Abstrakt Burta Schumana (ang)

I. INTRODUCTION

A.Many thanks to the Austrian Cultural Forum
for organizing and hosting this conference

B.I will be speaking this afternoon from the perspective of the first Progressive Rabbi to
serve full-time in Poland since before the Holocaust and as someone active in the World Union for Progressive Judaism World-Wide, including a long –term connection with our movement in Israel.

C.What unites our movement in Israel and our
Movement in central Europe is the struggle for religious pluralism and an equal representation
within the Jewish community, and official recognition by government agencies.

II. ISRAEL

A.Progressive Judaism is a Zionist movement,
believe passionately that the State of Israel is
Reishit Zmichat Geulateinu. Our movement in Israel
Maintains close ties with Progressive Jews throughout the world and hosts a variety of educational and social activities at its central headquarters in Jerusalem and
in our centers in Tel Aviv and Haifa. We sponsor more than 30 congregations, communities and kibbutzim in Israel, and have been ordaining Israeli rabbis for nearly twenty years. Our rabbis our rabbinic students proudly serve in the Israeli army
and conscientiously perform their Miluim (reserve military duty). Many have distinguished records of military service.

B.Despite this, non-orthodox rabbis have and congregations have second-class status in Israel,
and no official recognition by the Israeli Ashkenazic or Sephardic Chief Rabbinate.
Unlike orthodox congregations and schools
their non-orthodox counterparts do not receive
any direct government subsidy. Despite laws and rulings to the contrary, our Rabbis are barred from virtually all local religious councils. We are also virtually shut out of any participation in the conversion process.

C.The Orthodox rabbinic establishment has virtually
total control over marriage and conversions in Israel disfranchising large segments of the population. Israelis who wish to be married by a non-orthodox rabbi must go to Cyprus first for a civil marriage. In fact, there is no civil marriage for Jews in Israel.

D.The Orthodox religious establishment has grown
Increasingly hostile and extreme toward non-orthodox Jewish communities; there have been physical assaults on our people praying at the Kotel,
and hostile statements from many Orthodox rabbis. such as the statement by former Chief Sephardic Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu that “the reek of hell wafts” from Reform and Conservative synagogues and it is forbidden to walk by them, or recent statements by other rabbis that Reform Judaism precipitated the Shoah or that failure to observe the Mitzvot resulted in the casualties experienced by Israel during the second Lebanon War.

E.There is a major controversy arising Israel over whether certain produce can be sold in the shops because of the Shmitah, the Sabbatical year. Many shops and restaurants in Israel are in danger of losing their Kashrut certificates as a result, and thus suffering economically. More moderate Orthodox groups are challenging this position, as well as proposed new rules which would limit the validity of many Orthodox conversions from overseas. In some communities there are bus routes
with mandatory separation of men and women and assaults on women who venture into the “men’s” section. Recently, an attempt by an American Rabbi to organize a conference on Agunot, women
whose husbands have abandoned them but denied them a religious divorce was threatened with violence and excommunication and forced
to abandon his plans

F.Only a minority of Israelis is truly Orthodox or fervently Orthodox, yet the Orthodox and Haredi establishments enjoy complete control over the personal status issues of Jews in Israel. As the
President of The World Union for Progressive Judaism, Rabbi Uri Regev has stated, “Everyone in Israel enjoys freedom of religion except Jews.”

G.Such theocratic control over personal life far more to do with issues of power and control than it does issues of faith and belief. This power is derived from cynical political bargains dating back to the founding of the state, and the fact that the religious and ultra-religious parties often hold the balance of power in the Knesset.

H.The good news is that there are small groups of influential moderate Orthodox rabbis who are in dialogue with us and recognize our rabbis as colleagues. These include Rabbi David Hartmann and Rabbi Michael Melchior; They come together over issues such as social and economic justice, human rights, the peace process and the status of women. Two Israeli-based rabbis in Poland enjoy such a relationship with our movement.

I.Rabbi will read quote from Rabbi Michael Marmur.

III. Europe

A.In most of Europe Orthodox chief rabbis and
Orthodox-dominated religious councils enjoy the complete monopoly over government recognition and government subsidies stemming from the “religion tax”. In many of these countries non-Orthodox groups and their rabbis enjoy little or no official recognition from either the government or the established Jewish councils

B.Germany, recently Reform and non-Orthodox ‘
Jewish communities and councils have been granted equal status with Orthodox councils and are entitled to a share of government t subsidy.

C.In the Czech Republic and agreement was reached
That gives our Progressive Jewish community, Beit Simcha, equal status within the Prague Jewish council. In some other countries, informal relations exist to a degree but rarely on an official basis.

IV. POLAND: A MIXTURE OF GOOD NEWS AND NOT SO GOOD NEWS.

A.Good News: Excellent relations with Rabbi Schudrich and my other Orthodox colleagues.
Rabbi Schudrich has gone out of his way to welcome me, Rabbi Tanya Segal and members of Beit Warszawa at joint programs and many official events, including the candle lighting at the Presidential palace.

There are moderates within the Orthodox Gmina
With whom we have a relationship of mutual
Respect, working together on interfaith issues,
and In support of the State of Israel, and historical
and cultural programs and we attend one
another’s life cycle events.
We treasure this relationship.

Joint Tashlich, Simchat Torah, Chanukah and
Purim programming.

B. Not so positive:
Not an equal place at the table
Sometimes included, sometimes excluded or invisible
at official ceremonies and gatherings.
No access to a cemetery local Mikvah, or land with which to build a synagogue and school. No official
government recognition.
Failure to recognize our conversions on an equal basis.
Law of 1997, a bad law. Created a Leninist Structure giving absolute control over Jewish institutions and Property to the Union if Religious Gmini.

C.We are responding with Beit Polska

D.We would prefer a change in the law that gave each Jewish denomination and equal place at the table, and shared decision making with respect to Jewish institutions, social policy and communal property and shared representation on the boards of Jewish cultural , social and educational institutions along the lines of Jewish Federations in the US.