September 14, 2009
Carmit Sapir Weitz, Maariv

Here is one more reason for the Haredis to take to the street in protest: While the Supreme Court criticizes the Tal law, “Hiddush”, an organization devoted to fighting religious coercion and the orthodox monopoly over our lives, has launched its operations. The founders of the organization, Disney executive Stanley Gold and Reform rabbi Uri Regev warn that if Haredim continue to study in yeshivas, receive draft deferments, and avoid entering the Israeli workforce, it will pose an existential threat to Israel. Amos Oz and Meirav Michaeli have already been drafted to the campaign.

 

--Rabbi Uri Regev doesn’t believe what he sees with his own eyes. He finds himself at a protest against the opening of the “Carta” parking lot in Jerusalem surrounded by Haredi demonstrators, and three young men from the Bnei Akiva movement wearing kippas and wrapping themselves in Israeli flags.

 

“Nazis! Go back to Germany!” Regev hears protestors in the background shouting at the policemen.

 

“This thing very much sharpens the power of the existential struggle in which Israel finds itself,” says Regev, an attorney and the General Secretary of the World Movement for Progressive Judaism.

 

“On one hand, we see Haredim shouting “Nazis!” or “go back to Morocco” at the police and brawling with Kippa wearers. On the other hand, we see the “good, beautiful Israel” where we are all in this together – from reform secular Israelis like myself to Orthodox Israelis who understand that “a righteous man lives through his faith”.

 

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Stanley Gold sits in his office at Disney headquarters, no less bothered than his colleague in Israel. Gold, the CEO of “Shamrock”, and the supervisor of Disney’s financial holdings and its investments in Israel (which have reached a billion dollars), is not happy with what is taking place here.

 

The society is divided, there is no equality in the shouldering of the national burden, and the opening of a single parking is enough to set the streets of Jerusalem on fire. So, instead of being satisfied with the usual complaining, he has enlisted Jews from around the world, religious and secular, in order to change the situation.

 

Until now, they say, Diaspora Jewry has been seen as a place from which to gather resources and not as a partner in the struggle over Israel’s Jewish character. “This is going to change”, Stanley Gold said on the phone from Los Angeles.

 

“We must understand that we are returning to the question of the control of the religious over the political system [in Israel]. There can’t be mutual respect or real relations if at the foundation there exists the ability of one side to impose its beliefs on the other. In a system like this, real relations are not formed. When it’s all said and done, a system like this is destined to crumble.”

 

With this in mind, Regev and Gold decided to found the organization “Hidush”, (a Hebrew acronym for “freedom of religion and equality”) the first international initiative of its sort, with a very clear goal: To enact once and for all David Ben-Gurion’s historic declaration which promised a state based on “the foundations of freedom, justice, and peace in keeping with the vision of the prophets of Israel.”

 

The two founders have decided to take off the kid gloves and declare a war on religious coercion. In Gold’s words: “We must bring the state to enact equality, civil rights, and policies based on the equality of all citizens.”

 

The men will host a festive launch party for the organization this coming Monday, at Independence Hall on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, the spot where David Ben-Gurion declared the founding of the state of Israel.

 

In Israel, the group has been joined by such luminaries as author Amos Oz, Educator Uriel Reichmann, journalist Amnon Rubinstein, and TV and radio host Meirav Michaeli to name a few. In the United States, the movement has been joined by attorney Alan Dershowitz, Jewish communal organizer Charles Bronfmann, legendary TV producer Norman Lear (“All in the Family”) and 180 rabbis.

 

Meirav Michaeli has promised to appear in promotional spots for the organization, and Rubinstein has promised “to assist the organization in every way, in particular through writing articles or lectures”. Amos Oz has taken time off from writing to give internet conference calls with American rabbis, in order to encourage them to speak about freedom of religion and equality in Israel, with an emphasis on the urgency of the problem.

 

“Hello friends, from hot and sweaty Tel Aviv. Sweaty, but full of life and excitement”, Oz begins the discussion online. “I am happy to take part in the founding of Hidush, and I hope that it will mark a turning point in the Israeli reality, through the struggle between fanaticism and tolerance, extremism and pluralism. For many generations Judaism was open to interpretation, an interpretation that respected both supportive and contrary beliefs. This is the spirit and importance of Jewish tradition. It’s not a coincidence that Judaism never had a pope, or never could have one. If a Jew had stepped forth and called for the appointment of a Jewish pope, Jews would have approached him, slapped him on his shoulders and said “Hey, pope, you don’t acknowledge me and I don’t you, but my grandfather and your parents were in business together in Minsk, or Casablanca, and therefore I can say to you once and for all what God wants from us.”

