Word: jewes
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Yitzhak Shamir is virtually besieged. Infuriated American Jewish leaders have descended on Jerusalem to berate the Prime Minister for promising to meddle with Israel's definition of who is a Jew. Thousands of angry calls and letters flooded his office, and secular Israelis took to the streets to denounce religious coercion. Acknowledged one Shamir aide: "I'd say he's got a bit of a problem on his hands. Blood pressures are soaring...
Shamir sparked the fire storm by promising to amend Israel's Law of Return, which grants automatic citizenship to any Jew. Shamir professes little personal interest in the details of Jewish conversion; his courtship of the religious parties simply reflects his determination to control the government...
...current law defines a Jew as anyone born of a Jewish mother or converted by a rabbi, regardless of whether the rabbi was Orthodox, Conservative or Reform. The new version would legitimize only Orthodox conversions. Most American Jews have no intention of emigrating to Israel, but they consider the symbolic slap profoundly insulting. The vast majority of U.S. Jews identify with the Conservative and Reform branches, and believe their religious legitimacy would be challenged. They also fear diminished support for a radicalized Israel. "This is something of an endeavor to make Israel more of a theocratic state," says Rabbi Alexander...
...flaw in his comparison of the two issues subject to American Jewish criticism is clear. The question of what makes one a Jew has been discussed for ages by Jews of all sects. An authoritative determination by the religious right that would indeed assert the "unworthiness of non-orthodox beliefs" affects most American Jews directly, both by denying the validity of their faith and failing to grant the privileges of automatic entry, residence and citizenship to their converts. The territorial conflict is a matter of internal Israeli politics whose resolution only directly affects citizens of Israel. Certainly all who love...
...violations of its soldiers. But Sharfstein fails to present a realistic argument in favor of open criticism of internal Israeli policy. His comparison with criticism of a Jewish religious issue is hollow; his assertion that failure to point out Israel's shortcomings actually hurts Israel is wrong. As a Jew who claims loyalty to Israel, he would do well to direct his criticism in a more constructive...