THE BLACK HAT POLITICIANS, both Ashkenazi and Sefardi, are up in arms because
The Israeli government is making noises to recognize that some Jews are neither haredi or heloni but, oy the world is ending, Conservative or Reform
Women and the LGBT community are about to have a government-sanctioned place at "The Wall"
Government mikvehs are to be opened to ALL Jews, even Conservative and Reform Jews (can you see the water roiling?)
There is a non-extremist movement that would perform halakic (according to Jewish law) conversions.
IT'S OK FOR A HELONI WHO barely knows there are three pilgrimage holidays and thinks there is only one new year - January 1, and it's OK for an atheistic Jewish male to visit the wall in the haredi section for men or an agnostic Jew to visit a mikveh - although why an either would do so is beyond my ken.
An ignorant Jew never has his or her Jewishness challenged by the black hats as long as the Jew is NOT affiliated with either Conservative or Reform movements.. A knowledgeable Conservative or Reform - or, one guesses, a Humanistic or any other non-Orthodox sect - Jew is not a Jew, at least according to the black hats.
Sadly, one of the most outspoken Sefardi Jews is the son of the late Hakham Ovadia Yosef - R. David Yosef.
According to R. David, "Reform Jews are 'idolaters' while Conservative Jews don't practice real Judaism
I wonder how many Conservative and Reform people he knows - and would he even SPEAK to a Reform or Conservative Jew?
R. David is, unfortunately, not alone.
When a politician, Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, visited a school that was aligned with the Conservative movement, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau criticized the Education Minister's visit. Unfortunately for Jews of all varieties who respected R. Lau's father, the son is closer to to Sefardi counterpart, R. David Yosef in his bigotry than to his father, R. Israel Meir Lau, in his father's effort to bring Jews closer together.
R. Samuel Eliyahu, one of the most prominent leaders of the hard-right wing of the national religious community said the non-Orthodox movements were bringing about a “spiritual holocaust.”
“The Reform and Conservatives are our brothers, but their path is a disaster, there’s no delicate way to put it, and it is forbidden to to give them encouragement, as a path by, drawing them close,” said Eliyahu.
But if they are our brothers and if the haredi think they have "gone astray," wouldn't it be logical to meet with them to show them "the correct path?"
R. Yaakov Ariel, one of the most respected national religious rabbis in the country, said that “Reform [Judaism] isn’t Judaism… it is forbidden for a man who observes the Torah and commandments to recognize the Reform.”
Even other black hats are victims of R. David's foul tongue.
R. David Says Rabbi David Stav is a ‘Reformed Jew With A Kippa’
For more on R. Stav, see http://www.jewishpress.com/tag/rabbi-david-stav/ and the institute he heads http://www.tzohar.org.il/English/founders-and-leadership/.
FORTUNATELY, not all "Orthodox" rabbis are are bigoted as Hakham David.
The Chief Rabbi of Efrat, R. Shlomo Riskin, contends that Reform or Orthodox, we must embrace every Jew.
If we cannot interact with them, how can they be embraced?
Even RASHBI realized that not everyone needed to be as observant as he and his son - even if HaShem had to make that point clear to him.
Is a Conservative or Reform Jew worse than HaAher?
Truth in blogging: I am neither Conservative or Reform, but I have friends who are one or the other. I am not comfortable in their services, but many have a wealth of Jewish knowledge and a love of Judaism that must be acknowledged and appreciated.
