The Jerusalem municipal council was today facing a crisis following an announcement by the religious parties participating in the coalition municipal administration of the city that they were breaking away from the coalition.
The announcement came after the municipal council approved a building permit for the American School of Archeology in Jerusalem, in which students will hold Reform services. The services will be held in the library of the institution, which will be sponsored by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the American Reform seminary.
The Orthodox members of the municipal council, opposed the project for weeks on the ground that it introduces the Reform movement in Jerusalem. Avote was finally forced last night by Mayor Gershon Agron, a Mapai leader who was elected mayor with the support of the Orthodox councillors.
In the vote last night, six Mapai councillors were joined by two Progressives, one Achdut Avodah and one representative of the WIZO to approve the application for the building. Opposing were four members of the Mizrachi, Hapoel Hamizrachi and Agudah. Four abstained, including three Herut members and one General Zionist.
Mayor Agron opened debate on the building application by asking the councillors to restrict themselves to the issues involved and not to bring in extraneous matters. He stressed that the Reform services would be held exclusively for students of the school in the library, and noted that except for some minor differences in the services, all other traditional practices would be observed, including reading the prayers in Hebrew, praying with covered heads and not having an organ in the room.
The Mayor noted that there were differences in religious services conducted by Jews from various countries, including those from Yemen and Aden and from the Western countries. Finally, he charged that the religious block members found financial contributions from Reform sources “kosher” but Reform Jews themselves “not kosher,” although they had become Zionist adherents.
Religious councillors attacked the Reform movement as a form of assimilation and insisted that a “temple” in Jerusalem would divide the people of Israel, Citing the religious character of the city’s student population, they said the councillors must look beyond the technical problems and see the possibility of disturbances of the peace created by the presence of Reform adherents. They insisted that Premier David Ben Gurion’s dictum that American Jews might contribute to Israel but must not interfere in its internal politics, held true for religious matters too.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
