JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

Conservative rabbis: We still back conversion

By Ami Eden · July 9, 2009

The Rabbinical Assembly is taking issue with a Jewish Week article claiming that the Conservative movment is backing away from a policy of pushing non-Jewish spouses to convert.

Here's the statement issued by R.A. leader:

Readers of a recent article in the Jewish Week – “Conservatives End Push To Convert Intermarrieds” – would conclude that the Conservative movement is currently being torn asunder by two divergent beliefs: that rabbis must aggressively pursue the conversion of non-Jewish spouses; or that all attempts at conversion must be abandoned and interfaith families accepted into Conservative synagogue and communal life without hope of conversion.

In fact, no such controversy exists within the ranks of those who serve on the frontline of involvement with interfaith families and non-Jews within the community – Conservative rabbis.Read More >>>

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Conservatives soften on intermarriage

By Uriel Heilman · July 9, 2009

The battle among the Conservative Jewish establishment to convert the spouses of intermarried Jews is over, reports Stewart Ain in the New York Jewish Week:

A pamphlet... will be distributed in the coming days in which all arms of the Conservative movement speak with one voice — decidedly softer in tone on conversions — in spelling out their principles on outreach:

* All are welcome.
* There is a commitment to fostering Jewish marriage and family life.
* Interfaith couples are welcome.

* There is “nurturing and support for the spiritual journey of non-Jewish partners who join us, to deepen their connections to the synagogue, the Jewish community and to the Jewish people, and to inspire them to consider conversion.”

In discussing the pamphlet, Rabbi Joel Meyers, who was executive vice president of the movement’s Rabbinical Assembly when it was written, said: “The movement is still very much in favor of Jewish family life, and so the question was how does one approach American Jewish communal life today without changing religious standards.”

Asked about the noticeable shift in the United Synagogue’s position away from an aggressive push for conversions, Rabbi Meyers said simply: “It’s dealing with the reality of contemporary life.”

Full story here.

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Road warriors

By Uriel Heilman · July 9, 2009

Vandals in Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel are defacing road signs to remove Arabic from the trilingual signs. Now, a group of vigilantes are fighting back.

Daniel Estrin reports in the Forward:

Jerusalem — Their operation, which has taken place four times since May, is aimed at countering ultra-nationalist vandals who had defaced the Arabic lettering on Jerusalem’s street signs. Over that vandalism, the new vigilantes, with a more pluralist vision of Israel, have put up stickers with large, flowing Arabic calligraphy spelling out the street’s name.

“It’s a public service,” said Romy Achituv, the Israeli behind the wheel, before speeding off to the next sign on the checklist.

So far, the “maintenance group,” as they call themselves, has gone out four times at night and attended to around 50 signs. The $100 or so that this has cost has come from their own pockets.

It’s the latest move in an ongoing graffiti war that has transformed Israel’s road signs into ideological battlefields. The conflict began in 1999, when an Israeli court ordered Arab-Jewish cities to include Arabic translations on street signs in addition to Hebrew and English. In the years since that order, anti-Arabic vandalism has appeared in mixed cities, such as Akko, as well as on highway signs throughout the country — but it is said to be most prominent in Jerusalem.

Full story here.

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Lod’s hidden treasure

By Uriel Heilman · July 9, 2009

Can the Israeli city of Lod, a mixed Jewish-Arab city near Tel Aviv that is struggling economically, be revitalized by a 1,700-year old mosaic?

The New York Times reports:

LOD, Israel — The beauty of the exquisitely preserved ancient mosaic only seemed to underline the incongruity of its surroundings.

The late-Roman-era mosaic floor, one of the largest and finest in Israel, was unveiled by the authorities last week for just the second time since it was discovered 13 years ago in the dilapidated eastern section of this poor town near the international airport, south of Tel Aviv.

Some 1,700 years old, the magnificent tiled floor spreads over almost 2,000 square feet, shaded from the harsh summer sun by a thin awning and surrounded by a canvas fence. A panoply of colorful depictions of birds, fish, exotic animals and merchant ships, the mosaic conjures up an intriguing reminder of Lod’s more glorious past.

The archaeologists of the Israel Antiquities Authority believe the mosaic, which lacks any inscriptions, was commissioned by a wealthy individual who owned a grand villa here. Lod, which is mentioned in the Bible, was an important center in ancient times, and this part of it is known to have been a neighborhood of the rich.

Today, the site is overlooked by drab apartment blocks with laundry hanging on lines out of windows, surrounded by garbage-strewn yards. A mixed city of Jewish immigrants and Muslim and Christian Arabs, modern Lod is usually associated with hardship, its diverse population largely of low socioeconomic standing and often described by local officials as a challenge.

Now, though, the authorities here hope to revitalize Lod and turn it, of all things, into a major tourist destination thanks to the treasures lurking under the city’s more modern layers of earth.

Full story here.

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Trading outposts for large settlement blocs

By Uriel Heilman · July 9, 2009

If Benjamin Netanyahu insists on keeping illegal settlement outposts, he will be defending lawlessness and harming Israel's interests, writes Ha'aretz columnist Ari Shavit. And if Obama refuses to recognize that large settlement blocs near the Green Line will become part of Israel, he will be destroying President Clinton's legacy.

But if Obama and Netanyahu formulate an outposts-for-blocs policy, they will be serving their countries' interests, as well as promoting a realistic peace process.

He writes:

You cannot argue with facts. Nor can you argue with basic moral imperatives. Settlements that were lawfully built on public land are subject to ideological, political and security debate. Outposts that were illegally built on private land are robbery. The thousands of Israelis living unlawfully in the territories on lands that do not belong to them are lawbreakers. Israel must address their extensive, methodical law-breaking.

The outpost outrage also has a political aspect. The uncontrolled construction of mini-settlements in the last decade has fundamentally damaged national security. Instead of defining its just borders, Israel has entangled itself in a delusional and criminal settlement act. Consequently, even Israel's greatest friends have lost their patience. The illegal outposts robbing the Palestinians' lands are also robbing Israel of its legitimacy.

Barack Obama's administration has brought these issues to the test. His demand to stop all construction in all the settlements is extreme. On one level, it is not compatible with previous American commitments. On another level, it is causing moderate Palestinians and Arabs to harden their lines and freeze the peace process. But the sweeping American demand shows that after years of Israeli conniving and scheming, Washington has simply had enough.

Thus, to avoid a head-on clash with its ally, Israel must change its ways immediately. It must prove it will no longer make a fool of the world and stop sabotaging itself and start enforcing law in the West Bank.

Full column here.

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