Special in Terview Conservative Judaism in Israel

Perhaps belatedly, but with much vigor and determination, the Conservative movement has decided to turn its attentions to Israel, with a view to establishing a strong and expanding Conservative (“Masorati”) presence within the Jewish State.

The plans and programs that have been drawn up were given impetus this month by an extended visit to Jerusalem by Dr.Gerson Cohen, Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City, a spiritual leader with a great deal of practical verve and drive.

“I keep being told by Israeli politicians that what counts here is not ideology, but numbers — and I realize it is true, “Cohen said in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

So, while continuing to fight for religious pluralism in Israel’s one-stream (Orthodox) establishment, Cohen is leading the Conservative movement in a bold new endeavor: to establish itself solidly at the grass roots level across the country.

At present, after years of quiet and unobtrusive activity, there is one Conservative school (in Jerusalem), a youth summer camp “Romoh” (also in Jerusalem) and a number of synagogues around the country.

ELEMENTS OF THE NEW PROGRAM

The new program proposes to increase and multiply all these endeavors manifold. A planned “Foundation for Masorati Judaism in Israel,” with an annual budget of $1.5 million will:

Train Israeli rabbis and teachers for service in Israel, though the indigenous Conservative movement will evolve its own spiritual leadership.

* Develop methods and materials and provide personnel for the teaching of Jewish tradition in schools in Israel. This approach, it is hoped, will in time provide a pluralist alternative to the present rigid religious/secular school structure.

* Increase and strengthen the present network of Mosorati congregations, adult education centers summer camps for children, and family retreats, all over Israel.

* Establish the movement’s first kibbutz. A nucleus has been formed Cohen said, and land has been earmarked in the Galilee.

* Translate into Hebrew the classics of Conservative Jewish thought and extend publications programs in Israel.

OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE PLAN

“I am sure,” said Cohen, “that potentially 80 percent of Israelis are sympathetic to Conservative Judaism.” So many Israelis, he adds, would like religious content in their lives but are put off by Orthodox-style synagogues that “represent to them the ghetto, dogma, and compulsion — especially in the education of children.”

“If we succeed,” he continued, “we shall increase Shabbat observance by 100 percent in this country, increase kashrut, increase all aspects of religious life. I’m not saying everyone will observe everything in our congregations. But the overall effect will be to increase religion.”

Cohen stressed the aspect of developing private religious institutions on the American pattern, instead of the government-funded system that prevails in Israel. He said the lay leadership of the Conservative movement in the United States was enthusiastically behind him and his staff in Israel regarding the Foundation plan. The JTS hancellor met in Jerusalem with spiritual and lay leaders of Israel’s various Sephardic communities. He is convinced, he said, that there is tremendous potential for Conservative Judaism among the Sephardim, where the generation gap between observant parents and non-observant children is often very pronounced.

On “ideological” matters, Cohen had a lengthy interview with Premier Menachem Begin, where the “Who is a Jew” issue was a central subject.

Cohen said he found the Premier himself to be fully in sympathy with the Aguda-National Religious Party positions on such matters of Jewish identity as “Who is a Jew,” marriage and divorce. Thus, in a hypothetical situation in which Begin did not need the religious parties for his coalition majority, he would still, in Cohen’s view, take Orthodox positions on these controversial issues.

“There is little doubt in my mind that he (Begin) doesn’t speak merely out of political utility on these issues,” Cohen said. “He speaks with unequivocal conviction.”