לא תטה משפט גר . . . וזכרת כי עבד היית במצרים
Do not pervert the rights of the stranger . . . and remember that you were once a slave in Egypt (Deuteronomy 24:17-18)
To our rabbinic colleagues in Israel,
We, rabbis serving in congregations and communities across the world, are turning to you for your assistance and leadership at a time of crisis. The recent halakhic ruling from community rabbis in Israel that forbids leasing apartments to non-Jews has caused great shock and pain in our communities. The attempt to root discriminatory policies based on religion or ethnicity in Torah is a painful distortion of our tradition. Am Yisrael knows the sting of discrimination, and we still bear the scars of hatred. When those who represent the official rabbinic leadership of the State of Israel express such positions, we are distressed by this Chillul HaShem, desecration of God’s name.
This degradation of the Torah threatens both Israel and our communities. We struggle to maintain a strong, loving relationship between Jews outside of Israel and the Jewish state.Every day, that challenge grows more difficult. Many of our congregants love Israel and want nothing more than the safety and security of the Jewish homeland, but for a growing number of Jews in America this relationship to Israel cannot be assumed.
Statements like these do great damage to our efforts to encourage people to love and support Israel. They communicate to our congregants that Israel does not share their values, and they promote feelings of alienation and distancing.Further, these attacks on the principles of our prophets, which form the basis of Israel’s law and society, provide justification for anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiment across the world.
Many of you have raised your voices in the past, and have dedicated your lives to pursuing a just society in Israel. You have taught us that the discriminatory attitude expressed in that halakhic ruling does not reflect the belief of the majority of rabbis and Torah scholars or the people of Israel, and for that reason, we turn to you. For the sake of our people, our Torah, and Israel, we beseech you to take a strong public stand and oppose those who misrepresent our tradition.
בברכה, שבמהרה ציון במשפט תפדה
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
December 16, 2010
December 14, 2010
The exhaustion of this fight is real but we are nearing one thousand signatures. Please post this link to your social media now so we can finally reach that threshold and force them to pay attention.
December 14, 2010
One hundred rabbis have added their names to this call. It is exhausting to face such a distortion of our tradition but seeing this many colleagues join is a necessary sign that we are not fighting this alone.
Reached 100 supporters
December 12, 2010
6 Comments
My community is watching this and they are very upset. We need to do better.
DISGUSTING. we were strangers in egypt too. stop the racism.
Right on. Torah is about love and justice not keeping people from having a roof over their heads.
how are we supposed to defend israel when rabbis say things like this? it makes it impossible to talk to my congregants.
thank you for speaking up. it is heartbreaking to see our traditions used as an excuse for hate.
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לא תטה משפט גר . . . וזכרת כי עבד היית במצרים
Do not pervert the rights of the stranger . . . and remember that you were once a slave in Egypt (Deuteronomy 24:17-18)
To our rabbinic colleagues in Israel,
We, rabbis serving in congregations and communities across the world, are turning to you for your assistance and leadership at a time of crisis. The recent halakhic ruling from community rabbis in Israel that forbids leasing apartments to non-Jews has caused great shock and pain in our communities. The attempt to root discriminatory policies based on religion or ethnicity in Torah is a painful distortion of our tradition. Am Yisrael knows the sting of discrimination, and we still bear the scars of hatred. When those who represent the official rabbinic leadership of the State of Israel express such positions, we are distressed by this Chillul HaShem, desecration of God’s name.
This degradation of the Torah threatens both Israel and our communities. We struggle to maintain a strong, loving relationship between Jews outside of Israel and the Jewish state.Every day, that challenge grows more difficult. Many of our congregants love Israel and want nothing more than the safety and security of the Jewish homeland, but for a growing number of Jews in America this relationship to Israel cannot be assumed.
Statements like these do great damage to our efforts to encourage people to love and support Israel. They communicate to our congregants that Israel does not share their values, and they promote feelings of alienation and distancing.Further, these attacks on the principles of our prophets, which form the basis of Israel’s law and society, provide justification for anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiment across the world.
Many of you have raised your voices in the past, and have dedicated your lives to pursuing a just society in Israel. You have taught us that the discriminatory attitude expressed in that halakhic ruling does not reflect the belief of the majority of rabbis and Torah scholars or the people of Israel, and for that reason, we turn to you. For the sake of our people, our Torah, and Israel, we beseech you to take a strong public stand and oppose those who misrepresent our tradition.
בברכה, שבמהרה ציון במשפט תפדה
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
December 16, 2010
December 14, 2010
The exhaustion of this fight is real but we are nearing one thousand signatures. Please post this link to your social media now so we can finally reach that threshold and force them to pay attention.
December 14, 2010
One hundred rabbis have added their names to this call. It is exhausting to face such a distortion of our tradition but seeing this many colleagues join is a necessary sign that we are not fighting this alone.
Reached 100 supporters
December 12, 2010
6 Comments
This is a total desecration of everything we stand for. We are better than this.
My community is watching this and they are very upset. We need to do better.
DISGUSTING. we were strangers in egypt too. stop the racism.
Right on. Torah is about love and justice not keeping people from having a roof over their heads.
how are we supposed to defend israel when rabbis say things like this? it makes it impossible to talk to my congregants.
thank you for speaking up. it is heartbreaking to see our traditions used as an excuse for hate.
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This is a total desecration of everything we stand for. We are better than this.