Masorti Australasia
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Masorti Australasia
Masorti means traditional
Mercaz-Masorti Australasia Inc is the new organisation representing Masorti Jews in Australia and New Zealand
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Mercaz-Masorti Australasia Inc
www.masorti.org.au
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Contributors
Looking back, Looking forward - Conservative (Masorti) in North America
September 14, 2011 / 15 Elul 5771
Arnold M. Eisen, Chancellor, The Jewish Theological Seminary
It’s been nearly 60 years since Marshall Sklare referred to Conservative Judaism in his pioneering sociological study—Conservative Judaism: An American Religious Movement—as “Orthodoxy in transition,” and almost 40 since Sklare’s afterword to the book’s second edition expressed surprise that the Conservative Movement had not only held its own in the meantime but become, by far, the most successful American Jewish denomination. I cannot make that claim today. Just as social and cultural forces assisted the rise of Conservative Judaism over many decades in the 20th century, such forces (and others, too) now help to weaken affiliation with Conservative (and other) synagogues, schools, and organizations. What I can say, however—and want to stress as we conclude this particular series of blog conversations and look forward to the future—is that Conservative Judaism now, as much as ever, has the message and the means to make a major impact on the ways Jewish tradition is taught, practiced, and revitalized in North America and beyond.
The emphasis in these posts has fallen on-message, though I and those who engaged me in dialogue have paid ample attention to “means” in postings about community, education, mitzvah, prayer, and Jewish relations to the larger world. Nothing I have read or heard in the last year on this site or others has changed my view that with better communication of what Conservative Judaism stands for, better “quality control” in synagogues and schools, and a restructuring of how the various Conservative organizations operate (one that ensures more coordination than in the past)——the prospects for Conservative Judaism are excellent. I can say that soberly and confidently—and not only out of hope and desire—because the Torah is a tree of life to those who hold fast to it. Because Conservative Judaism is a path that is joyful and profound, attractive and compelling; one that offers the meaning that contemporary Jews need to live rightly and well and to raise their children that way. Because Conservative Judaism is a recipe for building communities that are vibrant and engaging.
What is more, if one traces the historical arc of Conservative Judaism from its founding by Zacharias Frankel in the middle of the 19th century through Schechter’s restatement of core principles at the start of the 20th and further revisions by Finkelstein, Heschel, Kaplan, and others in the middle of the 20th century, one sees—as my students and I did in the course I taught on the subject last spring—that Conservative Judaism exemplifies its slogan of “tradition and change.” I am not a big fan of that slogan, because it seems to say that “tradition” and “change” are opposites that need balancing, and that “tradition” is an object—like a Torah scroll, say—that is passed down from generation to generation, withstanding or succumbing to revisions along the way. I see tradition, rather, as a process of constant change-within-continuity and continuity-within-change. We are faithful to our tradition when we alter it lovingly and with learning from inside devoted practice and commitment.
