"We dropped the ball for too long, but now we’re galvanized"

A fly on the Knesset wall in 1997 that found itself still in place last week might have concluded that not much had changed.

A quarter-century ago, senior Agudah figures on an Am Echad mission met with Bibi to discuss the religious status quo, which was under attack by a coalition of secularists and Reform.

In a closing of circles, last week some of the same leaders returned under the same banner to meet a silver-haired Netanyahu. But in the shadow of an unprecedented assault on the state’s Jewish character, the subtext had become: Can the world Orthodox community halt the Bennett government’s changes to giyur laws where the country’s religious politicians have failed?

Legacy

“There’s no doubt that we made an impression,” says Am Echad cochair and Agudah chairman Shlomo Werdiger. “We met ministers from across the government, and instead of yelling like the opposition do, we spoke to them as businesspeople and leaders who are invested here in Israel’s future. We told Prime Minister Bennett that if you continue to assault the conversion laws, your legacy will be that you’ve destroyed the state’s Jewishness. Bennett heard what we had to say, and we’re going to have a follow-up meeting with him.”

Global Response

Given the deep freeze in relations between the Bennett-Lapid government and Israel’s right-wing-religious bloc, the sight of chareidi-aligned leaders engaging with coalition figures was itself newsworthy. But differences in tone apart, the Am Echad mission brought something new to the table: boxes containing 150,000 petitions from communities all over the world against the liberalization of giyur laws. “We were able to convey to the government that not only are rabbanim in Israel united against the changes in the law, but that rabbis all over the world will stop accepting conversions from Israel.”

Right Way

A lot has changed in Israeli politics since the 1997 mission led by Rabbi Moshe Sherer. A key difference is that today’s Israel is fundamentally a right-wing country, with around 80 of 120 seats potentially in the religious-right orbit. So why is a left-wing dominated government in power? Part of the reason was on display in the Knesset as Bibi was greeted with a standing ovation by the Am Echad delegates. That respect may be in place, but Netanyahu’s continued hold over the opposition is now the greatest guarantor of the government’s longevity.

Liberalizers

Also apparent was the rise of a brand of religious reformers who were once alien to Israel. “I am shomer Shabbat,” said Justice Minister Gideon Saar to applause, “but by which standard — Rav Kanievksy or Rav Ovadiah?” His point was that the proposed law changes were just another legitimate halachic option. The fact that, as a delegate told him, the Orthodox are America’s Jewish future, as well as being more committed to Israel than Reform, didn’t move him. To dati figures such as Religious Affairs minister Matan Kahana, who is spearheading the reforms, the law changes are a guarantee of Israel’s Jewishness, not an attempt to undermine it — even if only a fringe rabbinical group like the Tzohar organization backs him.

Way Forward

In the Israeli political game, which the American Reform movement has long played successfully, it’s only relentless lobbying of individual lawmakers that will make a difference, and not helicopter missions. But according to Shlomo Werdiger, Am Echad is now engaged for the long term. “We dropped the ball for too long, but now we’re galvanized. We’ll put resources into it, because we see that we can make a difference.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 901)