Leaders of Conservative Judaism called on their members Wednesday to stop contributing to ultra-Orthodox groups that support changing Israel’s Law of Return.
The Council of Conservative Leaders, chaired by Dr. Ismar Schorsch, chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, said in a statement Wednesday that the Lubavitch Hasidic movement, led by Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, is the main group advocating amending the Law of Return.
However, a message sent to members Wednesday does not refer to the Lubavitch movement by name.
The proposed amendment says that only conversions performed by Orthodox rabbis will be considered valid in Israel. Non-Orthodox converts would not qualify for Israeli citizenship. Conservative and other non-Orthodox Jews consider the amendment an assault on their legitimacy.
Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, a spokesman for Lubavitch movement, said Wednesday afternoon that the Conservative leader’s statement is “shameful and a dangerous blow to Judaism and humanity.
“It is blatantly immoral and unethical to deprive the tens of thousands of needy material and spiritual beneficiaries of the Lubavitch movement, which maintains open doors and outreach programs for all Jews.”
The Lubavitch gain considerable financial support for their educational and outreach activities from non-Orthodox sources, including Conservative Jews, as the Conservative leaders acknowledged in their statement.
The Conservative leaders urged their constituents to maintain their political and philanthropic support of Israel through the United Jewish Appeal, and to redouble their financial support of Conservative institutions in Israel.
Conservative Judaism is the largest American Jewish religious movement, claiming 36 percent of the country’s 5.8 million Jews. The Reform movement represents 30 percent, the Orthodox 10 percent. The rest are unaffiliated.
The Reform movement has made no formal appeal that contributions to supporters of the so-called “Who Is a Jew” amendment be curtailed.
But according to Rabbi Alexander Schindler, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, “there will be very few Reform Jews who will contribute to those who read us out of the fold.”
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