 

This is the anarchistic character of Jewish pluralism; everybody is eligible and it is desirable if they take part in discussion and offer contrary interpretations…..We are the descendants of generation upon generation of a culture of doubt and discourse. This is the reason for our survival.”

 

The war is ideological, but numbers-based nonetheless. Reports filed by a number of different sources both governmental and academic, paint a problematic, even apocalyptic picture of what will take place in the coming years in Israel. According to the Taub center, which researches social policy in Israel, the last decade has seen the number of students studying in Haredi institutions rise by 51%.

 

“Ten years ago, seven percent of the youths in Israel received a deferment from the IDF based on their religious demands. Today that number has risen to 14 percent. Twenty-five percent of first-grade students in the Haredi sector study in Haredi institutions, and in another decade twenty-five percent of students will receive a religious deferment from IDF service,” Regev says.

 

According to a report compiled by the national economic council and the Bank of Israel, the situation strikes a direct blow to the national economy. Only 35 percent of Haredi men work, most of them part-time within the educational institutions in their own communities. The rest don’t work at all.

 

Regev, who is backed up by around ten supreme court justices on the issue of human rights and the media’s wrestling with Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, explains: An entire sector, which is skilled intellectually, decides not to take part in the job market and instead relies on the Israeli economy to make up for the lost production. In London and New York you find the same Hassidic environments, but there the percentage of men who work is double what it is in Israel. Why? Because the state of Israel underwrites this situation.”

 

I am very aware of this argument. A joke says that Tzfat was saved during the 1948 war of Independence thanks to a miracle and a deed. The deed was that people said prayers and the miracle was that the Palmach (pre-IDF Jewish militia) arrived. Do you want to study? Feel free, but not at my expense. This community’s studies take place not because there is a public demand for them rather because on our backs they are carrying out deals that endanger the vitality of the Israeli economy.

 

There is no disagreement over the fact that during the Declaration of Independence of Israel, “Jewishness” was considered the principal factor in citizenship. That said, the definition of “Jewishness” has never in history been strictly defined. It’s no wonder there are those who say that “Jewishness” has been determined for years in Israel by secondary agents, and as of 2009 the concept is defined only by the orthodox religious authorities. Hidush has no problem with national religious Jews, on the contrary, they are hoping they will take part in the efforts of Hidush. Furthermore, Regev and Gold say, there are large segments of the national religious public who understand that religious imposition only causes harm to Judaism and that the secular are allies and not enemies. Religious members of the Knesset, among them Menahem Ben-Sasson, Michael Malchior, Etniel Shenler (sp?), and Zevulon Orlev, have enacted bills in the Knesset meant to limit the powers of rabbinical courts.

 

“One of the reasons that the national religious also get worked up over the initiative [Hidush] is that they see a change of direction towards freedom of religion as presenting the potential for a great strengthening of Judaism and its renewal in Israel,” Regev says.

 

“Also, they don’t fear that someone is seeking to destroy Judaism. What we are doing is returning Judaism to the reality wherein the creativity, personal identity, and dynamism which develop through changes over time will be the rule and not the exception.”

 

“Our efforts are not linked to one religious world view or another. We are convinced that the rules of the game must be changed. The principles of freedom of religion and conscience, which are often spoken of with a wink and a smile, must become firmly established. People need to be capable of forming their own Jewish world view as they see fit.”

 

Gold is troubled by the inequality in the carrying of the national burden and the trend of “Haredization” taking place in Israel.

 

“Who, God tell us, will pay for the yeshivas twenty years from now,” Gold asks. “In other countries where there is a Haredi community, like for instance in the Haredi community in New York, the majority of men work and only a minority, the prodigies, study in yeshivas.”

