Alternative SAJR (24 August 2007)

P3 Living KZN
Of interest (to me anyway) was an advertisement and advertorial for Living KZN (A Durban Jewish Community Initiative), which aims to assist (even encourage) Jews to relocate to KZN (Kwazulu-Natal). We’ve often dreamed of moving to the rural Natal Midlands, but the little one’s educational needs keep us here in JHB. Here’s the link to their website:

[Welcome to LivingKZN]
http://www.livingkzn.org.za/index.html

P10 Machal reunion
Covered the reunion function for SA veterans of Machal and the visit to SA of the legendary Col (Res) David (Migdal) Teperson. Col Teperson runs the Machal Museum in Israel and now plans to set up a Machal website.
Truly the greatest generation…

Pp20-1 Paula Slier
The letters page featured the SABC/Paula Slier/SAJBD controversy. I have to say that Paula Slier emerges from the dispute looking both professional and spunky, while the SAJBD (SA Jewish Board of Deputies) ends up looking like a Judenrat or Hofjuden (these terms were not used by any of the correspondents), perhaps undeservedly. For my part, I’d just like to see fewer fawning photo-ops with corrupt politicians and ANC apparatchiks. I’m also of the opinion that, in this day and age, it would be possible to hold electronic elections and referenda or opinion polls to ensure that they representative of and accountable to the SA Jewish community.

P25 Jewish education
Carries an advertisement for the Kind David Schools’ Foundation to "help a deserving Jewish child receive an education of excellence at one of the King David schools". My daughter is a deserving Jewish child, but was not even considered for admission to KDS as a non-Halachic Jew (or non-Jew according to some). Her private school tuition now costs me an arm and a leg each year, but she’s doing just great in her Hebrew and Jewish studies, thanks for asking.
The SA Jewish community has many strengths, but Outreach sure isn’t one of them, with the notable and noble exception of Reform.

South African Jewish Newspaper - Jewish Community News http://www.sajewishreport.co.za/pdf/24-August-2007.pdf

Too long in coming

According to this recent JTA article:

When Rabbi Stas Wojciechowicz blows the shofar this Rosh Hashanah, its distinctive sound won’t just be ringing in a new year, it will be ushering in a new era for the Progressive movement in the former Soviet Union.

By the end of the secular year, he hopes to be holding services in St. Petersburg’s Sha'arei Shalom Synagogue, the movement's first community-owned synagogue among some 21 Progressive congregations in Russia.

This is good news, but too long in coming. In my humble opinion, Reform needs to take more of an “evangelising” role in the Jewish world. In particular, we need to understand what an organisation such as Chabad is doing right, and take stock of what we’re doing wrong in trying to gain “spirit-share” and bring Jews (including the so-called non-Halachic Jews) to Progressive Judaism.

This should include a world-wide volunteering and fund-raising campaign to establish and support Reform communities and provide spiritual and lay leadership in regions such as the former Soviet bloc and Israel.

In a rational Jewish world, Reform would be attracting the lion’s share of the attention and numbers, but this doesn’t always seem to be the case. We need to be out there!

JTA Forum: Article Comments: Reform shul marks a first in Russia

http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/article/20070823StPetersburgProgressive.html

Inter-dating need not be the end of the (Jewish) line

Here's my two cents on the whole issue of inter-dating and inter-marriage. This was intended to eventually become part of a longer piece, but the points I would want to make can be easily stated:

Inter-marriage (or inter-faith marriage, as some would prefer to call it) is not the problem. The problem is the Jewish response to the phenomenon, i.e. there simply is none. Date or marry a non-Jew and you are de-facto regarded as having left the Jewish fold, which in many cases in not the intention. Jewish communities are simply not geared up to handle the situation, and the young (or not so young) family drifts away from Judaism. I am not referring here to the Reconstructionist/Reform end of the spectrum, which in most cases takes a far more inclusive approach.

Let me also make it clear that I am not "in favour" of intermarriage. I myself am in an inter-faith marriage and I'm pretty sure things are for the most part a lot simpler where both partners are Jews!

So what am I saying? The "first prize" from a simplicity and Jewish continuity point of view is that both partners be Jewish.

Failing that, the next best option is that the non-Jewish partner convert or undertake to convert to Judaism.

Last on the list would be that both partners retain their existing faiths, but there is a commitment to raise any children born of the union in the Jewish faith.

There are other possible scenarios, but they are less likely to result in a Jewish outcome, which is what we're interested in here.

For this to work, however, there would need to be some far-reaching changes in the way that Jewish communities treat such couples. This would include allowing Rabbis and other marriage officers to marry inter-faith couples, provided that:

The non-Jewish partner commits to converting to Judaism, or

There is a commitment to running a Jewish home and raising any children as Jews.

The principle of Jewish patrilineal descent would also need to be recognised across the board by Reconstructionist/Reform (and perhaps even Conservative?) communities worldwide. This is too important an issue to be left to the discretion of individual Rabbis, communities or synagogue unions.

We must always remember that inter-marriage is not the end of the Jewish line. Failing to welcome, support and incorporate inter-faith families could well be, unless you believe that the future of Judaism belongs to the ultra-Orthodox.

Our Hindu Widows

http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18031

http://www.furl.net/search?search=cache&id=24443943&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jewishjournal.com%2Fh+ome%2Fpreview.php%3Fid%3D18031

A complete Reform siddur?

Will the Mishkan T'filah (Sanctuary of Prayer) replace the Gates of Repentance (Days of Awe) prayerbook as well as the Gates of Prayer (daily) prayerbook, or will we still require two? I would really like to see something along the lines of The Complete Artscroll Siddur, but covering all holy days and life cycle events for the entire Reform Jewish calendar.



