Rabbi Robert I. Kahn, president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, called last night for an end to debates between the Israeli and diaspora Jewish communities regarding centrality and urged that all Jews should consider themselves as part of a family unit. “We need unity now, especially after the Yom Kippur War,” he said in his address at the opening session of the Reform Rabbinic group’s 85th annual meeting here which ends next Monday.
Referring to the development of Progressive Judaism in Israel, Rabbi Kahn stressed that “we have come to share our experience, not for the purpose of establishing outposts of Reform Judaism here, but in order that Israelis may enrich their lives with religious options.”
He felt that Reform Judaism can share much with the Israeli regarding the American Jewish experience in a democratic society where Jews can seek to bring the values and ethics of Judaism into action in dealing with problems affecting all United States citizens and communities. Rabbi Kahn said that today for Reform Jews “Israel is our spiritual homeland; no matter where we live, it is the Mizrach (east) on the wall of our hearts.”
The CCAR president called for a strengthening of the links between Jews from both communities. “We will continue to encourage our people to visit Israel, urge our youngsters to come on pilgrim age. We ought not rest until every Jewish youngster in the world is brought into contact with this land, for a month, a season, a year. Those who then choose to make aliya will bring strength to the land of Israel, and those who return to the diaspora will bring strength to the children of Israel wherever they live.”
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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.