 

In Europe before the Holocaust and in today’s United States, only small percentages continued their studies, here, anyone who wants to will be accepted to a yeshiva and will be exempted from IDF service - on one condition: a birth certificate. According to Gold and Stanley, when David Ben-Gurion signed off on the deferment for yeshiva students, , the leader of the Haredi community in the 50s saw it as an opportunity to rebuild the yeshivas decimated in the Holocaust and a chance to allow Torah prodigies an opportunity to get out of service in the IDF. In 1977, when the Likud came to power, Menachem Begin enlarged yeshiva supplements as part of the agreements reached with coalition partner Agudat Israel.

 

In recent years, legislation has been proposed to address freedom of religion and equality, but these proposals have been left on the Knesset cutting room floor. A peek at these proposals indicates that what they demand from Knesset parliamentarians is basically to cut and paste proposals that had been presented to them, and to wait for them to be buried. But in spite of this, history promises that Hidush will have big plans: the first will be the launching of a large Web site that will allow the public in Israel and the Diaspora to gain a comprehensive and updated view of the issue of religion in Israel.

 

The organization plans to have a massive presence on the internet – social networks, blogs, and forums to name a few initiatives. In addition, the group plans on managing a close tracking of Haredi political activity as well as the extreme religious press. They also plan on tracking legislation and judicial issues relating to religion, and the carrying out of research and reports. One of these was the “Religion and State index”, a public opinion survey based on a large survey sample which will be released next month.

 

Enough is enough 

Gold, the executive in charge of Disney's investments, is a well-known figure in Israel. He visits here often, and meets with senior political and financial officials. According to Gold, the company "Shamrock" which he heads, is the most active foreign investor in Israel with investments of nearly a billion dollars in companies such as Tadiran, Pelephone, Kor, Matab, Dor Energy, Cinema City, Ahava cosmetics, Teva Naot sandals, and Telad to name a few. Gold, a lawyer by profession, is one of the closest confidants to Roy Disney, Walt Disney's nephew and one of the three largest private stockholders in the international entertainment empire. As part of his responsibilities with Disney, Gold handles Disney's investments in the United States and Israel.  

We live here, you live in Los Angeles. Under what basis can you build deep, responsible programs that deal with Israel reality? 

I see myself as a trustworthy long-term investor in Israel. First off, my involvement in Israel has already been taking place for 25 years and over the course of these years, I visited Israel more than 100 times. I serve as the head of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, the city with the world's largest population of Jews after New York and Tel Aviv. In this framework, I have forged long-term connections with organizations in Israel and have been exposed to the sentiments of a variety of groups in Israel. To the best of my memory, ever since Yitzhak Shamir was prime minister I have met every member of the Israeli political elite. On this basis, I believe that I have a long, loyal familiarity with the detrimental ramifications of what is taking place in Israel in regard to religion. 
 

"I like the image of me jumping into the deep end on this issue. I am a grown man and I understand perfectly the reality here. I know that this initiative will naturally lead to difficult reactions from people towards Hidush. They have said about me and I agree; that I am a man who doesn't get ulcers from other people, rather, I give them ulcers. It is obvious that there will be hostile responses to Hidush, but I don’t give them much thought. I am very encouraged by the enthusiastic responses we've received from people we already met who react positively to the initiative. The hostile person I run into is not what is important; rather, it is the issue itself that concerns me. People are starting to understand that enough is enough." 

In Regev's case, his identification with the reform movement, which has carried out a bitter argument with the orthodox establishment, stands to slander the name of Hidush, as it could be seen as another organization seeking to advance an extreme secular agenda. 

This does not disturb Regev. "I have dropped some of my desires in order to placate those of others.” I am aware of this misconception about me and will launch every effort in order to neutralize it. For example, we will use steering forums and support groups in which secular and orthodox Jews work together. These will help prevent people from suspecting that they are being viewed as emissaries of reform interests. What comforts me is that the majority of Israelis are interested in Israel remaining a Jewish state, but view their Judaism in a broader sense.

The American experience teaches that there is nothing like freedom of religion to enable the individual to live a religious life. There is no country more religious than America, where you will find a wall separating religion and state.

Maybe we're just suffering from the systems of a country that is only 61 years old? In the historical sense, we are still in the embryonic stage. 

Maybe in the historical perspective 61 years isn’t much time, but there is a point where in the 21^st century we must look at accepted norms for managing a democratic state. Israel doesn’t measure up to these standards. We have arrived at the stage where all the indications point to a worsening, not improving situation. 
 

You speak about renewal. Could it be that it is renewal itself that is intimidating? 

