JewsByChoice.Org

Last month the Jerusalem Post ran an interesting story about a group in Israel called “Kehilat Tzedek”.

Here is a snippet from the article.

One woman prays in a synagogue where gender separation is strictly enforced. Another is a member of a mixed-seating congregation that bars homosexuals from rabbinical ordination. A third belongs to a movement unfettered by Halacha but with a rock-hard Jewish identity.

Though these three Jerusalem women represent Orthodox, Conservative and Reform streams of Judaism, respectively, they have put aside theological and ideological differences in an idealistic attempt to transform Israeli society.

"The idea was born in the Reform Movement," Na’ama Dafni-Kellen said this week. A social worker, she is also a cantor who knows how to read the Torah scroll with cantillations. "But we quickly realized that to make an impact we could not restrict ourselves. We had to work with everyone. After all, we are in this Zionist boat together."

The "idea" referred to by Dafni-Kellen is Kehillat Tzedek, a grassroots movement aimed at increasing social activism within congregations of all denominations. Since it was founded four years ago, 80 congregations have joined - 50 of them already have active social programs - representing the entire rainbow of Judaism, including congregations that define themselves as "secular" or "nondenominational" such as Nigun Halev on Moshav Nahalal in the Jezreel Valley or Beit Tefila Yehudit in Tel Aviv.

This unique form of cooperation is happening at a time when the different denominations, in an attempt to maintain distinctions, are opting to operate independently. Not only Orthodoxy with its ingrained prejudices against Reform and Conservative streams of Judaism is wary of cooperation with other denominations, so are non-Orthodox streams.

But the multi-denominational female trio is convinced that in the field of social activism, cooperation among the various streams is possible. Unlike prayer, ritual and custom, which vary from denomination to denomination, a good deed is universal.

Besides, they say, no congregation is forced to do anything that clashes with its sensibilities. Each of the three women is familiar with the social and religious codes of their respective denominations and knows what can be done and what is taboo. For instance, Kehilat Tzedek will not encourage an Orthodox congregation to provide emotional support groups for same-sex couples, while it might suggest such a project to a Reform congregation.

In contrast, Orthodox congregations might be more successful in helping families who were evacuated from Gush Katif in 2005, since they share a common religious orientation.

The tricky part is transforming a congregation that meets regularly for prayer into a catalyst for social activism. That is where Kehilat Tzedek comes in.

You read the rest here.

I really do dig these kinds of stories for a couple of different reasons. First and foremost is that they paint a positive picture of what is possible in Israel, when it comes to interdenominational cooperation. I think it’s easy for everyone to gravitate toward stories that polarize issues of religious divide within Israel and that unfortunately often comes at the expense of covering stories such as this one.

Secondly, this story provides us with what I believe to be an excellent example of how to engage in successful interdenominational initiatives. There’s really no way that the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform movements are ever going to agree on everything. There are just some issues that are theologically and sociologically irreconcilable in my opinion but that doesn’t mean, we shouldn’t be trying to find mutual ground or points to collaborate on. After all as this article clearly points out cooperation is doable. I guess the trick is understanding that there is a wide diversity of opinion and that success depends on choosing areas of cooperation wisely. More importantly, it means understanding that people have a right to pursue Jewish living in a way that makes sense to them even if it’s not the way we would want to do it for ourselves.

I realize this story isn’t about conversion or converts but as a Jew by choice I think it’s important to pay attention to these kinds of stories and more importantly, to support these types of initiatives. This is because these stories can help us to see other Jewish denominations in a positive light, which hopefully can help soften some of our own prejudices and misconceptions about Jews of other stripes. Even if we aren’t directly involved with projects such as this one, learning about them still allows us to connect in a positive way (even if only psychologically) with other Jewish communities and I think that’s important. I also think it’s an excellent opportunity for Jews from other denominations to form positive connections with Jews from our own movements (again even if only psychologically,) and hopefully by extension with us should we ever meet one of these people.

I often get the feeling that people who deny my status as a Jew are not doing so out of a malicious hatred of me or my movement but out of a deeply held belief that my denomination consists of individuals who are not (and therefore I am,) not sincerely committed to Judaism, Jewish living and/or Jewish values in any way shape or form. I would also suggest that members of my denomination as well as other liberal denominations, are just as likely to make negative assumptions about orthodoxy and so I think stories such as this one are important, because they help all of us to see one another in a more positive light.

I’m not suggesting that the kind of interdenominational initiative covered in this story, is in and of its self, going to lead to total acceptance and group coherence within the Jewish world but I do think that this kind of cooperation and getting to know one another, are important steps in moving towards a more positive relationship. Ultimately if we ever hope to create a space of mutual respect, we must start by learning about each other and discovering where our common ground lies and this story is a great example of how we can go about doing just that.

Anyhow, as always I welcome readers to share any thoughts they might have in the comments section below.