Masorti Today

by Rabbi Reuven Hammer

When I made aliyah in August 1973, the Conservative movement was virtually unknown in Israel. There were a few congregations led by a handful of dedicated pioneers and there were two American institutions – the Student Center of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and United Synagogue’s center on Agron Street in Jerusalem.

Since then, the renamed Masorti movement has become an important part of Israeli society, with synagogues throughout the country and schools, youth groups, camps, nursery schools, and other institutions that influence the way Israelis live and think. The movement’s lay leadership baton has passed for the most part into the hands of young Israelis. More and more our rabbis are Israeliborn and trained. Today, Masorti is no longer a movement of Anglo-Saxons looking to reproduce the Judaism they knew elsewhere. Masorti tries to meet the needs of Israelis living in Israel, whose needs are different from those of diaspora Jewry. Until now a movement primarily of Ashkenazic Jews, we are developing congregations that are Sephardic in custom and tradition.

Even with the movement’s substantial growth, we face enormous financial, legal, political, and psychological difficulties. “If there is no flour there is no Torah.” We need money to continue to build the movement. While the government finances the chief rabbinate and what it considers to be official synagogues, our institutions are seldom eligible for government aid, and unlike North Americans, Israelis are unaccustomed to joining a synagogue formally and paying dues.

Because Masorti rabbis are not recognized officially we cannot perform marriages legally. We often must go to court to demand recognition of our conversions and our right to use government-sponsored mikva’ot. We are engaged in a constant battle to be able to buy land for our buildings or receive financial help for our programs.

Despite these issues, the main focus of our activities is, and should be, on meeting the religious needs of the vast majority of Israelis who believe that their only religious choice is Orthodox or nothing, even though they do not consider themselves Orthodox. Visit any of our flourishing congregations in Jerusalem, Ashkelon, Omer, Haifa, Kiryat Bialek – there isn’t enough room to list them all – or meet our vibrant Noam youth groups, or attend our programs for Russian olim such as Shaarim in Netanya, or spend time at our Noam summer camp and army unit, Garin Nahal. You will see modern halakhic Jews devoted to living a Jewish life in the Jewish state without abandoning reason and scientific truth.

In bringing Masorti Judaism to Israel, we want to teach a Judaism that is based upon our unique principles. Our adherence to halakhah differentiates us from the Reform movement. Our readiness to reinterpret halakhah differentiates us from the Orthodox world. Our rejection of fundamentalism differentiates us from the ultra- Orthodox haredim. As a religious movement based upon belief in God, the Torah and mitzvot, we are different from the secular community.

Combined with our Zionist vision, Israeli Masorti Judaism takes on another dimension as well in a country where Judaism is not confined to the synagogue or a set of rituals. It is part of the entire society around us.

To be a Masorti Jew in Israel is more than simply taking out synagogue membership. It means participating in a movement that is changing society. We are creating a cadre of people who want the third Jewish commonwealth to be an incarnation of the kingdom of God and a light to the nations. It is our task to create a free, democratic society in which Judaism will not be forced upon anyone. The values of our modern society should combine the best of the old and the new, restoring Jews and Judaism to the stage of history as the embodiment of morality, ethical living, and humanistic values coupled with devotion to God.

Long before the creation of the state of Israel, one of the great leaders of Conservative Judaism, Israel Friedlander, an ardent Zionist who was martyred in the service of the Jewish people, concluded his 1919 book, Past and Present: A Collection of Jewish Essays, with these words:

“Palestine is the land of Promise not only to the Jew but to the entire world – the promise of a higher and better social order.

“Upon the gates of the Third Jewish Commonwealth will be inscribed the same prophetic words which greeted the establishment of the Second Jewish Commonwealth:

“‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.’

It is to the realization of that vision that the Masorti movement in Israel is dedicated.