By Marc Hurwitz, Tribe Coordinator
The summer is upon us and we at The Tribe have a lot going on. From a new poker series to Jewish book club to planning for free High Holy Day Services, we are not feeling the typical “summer slow-down”. We love creating these events that we hope will be enjoyed by a wide range of folks.
During my recent trip to Israel, I reflected on The Tribe’s mission: “…to cultivate an open, supportive and stimulating environment for young Jewish professionals in South Florida between the ages of 21 and 39 — through business, social networking, community service, and intellectual and spiritual events.” In other words, we strive to find Jews wherever they are and bring them together, to enrich their lives on a number of levels, from social to spiritual. It’s more of a challenge doing this than in Israel, where the person selling you a falafel to the taxi driver to the Rabbi at the Western Wall, all define themselves as Jews. It’s an amazing feeling to be there and be surrounded by your co-religionists.
My observations seemed prescient as a controversy has erupted in Israel between Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu party and leaders of the North American Jewish community (both pictured below) over a bill on conversion in Israel approved in committee and slated be brought to the Knesset floor. The non-Orthodox streams of Judaism (Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist) as well as many other North American Jewish leaders representing the vast majority of Diaspora Jewry have been fighting vigorously against this bill since it was introduced in April of this year. The bill, authored by MK David Rotem, would legislatively consolidate all of the power for conversion in Israel in the ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate. This bill threatens to revive the notorious who-is-a-Jew issue and drive a wedge between Israeli and Diaspora Jewry by distinguishing between Jews by birth and Jews by Choice and altering the Law of Return.
I consider the Tribe’s existence in and of itself a strong condemnation of the proposed “conversion bill”. We strive to be INCLUSIVE, no matter how you define your association to Judaism. In fact, many of us on the Tribe Board are Jews by Choice, or married to one. We take pride in the Tribe’s mission to bring Jews together in a disparate range of activities – some more religious or spiritual than others. We in the diaspora must remain unified in our mutual acceptance of each other’s definition of Judaism. We believe that The Tribe plays an important role in bringing Jews from different backgrounds together, where we can socialize, play, and learn together. We hope that the conversion bill finds its appropriate end on the Knesset floor. In the meantime, we in the Diaspora will continue to stand proud in our Judaism. And just maybe The Tribe is playing a small part in keeping us all together.
We would love to hear from you on this or any other subject. Email us at info@thetribemb.org. As always, we welcome volunteers to sit on planning committees for upcoming events.
