The vast majority of residents of Judea and Samaria, some 300,000 strong, are families of knitted yarmulke. A majority of all troops in elite combat units of the Israel Defense Forces is knitted yarmulke. The future of the State of Israel is in their hands and they are a strength acknowledged by the enemies but denied by Israelis.
Known to most by their nickname, � ���"Settlers,� �� � they are recognized as the greatest threat to extreme Islam and its spread. To some they remind Bar Kochva and his men, the Macabbees, who combined religion and a love of country, the Country G-d has swore to His people, and a bravery found only in legends.
So among Jews in Israel, there are secular and religious, the latter are all Orthodox of the � ���"traditional� �� � and the � ���"knitted yarmulke� �� � types. Since Israel is a Jewish State, Orthodox Judaism is in many respects a state religion. One must get married or divorced according to Orthodox traditions, which many find objectionable as they are viewed as archaic and anti- (or degrading to) women.
There seem to be little if any tolerance to any other interpretation of Judaism or a different practice, such as conservatism or the reform movement.
While in the United States a Reform Jew is no less a Jew than his or her fellow American Jewish brothers and sisters, in Israel the same Reform Jew would face many bureaucratic difficulties and obstacles, some inconceivable in modern society.
Israel must find the strength from within to recognize that Reform Jews are Jews. Not less, although different, than the rest. Israel embraces numerous other religions and practices, yet it rejects its own internal minority (not Arabs or Christians or many other non-Jewish minorities � ��" strictly a Jewish internal divide). This is an ongoing struggle that needs to be addressed, and it is the American Jewry's responsibility to lead the way.
From Los Angeles to Israel and Back in Three Days
A Jewish person, despite the dividing affiliations and seeming deep differences, remains a Jew. Regrettably, we rarely take the time to discover it. A group of 18 local rabbis from Los Angeles understood it when they flew to Israel for a three-day mission of unity.
Spending 30 hours in planes, 53 hours on the ground and a long time together in a bus, they discovered new worlds that decades of coexistence in Los Angeles did not provide. They needed to be in Israel and placed in a pressure-cooker to highlight how much they have in common, how together they can form a coherent, strong community.
Back from the mission, they will now work to bring their congregations closer, for we all stand united in support of the Jewish Homeland, the source of our Jewish Identity � ��" G-d's promise to his people for all time � ��" Israel.
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