In the Sept. 21 editorial, “Religious Concerns: In Israel, Too,” you note that [Israeli Chief] Rabbi Amar advised Jews to “pray alone, or not at all, on the High Holy Days rather than in a Reform congregation.” You then suggest that “a greater degree of empathy expressed by the chief rabbi for others who do not share his level of observance would go a long way toward convincing non-Orthodox Jews in Israel that the Chief Rabbinate is committed to their spiritual well-being rather than ensuring their status as second-class Jews.”
How shortsighted and misguided can you be? It is precisely because the chief rabbi is sincerely and wholeheartedly committed to their spiritual well being that he gives this advice.
Assimilation and intermarriage are turning the history of Reform in America into an unmitigated disaster for its adherents. More Jews are being lost to Judaism than ever before. Support for Israel is weakest among the Reform.
Reform failed to make the Jews of America more Jewish. Is this what you want for Israel?
You are correct when you say, “the theme of much of the liturgy of this season is the emphasis on the unity of the Jewish people.” If the goal is Jewish unity, then for God’s sake don’t promote the introduction of more disunity into Israel. It’s bad enough that there is a secular and religious divide. Why introduce more sectarianism?
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