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A matter of life and death - feature story from the MERCAZ USA website
FEATURE STORY
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH
[Ed: Rabbi Leor Sinai, a Vice President of MERCAZ USA, his wife and two sons made aliyah this summer and have settled in Be'er Sheva where he has assumed the position of Director of Hillel at Ben Gurion University. A few weeks later arriving in Be'er Sheva, he confronted the reality of what it means to be living on the new frontline vis-á-vis rocket attacks from the Gaza strip. He writes about the experience in the following article.]This past June we made Aliyah. In less than two months we've been thrown into the complex reality that is life in Israel. We've mastered the rough seas of bureaucratic processes and citizenship requirements; we've found a wonderful neighborhood to live in, schools for our children, employment and inspiration in the Cottage Cheese Revolution's transformation to a call for Tzedek Hevrati – Social Justice. And then the sirens started, followed by missiles. As a new immigrant, an Oleh, I was prepared for the administrative web of absorption – draining one's every ounce of celebratory eagerness upon arrival to Israel. For this we were prepared, however there is no preparing for the unexpected – having to run for our lives to shelter from a missile attack. We live in Be'er Sheva. In Be'er Sheva is where we imagine the start of our new lives and this is where I got a job as Director of Hillel at Ben Gurion University of the Negev.The first siren hit us at 11:30pm. With not much intellectual analysis of the situation as it occurred, we grabbed our two boys, fast asleep in bed and ran for shelter. The kids (6 and 3 years old) weren't quite sure what was going on and didn't remember a thing the following morning; that all changed the next morning at 5:51am. We jumped out of bed, grabbed the kids and ran into the bomb shelter. That siren didn't escape their consciousness, they were wide awake and the questions started pouring in: Why are we in here? What's that sound? What was that boom? And why is someone doing this to us?Prepared to dealing with Aliyah and having received a detailed list of offices and procedures we needed to get through in order to receive citizenship – there was no hand-out detailing what to do in the event of a missile attack. However, there is instinct, in this case instinct to live – simple but complex. Simple in that we strive to live, strive to create life, build homes and relationships. Judaism emphasizes our role as active participants in creation, Zionism the catalyst for action. It is complex because I have never had to run for my life, as a Jew, living in the United States; wretchedly complex because here in the Jewish State, the one place in the world Jews should be free to live life – we run for cover. Not since the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin and the birth of our children has my perspective on life and death been so dramatically altered as it has in reaction to the recent missile attacks.
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Hasbara Israel Updates from Zionist Council of NSW
Hasbara Israel Updates
UN vote on Palestinian statehood might be delayed for weeks
Sources say a 'silent agreement' exists among Western powers to act to postpone the Security Council vote.
The upcoming United Nations votes on a Palestinian state are expected to be postponed to an unspecified date, sources in New York said Tuesday.
Postponements are expected for both the UN General Assembly vote on the declaration of an independent Palestinian state, as well as the UN Security Council vote on full Palestinian membership, the sources said.
While media sources are preoccupied with whether the United States will succeed in its attempts to secure a majority of opposing votes to decline the Palestinians' bid for statehood, sources say a "silent agreement" exists between Western powers to act to postpone the vote at the Security Council.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe hinted at the apparent vote postponement. In an interview with 'Europe 1' radio on Tuesday, Juppe said that "diplomats are still hoping to prevent a crisis. It doesn't appear that a vote (on a declaration of Palestinian independence) will happen this Friday and that is in order to allow time for diplomacy to renew peace talks."
Juppe added that "there's a procedure for dealing with such requests and it can take a few days or weeks more."
Juppe's comments are in accordance with estimates among sources involved with the U.S.-led and western-supported attempts over the past few days to delay the Security Council vote.
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Hasbara Israel Updates from Zionist Council of NSW
Hasbara Israel Updates
Netanyahu invites Abbas to open peace talks in New York
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu - who is scheduled to fly to the US Tuesday evening - said Monday night that he would like to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in New York.
"I call on the PA chair to open direct negotiations in New York, that will continue in Jerusalem and Ramallah," Netanyahu said.
The prime minister invited Abbas to begin negotiations in order to advance efforts towards achieving peace, instead of "wasting time with unilateral moves," adding that the Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations would not bring a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
No Netanyahu-Abbas meeting is currently scheduled during Netanyahu's five day trip to New York.
Earlier, senior Israeli officials said that Israel has no intention of compromising on its demand that any future parameters for negotiations include a Palestinian recognition of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.
These comments came as Quartet envoys were scheduled to meet for a second time in two days in New York Monday night to try and hammer out a formula for a return to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that would prevent Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas from announcing a statehood bid at the UN during his General Assembly address there on Friday.
The Quartet envoys are reportedly still working on a formula that would essentially have Israel agree, albeit with reservations, to enter talks on the basis of the 1967 lines with mutual swaps, while the Palestinians would agree to a formula that makes mention of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.
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