JTA.org -- The Reform movement's rabbinic association is set to publish a new siddur, or prayer book.

Israeli expatriates leading the way with day schools?

Are Israeli expatriates showing us the way when it comes to affordable Jewish day school education that puts the emphasis on the foundations (Hebrew, Jewish culture and Jewish history) rather than on religion or prayer? Based on this article concerning the Ben-Gamla school, it would appear so. I found the following to be of particular interest:

Either the courts will close the school preventing this movement from gaining momentum, or the Jewish day school system will collapse.

The students will learn Hebrew, Jewish culture and Jewish history for two hours a day. The curriculum will not include religion or prayer, unless it is organized by students voluntarily. Many of the people attending the school will be Israelis living in the area. They will get what many Jewish parents in this country want: an affordable alternative to the Jewish day school.

Some of the opponents are worried about the danger this project poses to the day school system. Supporters of the school say it could serve as a national model, providing families with a financially accessible option. Many non-Orthodox households, they believe, are opting not to send their children to day schools because of the cost. Some of those people can be persuaded to come back to this moderately Jewish option.

The question is this: if such a model, with all its limitations, brings more people into the Jewish educational tent - but at the same time is creating even more difficulties for the "real" day schools? Is it a good thing?

Firstly, I'm not sure why this would have a negative impact on the existing Jewish day school system. It sounds as if the appeal of the Ben-Gamla model is to those who do not support existing day schools, either for financial reasons or because they have a problem with the Jewish (i.e. religious) content of the schools. It therefore seems unlikely that pupils will abandon traditional day schools in favour of this model.

Secondly, I think it's time for Reform Judaism to abandon its traditional role as "defender of the constitution" (at least on this issue) and throw its weight behind this particular day school model. After all, Reform and those who identify with it are the most likely to adopt this "Lite" model of Jewish education, which would favour a pluralistic view of Judaism.

Lastly, as regards the "Ben-Gamla model" itself, I'm all in favour of this cultural approach to Jewish day school education. My feeling is that the school should be left to give students a solid grounding in the secular subjects and the core Jewish curriculum, leaving religion to be learned in the home and/or in the synagogue or temple.

The Ben-Gamla school controversy: Money trumps Church-State separation - Haaretz - Israel News

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerBlog.jhtml?itemNo=890017&contrassID=25&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=1&listSrc=Y&art=1

http://www.furl.net/search?search=cache&id=24051852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.haaretz.com%2Fhasen%2Fp+ages%2FrosnerBlog.jhtml%3FitemNo%3D8+90017%26contrassID%3D25%26subContras+sID%3D0%26sbSubContrassID%3D1%26listSr+c%3DY%26art%3D1

Distribute the Reform Judaism Magazine at synagogues?

Posted this comment on the SAUPJ website.  Personally, I think it's a great idea, but we'll have to see...  :-)

I would like to suggest that the Reform Judaism Magazine be distributed at Reform synagogues affiliated to the SAUPJ. I don’t think the magazine is available or well known in SA, although it is apparently “World’s largest circulated Jewish magazine”.

My feeling is that Reform communities/members could greatly benefit from the magazine by getting a Reform perspective on issues (as opposed to our usual diet of The Jewish Report), put us in touch with trends in Reform elsewhere in the world, etc.

Here’s the blurb from the “About us” page:

-- clip --

1st Place Award Winner for Excellence in Jewish Journalism and a Benefit of Membership in a Union Congregation

ABOUT US

REFORM JUDAISM is the official voice of the Union for Reform Judaism, linking the institutions and affiliates of Reform Judaism with every Reform Jew. Received quarterly by 310,000 member households (members of more than 900+ Union congregations) as a benefit of their synagogue's Union affiliation, RJ strives to convey the creativity, diversity, and dynamism of Reform Judaism. RJ covers developments within our movement while interpreting world events and Jewish tradition from a Reform perspective.

An American Jewish Press Association first-place Simon Rockower Award winner for excellence in feature writing, Reform Judaism's feature stories are controversial, probing problems, exploring solutions, teaching, and inspiring. A special "Focus On" educational section presents multiple perspectives on a specific theme---Jewish ritual, history, beliefs, and issues---to stimulate further reading, study, and discussion. Subjects covered include: Jewish history, ethics, the Holocaust, Israel and Zionism, Jewish movements, family, texts, holidays, theology, and more. Our lifestyle columns showcase contentious opinions and model programs and services which enhance Jewish life.

-- clip --

Reform Judaism Magazine

http://reformjudaismmag.org/

Karaites hold first conversion in 500 years

According to this Breaking News article on the JTA website, the Karaites,

A fringe Jewish sect that rejects the authority of post-biblical rabbinic law performed its first conversion in 500 years...

After a year of study, 10 adults and four minors -- from locations as far afield as the Czech Republic, Australia and Canada -- swore fealty to Karaite Judaism.

Mazal Tov! I take this to be an understanding on the part of the sect that it is essential to accept (if not actively recruit) converts to replace those members lost through natural attrition.

The Karaites represent to me a surviving effort to question the authority of Rabbinic Judaism. In a pluralistic Jewish world, we should be able to accommodate this outlook as legitimate, even if we don't necessarily agree with it.

I look forward to a time when Judaism sees itself as a family (perhaps the equivalent of the Christian faith, with any number of different churches still describing themselves as Christian) rather than as a hierarchy after the fashion of the Roman Catholic Church.

Karaites hold first conversion in 500 years

http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/103393.html

http://www.furl.net/search?search=cache&id=23577001&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jta.org%2Fcgi-bin%2Fiow+a%2Fbreaking%2F103393.html