Seventy Interpretations to the Torah
Andrew M. Sacks
Director of the Rabbinical Assembly of Israel
(of the Masorti/Conservative Movement).
Jerusalem
Seventy Interpretations to the Torah
The following article by Andrew M. Sachs, director of the Rabbinical Assembly of the Masorti Movement, explains the meaning of the High Court decision
This short article came from the mail.liberal-jewish list, a moderated discussion group in which rabbis and lay people from all the streams of Judaic thought participate.
The sages tell us that there are seventy (that is to say an unlimited
number of) interpretations to the Torah. All of these, if they are for
the sake of heaven, are the words of our living God. Yet, so many of our
rabbis today feel that their interpretation of the Torah is the only
valid one. The Law, as they understand it, is the only valid
interpretation.
In Israel, this has meant that if one wanted to convert to Judaism, then
it had to be on the terms set down by the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate.
This, in another age, might have been acceptable. In other times the
Rabbinate was tolerant--even welcoming. In Israel, though, thousands are
turned down each year upon seeking entry to the Jewish People. Sincere
and earnest, they are unable to meet the all too often unrealistic and
exaggerated demands of a Rabbinate bent upon keeping outsiders out of
Judaism.
Thousands of Olim from Russia, identifying wholeheartedly with the Jewish
people, have been excluded from conversion. So too the hundreds of
children who are adopted each year from abroad. The scores of sincere
individuals who have converted this year through the Masorti/Conservative
Movement have also been turned away (as have the Reform converts), as
they found the welcome mat at the door of the Rabbinate was missing.
Now, an historic ruling by Israels High Court may have changed all of
this. In what may just be the most important ruling on behalf of
religious pluralism, the High Court has decided that the Rabbinate does
not have a legal monopoly on deciding just who is Jewish and who is not,
for purposes of registration under the Law of Return. A blow has been
struck against a monopolistic interpretation of Judaism. The Court has
ruled that non-Orthodox conversions are valid, and that the objections of
the state to registration of those who undergo such a conversion are
invalid. The Court, in a six to one decision, held, in effect, that
there are many ways within Judaism -- not one way as the Rabbinate had
held for so long.
The Court did not take the final step of ordering the Interior Ministry
to register the non-Orthodox convert as a Jew-- as it had done some years
ago for those who have undergone non-Orthodox conversions outside of
Israel.. (It held, in the case this week, that the petitioners to the
court had asked whether the States reason for refusing registration was
valid--not whether non-Orthodox converts must be registere). Rather, the
court decided to give the Kenesset, as the supreme law making body, a
chance to deal with this matter. It is expected, that if the Kenesset
does not change the law as it presently stands(and the best guess is that
they will not), then the Court will proceed by ordering the non-Orthodox
converts to be registered as Jews.
The case was brought by Elaine Goldstein, who moved to Israel from
Brazil. Goldstein then underwent a Reform conversion and married an
Israeli Jew. She then asked that the Interior Ministry register her as a Jew.
Chief Rabbi Yisrael Lau said that there has never been such a harsh
decision, endangering the Jewish people and Israel as a Jewish state.
This monumental decision came following the week that saw the Jewish
people come together to mourn the loss of Yitzhak Rabin. This decision is
also one that can bring us together.
Now, a public that has become
critical of, and even distrustful of, its rabbis can find comfort in
knowing that there are legitimate alternatives within Judaism--
alternatives that have overturned a 45 year monopoly and create
inclusiveness rather than exclusion.
The Masorti Movement has always
stood for Klal Yisrael. Now the State of Israel has given recognition to
this very principle. Israel has been the only democratic country that did
not allow Jews the right to live in accordance with a Judaism that was at
variance with a single governmental version. Now, that has changed. Once
again the Torah has been returned to all of its rabbis and to all of its
people.
Andrew M. Sacks
Director of the Rabbinical Assembly of Israel
(of the Masorti/Conservative Movement).
Jerusalem
