which colors the omer, a legend of a plague which cut down so many of Akiva's students. Beyond the legend, there's historical speculation about the omer's mournful cloak being connected with Akiva's prominent role in the failed rebellion of Bar Kochba against Rome. 

...many flavors within Lag B'omer. But Joy must be a central focus. Haircuts express joy [the opposite of hair uncut and a face unshaven - signs of grief], as does the more obvious custom of holding weddings on Lag B'omer.  Whatever your flavor, please join in the Beth Sholom celebration tomorrow - any occasion to join together in joyful community is an important opportunity to grasp.

Dear fellow members of our kehilla,
You may well have heard about the recent Knesset bill proposed by MK David Rotem. Below is an official response from the Rabbinical Assembly to this proposed legislation. As you read it, the all-too-familiar, ever-recurring "Who is a Jew" question comes to mind. I thought it would be important for you to read this statement [one which unifies all the non-Orthodox streams of Judaism] on this important issue.

IN WAKE OF ROTEM/AYALON MEETINGS WITH JEWISH LEADERS IN NEW YORK
CONSERVATIVE, REFORM AND RECONSTRUCTIONIST MOVEMENTS
RELEASE STATEMENT CRITICAL OF THE CONVERSION BILL

Statement Reflects United Stance on Proposed Legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
April 30, 2010 (New York, NY) -- Israeli Knesset Member David Rotem, author of a proposed bill dealing with conversion in Israel, met this week with leaders of the North American Jewish community to discuss the bill's possible ramifications. Following a series of discussions with Rotem, the Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist movements together issued the following statement:

We are appreciative of the substantial amount of time MK David Rotem devoted to meetings with us, individually and collectively, during his visit to the United States to discuss the legislation he has sponsored in the Knesset dealing with conversion and the Law of Return.  We also welcome Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Daniel Ayalon's participation in many of our meetings.

It should, first, be emphasized that we deeply appreciate Mr. Rotem's stated goal in advancing the legislation - to ameliorate the bottleneck in the conversion process that currently keeps as many as 350,000 thousand olim (immigrants) from the former Soviet Union from converting to Judaism.  The laudable goal of attempting to hasten the process of conversion for these individuals - who currently serve in the Israeli army and contribute positively to Israeli society - is one that deserves widespread attention and support. Together, we thank MK Rotem for his efforts in addressing this crisis.
 
MK Rotem believes his proposed legislation would rapidly open the door to a faster conversion process.  We respectfully disagree. Not only would this legislation fail to achieve his forecasted result, the collateral damage to the 85% of world Jewry who are not Orthodox (and perhaps others who are) would be disastrous to the unity of the Jewish people in a number of ways.
 
The bill threatens to alter the Law of Return and consolidate conversion power into the hands of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. Both of these results could have devastating effects on the relationship between Israeli and Diaspora Jewry and thus on the broader unity of the Jewish people. Such concentration of power in favor of Ultra-Orthodox Jewry effectively negates the roles of the non-Orthodox movements both within Israel and abroad, sending the message that only the Orthodox have a place within our Homeland.
 
Specifically, the current formulations of Article 1 would legislate the role and status of the Chief Rabbinate in a way not previously written into law. Such legislation would turn back the clock on 20 years of hard-won accomplishments in the Israeli High Court and complicate future efforts to appeal to the Court, which has been the single mechanism to counter religious discrimination in Israel.  
 
This bill returns us to the destructive "who is a Jew" question, that has previously threatened to divide World Jewry, as it does today. To explicitly connect conversion to a single religious stream, while making no mention of other streams of Judaism, is by definition to compromise and jeopardize the Law of Return, as it places the decision for "who is a Jew" in the hands of one group. Such an action is inconsistent with the democratic ideals on which the State of Israel was founded and relies, and would detrimentally affect the worldwide Jewish community.
 
Further compounding our concern is the fact that the bill mentions no alternative method of conversion via non-Orthodox streams.  We - and more importantly, our Israeli colleagues and their lawyers - believe that this language, if adopted as written, would further marginalize and hamper the Masorti and Reform movements in Israel. This would be a tragic consequence as we offer vibrant religious alternatives to a nation of Jews religiously alienated by the increasingly extreme positions of a minority religious establishment.  We firmly believe that any conversion legislation must explicitly address these concerns.

We are additionally troubled by language that provides that any person who entered Israel while ineligible to receive Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return will remain ineligible following conversion. Though MK Rotem says this language exists to outlaw the possibility of illegal immigrants undergoing conversion solely to obtain Israeli citizenship and remain in the country, the reality is that this deeply troubling clause differentiates between those who are born Jewish and those who choose to be Jewish, amending the Law of Return to exclude those who have made a conscious decision to join the Jewish community. For 2,000 years, Judaism has treated Jews-by-choice the same as Jews-by-birth.  We are taught "as soon as a convert emerges from the mikvah (ritual bath) she or he is Jewish for all purposes."  (Talmud, Yevamot 47b) We see no justification now for differentiating between groups of Jews or including an article with such severe ramifications in the framework of a law purportedly dealing with easing conversion procedures.
 
While we recognize the goals Mr. Rotem is working to achieve and deeply respect his efforts, we cannot lend our support to a bill that will have such devastating ramifications. This moment, when Israel faces a great many challenges, both at home and abroad, is no time to enact legislation that has the potential to divide the Jewish community or to alienate Diaspora Jewry.
 
Even as we expressed our concerns to Deputy Foreign Minister Ayalon and MK Rotem, we also emphasized our steadfast love and commitment to the people and State of Israel. It is in this spirit of unity that we stand shoulder to shoulder with our colleagues in the Masorti and Reform movements in Israel and with one another. Indeed, it is our unconditional love for Israel as both a sovereign nation and a worldwide Jewish community that calls us to urge, in the strongest possible terms, upon MK Rotem, the Yisrael Beitenu party, and Prime Minister Netanyahu to withdraw this bill and introduce legislation that resolves the urgent problems of olim from the former Soviet Union without compromising either the core democratic values of the State or the Law of Return.
 
For information about this joint statement of the leadership of the Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist movements to the Rotem Conversion Bill, please contact the following:
 
Conservative: Shira Dicker at 917.403.3989, shira.dicker@sd-media.com
Reform; Kate Bigam at 202.398.2800, kbigam@rac.org 
Reconstructionist: Yael Ridberg at 917.287.4207, yridberg@yahoo.com
Carl Sheingold at 215.885.5601, csheingold@jrf.org

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Aaron