There is no doubt that when you observe Meah Shearim, and see the model of Judaism that is accepted by parties like United Torah Judaism, Degel Hatorah, and Shas, you understand that they do not change. The scripture tells us that "new is forbidden by the Torah". This is the safe guarantee that Judaism will remain in the backyard of religious criminals. Whoever maintains that this is Judaism, I have no argument with him. But the public is becoming fed-up and distanced from this perception of Judaism, and it's a tragedy. This depositing of Judaism in the hands of these types and those like them leads to the detachment of an entire generation that sees in Judaism an anachronistic and politically coercive phenomenon. There are more than a few religious people who are aware of our operations and though it is difficult for them to say so publicly, they support us quietly.
 

Why quietly? You speak frankly of an effort to repair societal injustice. 

For certain people, public identification stands to harm the funding of the institutions that they lead. The Israeli political religious institution and the rabbinical establishment see freedom of choice as a serious threat to their authority, their control, and the budgets they receive.
 

Once again, we've gotten to the issue of money. 

Also money and big money at that. But there is absolutely an ideological issue as well.  
 

Who's an Anti-Semite? 

A calculation shows that there is no shortage of work to be carried out. There are the issues of the gender-separated bus lines in Jerusalem, damage caused to the integration of Ethiopian students in the school system, the lack of IDF enlistment by yeshiva students, retroactive nullification of conversions, Sabbath protests, the threat to the Israeli economy posed by the Haredi community's lack of entry in the workforce, and the denial of the matrimonial rights of hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens, to name a few issues. 
 

 

“That’s a difficult statement. I’m more positive in regard to the question of where Israel stands. We must look at the historical perspective. Nations that were founded in conflict, like the United States and Israel must seek out compromise and temporary arrangements until they can build a basis for their power and identity. These compromises are necessary at the beginning.”

 

“The American example is instructive. Voting was once a right given only to land-owners and men. The amazing thing was that half of the citizens insisted that blacks don’t need to be given the right to vote. The other side maintained that they needed to be freed from slavery and when they were given the right to vote, the power of each one’s vote was only counted as 3/5^th that of a white person. The generations that came after this were familiar with the injustice that was formed in these early arrangements and repaired them through the use of legislation and declarations that brought about the emancipation of black people.”

 

 

‘When we speak of freedom of religion, we are speaking of freedom of religion in general; for Jews, Muslims, and Christians. The problem isn’t the desire of Muslims to boycott those they don’t agree with, rather, the problem is the standpoint of the Haredi orthodox that boycotts others and demands that their community be exempt from the regulations of society.

 

We must cope with this first by identifying the solution to this problem. We are trying to form a new paradigm or new, foreign principles, rather, to return the basic foundations and promises of freedom of religion and conscience found in the Declaration of Independence.”

 

 

“Absolutely not. No one can accuse me of anti-Semitism. My obligation and my actions for the sake of the Jewish community and my involvement in Jewish causes support this. I won’t allow others to determine which type of Jew I am. The responses won’t determine which route our identity will take.”

 

Regev: Neither the Christian community or the Muslim community is responsible for the situation where in there is no transportation on the Sabbath, or why there are no civil marriages allowed in Israel.

 

These things happen because of the politicization of Judaism and not due to the religion itself. The question is what is the problem and how do we deal with it.

 

Dealing with complex questions that are bound to arise in the Muslim population or the Christian sector divert us from the real issue; the politicization of Judaism.’

 

 

Regev: The Rambam’s perspective was that Judaism is a political religion, but there is a difference between political Judaism and the warping of the religion into a hatchet with which to dig our own graves. The Rambam spoke about the negation of the means of forging an organized and just regime and threats to the feeling of solidarity in society. Today, these things are arranged in different ways. None of us would want to return to theocracy, to a situation wherein we stone people for turning on the lights on the Sabbath.

 

 

“If it was all in my hands, our activities would lead to the legislation of basic laws that assure freedom of religion. In my best dreams I would want to see legislation. I am starting to become afraid when I observe attempts at the advancement of legislation that I was involved in. It’s possible that good legislation is something that we can no longer manage to achieve unless we reach large-scale changes in the political system. We will work on all possible routes to achieve change: First we will show people what our goals our and we will try to connect the dots so that people will understand that the common denominator is freedom of religion and conscience.”