The Liberal Jewish congregation and the Orthodox Ashkenazic congregation issued a joint statement of reconciliation here on Yom Kippur eve, deploring the recent media attention given to their ideological differences.
The statement noted that increasing polarization within the Dutch Jewish community is assuming disquieting proportions and therefore the two congregations want to emphasize what unites them rather than what divides them.
The most fundamental issue, the statement said, is to maintain a viable Jewish community in an increasingly secular society. Though the methods to achieve this may differ, there has been cooperation in many fields since the end of World War II in 1945 and this cooperation must continue.
The Yom Kippur eve statement was prompted by the extensive coverage by the Dutch media of a dispute arising from the admission policy of the Maimonides Lyceum in Amsterdam. The Jewish religious school refused to admit a pupil whose mother is non-Jewish according to halachic standards.
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