Angered by Pluralism Resolution, Orthodox Suspend Involvement in Azm

In a move highlighting the tension over religious issues in umbrella Jewish organizations, Orthodox Zionist groups have “suspended” their membership in the American Zionist Movement to protest the passage of a resolution favoring religious pluralism in Israel.

The groups – Amit Women, Emunah Women and the Religious Zionists of America – announced their move in a Jan. 12 letter to AZM President Seymour Reich.

“It is with a heavy heart that we are constrained to inform you that we are suspending our membership in the American Zionist Movement immediately,” the letter said.

It added: “Unless this pernicious resolution is withdrawn in short order, we will have no alternative other than to formally withdraw from membership.”

The letter was sent following AZM’s annual convention, which took place Jan 8- 10 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The controversial resolution “calls upon the government and Knesset of Israel to extend full freedom of religion to all Jews in Israel and equal treatment to all movements and ideologies reflected in the American Zionist Movement.”

It was introduced at the resolutions sessions by the Association of Reform Zionists of America and Mercaz, the Conservative movement’s Zionist arm.

Norman Schwartz, a former vice president of AZM, who chaired the session, said the vote to pass the resolution “was not close,” although he did not reveal the exact count.

In their letter to Reich, the Orthodox groups reflected on what passage of the resolution meant for the Zionist movement in the United States.

“Separate and apart from the obvious fact that it is not the role of the American Jewish community to dictate religious standards or practices to the sovereign government of the State of Israel, what is much more critical to us is that the adoption of the resolution strikes a body blow to the continued viability of the AZM as a united coordinating body,” they wrote.

Reich, who has been president of AZM since its founding in 1993, was disappointed by the departure of the Orthodox groups but hopeful that their decision was not permanent.

“I would hope that they would reconsider and we could find a way to accommodate their needs,” said Reich, who was re-elected to another two-year term at the convention.

Reich emphasized, however, that AZM will still “be able to function” even without the Orthodox groups, since they did not represent a majority of delegates to the umbrella organization.

Hadassah-Women’s Zionist Organization of America has the largest delegation, followed by ARZA and Mercaz.

But the withdrawal of the Orthodox groups comes on the heels of two other defections from AZM. This leaves 10 groups as members in good standing, down from an original 16.

Last year, the American arm of the right-wing Tsomet party and the Zionist Organization of America announced their own suspensions from AZM to protest the umbrella group’s strong support for the policies of Israel’s dovish Labor government.

In addition, Likud USA had been suspended from AZM for failure to pay dues.

These moves had left the Orthodox groups alone in AZM in representing a constituency generally opposed to the peace process.

The departure of the Orthodox groups from AZM reflected tensions between Orthodox and non-Orthodox groups being played out in other American Jewish organizations.

Some say those kind of tensions led to the demise late last year of the Synagogue Council of America, a 68-year-old umbrella organization for Orthodox, Conservative and Reform rabbinical groups.

The issue of religious pluralism in Israel has also been an ongoing source of debate within the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council, which holds its annual plenum next month.

Before last year’s plenum, the Reform movement made clear its intention of introducing a resolution similar to the one that passed at AZM.

The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America threatened to pull out of NJCRAC if the resolution was even raised at the plenum.

The Reform movement backed off, but both sides agreed to participate in a committee to study the issue. According to Larry Rubin, executive vice chairman of NJCRAC, that committee will announce at next month’s plenum that the Reform and Orthodox groups had agreed to participate in a NJCRAC consultation, or hearing on the issue.

The groups will hear from Israelis and explore the issue “in an educational fashion,” said Rubin.

The AZM also has a history on this issue. The Reform and Conservative movements introduced a resolution on religious pluralism at last year’s convention and a tacit understanding was developed on how the proposal should be handled.

An Orthodox representative made a motion to table the resolution. That motion passed, and the delegates were thereby able to get around the Orthodox groups’ objection to participating in a debate over the issue.

The Reform and Conservative movements have allowed this process to take place in the AZM and other umbrella Jewish groups, including NJCRAC, “for the sake of unity,” said Renah Rabinowitz, executive director of Mercaz.

This year, however, what Reich described as “a procedural fluke” allowed the resolution to pass.

Historically, only a simple majority was needed to approve the motion tabling the resolution. This time, however, when an AMIT delegate proposed the motion to table, the official in charge of procedure at the session said the motion required a two-thirds majority.

“A good, overwhelming majority of delegates” – though not two-thirds – voted to table the resolution, so “I was confident that the [tabling] motion would pass,” said Reich in an interview.

He said he did not notice the procedural incident until after the convention ended.

This “fluke” may leave open a loophole that could allow the Orthodox groups to rejoin AZM, said Reich.

Reich said that it would be “appropriate for the religious Zionists to ask the national board to reconsider the motion to table” when the board next meets, in about three months.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Reform and Conservative movements were thrilled that the resolution had passed.

“We finally won one,” said Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, executive director of ARZA. “It demonstrates the undeniable momentum that religious rights have for American Jewry.”

Hirsch said that ARZA is on the verge of launching an effort called “Operation Equality,” which will try and raise $2 million in two years from Reform Jews to underwrite an educational and advertising campaign in Israel on the topic of religious pluralism.

ARZA is working closely with the Conservative movement in Israel on the effort, said Hirsch, and hopes that the campaign will result in the introduction of legislation in the Knesset to allow non-Orthodox rabbis to officiate at marriages.

Representatives of Reform and Conservative organizations were disappointed that the Orthodox groups would pull out of AZM over this issue.

They said they have faithfully participated in umbrella organizations with the Orthodox and not threatened to pull out even when their positions were excluded from the agenda.

“We’ve been the ones disenfranchised or rejected and yet we remained loyal,” said Rabinowitz of Mercaz.

“It’s precisely because we have been good loyal soldiers that to some degree we’ve gotten screwed by it. One would have to ask whether it is time to begin threatening [to pull out of organizations if we do not get our way], which I don’t want to do,” she said.