Thousands Rally in New York City in Solidarity with Israeli Orthodox

Amid a heavy downpour of rain — and an even heavier downpour of controversy — an estimated 40,000 American Orthodox Jews gathered in New York City this weekend to express their concern over the future of Jewish tradition in the Jewish state.

For 90 minutes, one could see huge clusters of black hats and modestly dressed women from and beyond the New York area as the sounds of prayer filled the streets of a 12-bloc radius in Lower Manhattan.

With prayer books and umbrellas in hand, the crowd, which included individuals from all streams of Orthodoxy, rallied, in the words of the event’s palnners, with “no speeches, no dais, no organizational sponsorship, just Jews coming together to pray and express solidarity with their brothers and sisters in the Holy Land.”

“They are not praying for politicians to do a particular thing. It’s just Jews gathering to pray en masse,” said Rabbi Avi Shafran, spokesman for the fervently Orthodox Agudath Israel of America and one of the organizers of the events.

“There are no speeches at this gathering and no references to what happened in Israel.”

Although the situation in Israel was not spoken of at the prayer vigil itself, Sunday’s gathering was reminiscent of a similar event in Jerusalem two weeks ago, when 250,000 Orthodox Jews came together in the wake of Israeli court decisions that many Orthodox fear could change the nature of the Jewish state.

The fervently Orthodox, or haredi, leaders in Israel called for a demonstration after the high court issued an order to allow Conservative and Reform representatives to serve on local religious councils.

The haredi leaders also were stung by court rulings that canceled a decades-old arrangement under which yeshiva students are entitled to army draft exemptions and a separate decision allowing a kibbutz to maintain business operations on the Sabbath.

The debate over religious pluralism in Israel has often reverberated among American Jews, with Reform and Conservative Jews expressing outrage at the lack of official recognition for their movements in Israel.

For their part, many Orthodox Jews here have voiced their concern about altering the status quo in Israel, which grants the Orthodox sole authority on religious matters.

The fervently Orthodox Agudath Israel last year launched a $2 million campaign explaining its opposition to the introduction of pluralism in Israel.

Am Echad, which is independent but is led by some involved with Agudah, has placed ads in The New York Times, charging that U.S. Reform and Conservative leaders “want you to believe that Israel’s Orthodox parties don’t want to recognize American Jews as Jews.”

In the wake of Sunday’s gathering, the Reform and Conservative movements criticized the Orthodox for not acknowledging the religious diversity in Israel.

“If they are praying for the unity of Israel, they should demonstrate a way of bringing people together by allowing one to believe,” said Rabbi Jerome Epstein, executive vice president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. “Prayer is important, but not sufficient. They have to resolve and change their attitude.”

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, the executive director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America, said, “Rallies are no sign of strength; they are signs of weakness.

“Why after all these years are they suddenly coming out now? Power is slipping out of their fingers.

“If they want to pray, that’s what synagogues are for. You have to take what they say with a grain of salt. The purpose of this gathering goes beyond prayer,” Hirsch said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Mandell Ganchrow, president of the centrist Orthodox Union, opted not to participate in Sunday’s gathering, but applauded the effort.

“They are doing a credible job, and they are representing their issues properly,” he said of the event’s organizers.

Although the rain persisted, the organizers of the rally were overjoyed at the turnout of people coming to pray and recite psalms.

Participants said they felt a similar joy at the intensity of the vigil.

“This gathering is to show that we have a deep love for all Jews,” said Gary Litke, an attorney from New York. “We are all brothers and sisters. We are uniting in recognition that in Orthodoxy a Jew is a Jew.”

“It is because of segregation between Jews that we are out here,” said Chani Friedman, a New York-based writer. “This is all about love. Not much else can get us out in the rain.”