Conservative Movement Calls on PM Netanyahu to Ensure Rights of All Israelis

Sends Open Letter in Response to Cancellation of Rehovot B’nei Mitzva for Children with Disabilities

NEW YORK -- Following the cancellation of the b’nei mitzva ceremony of children with disabilities by Mayor Rahamim Malul of Rehovot last week, worldwide leaders from the Conservative Movement have come together to call on Prime Minister Netanyahu “to ensure the rights of every Israeli, especially those who are most vulnerable.” Leaders from the Masorti Foundation, Masorti Movement (Tnua,) Masorti Olami, MERCAZ Olami, Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, The Rabbinical Assembly, and The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism have all signed onto the following open letter to PM Netanyahu.

The Honorable Binyamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister of Israel 

For the sake of Zion, I will not be silent. למען ציון לא אחשה

We are writing to you as the collective leadership of the Conservative/Masorti Movement, representing two million Jews around the world and hundreds of thousands in Israel. We are true Zionists and defend Israel every day so we were devastated when our love and affection was returned by a slap in the face from Mayor Rahamim Malul of Rehovot. The Mayor, a member of Likud, decided to cancel the b’nei mitzva ceremony of children with disabilities because it was to be held in a Masorti synagogue. This decision scuttled the hopes and dreams of the families who yearned for the rare opportunity to celebrate their boys and girls and to welcome them into the Jewish adulthood. This is not an opportunity generally made available by any synagogue under the auspices of the Rabbanut to any child with disabilities and certainly not to any girl, with or without disabilities.

Masorti’s b’nei mitzvah program for children with disabilities, operating for more than 20 years all over Israel, is the essence of Kiddush Hashem, an act that sanctifies God’s name.

This cynical and heartless act has been felt around the world. Trammeling on a moment of holiness, it was the essence of Chilul Hashem: desecration of God’s name. It has left Masorti/Conservative Jews everywhere, heartbroken and spiritually depleted.

The Rehovot incident is merely the latest in a string of insults against non-Orthodox Jews in Israel. We are repeatedly confronted with the Zionism of prejudice, a Zionism that has been hijacked by an extremist, coercive, and inflexible Rabbinate.

Masorti Jews and communities in Israel demonstrate daily that there is more than one way to be Jewish. That flowering of the Jewish spirit, and the healthy diversity that it generates, is our approach to Judaism. Israel, which we love and admire so much, cannot remain the only democracy in the world where Jews do not celebrate freedom of religion.

We urge you to use your influence as the leader of the Likud Party and as Prime Minister to ensure the rights of every Israeli, especially those who are most vulnerable. We urge you to stand up for what is just and fair for these children, and what is right for the Jewish people.

Rabbi William Gershon
President, The Rabbinical Assembly

Rabbi Julie Schonfeld
Executive Vice President, The Rabbinical Assembly

Margo Gold
President, The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

Rabbi Steven Wernick
CEO, The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

Rabbi Robert Slosberg
Chairperson, Masorti Foundation

Arnold M. Eisen
Chancellor, Jewish Theological Seminary

Rabbi Bradley S. Artson Dean, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, AJU
Dr. David Breakstone International Vice President, MERCAZ Olami

Laura Lewis
Executive Director, Masorti Foundation

Rabbi Mauricio Balter
Co-president, Rabbinical Assembly in Israel

Rabbi Dubi Hayun
Co-president, Rabbinical Assembly in Israel

Gillian Caplin
President, Masorti Olami

Shueli Fast
Chairperson, Masorti Movement

Yizhar Hess
Executive Director, Masorti Movement

Dr. Stephen Wolnek
President, MERCAZ Olami

Rabbi Tzvi Graetz
Executive Director, MERCAZ & Masorti Olami

Sarrae Crane
Executive Director, Women's League

Carol Simon
President, Women's League

Rabbi Charles E. Simon
Executive Director, Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs

Myles Simpson
President, Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs