The Non-Orthodox of Israel

Non-Orthodox Jews, whom are also referred to as secular, reform, or conservative Jews, find themselves in the midst of internal religious conflict within the state of Israel and Orthodox Jews.  They consist of 80 percent of Israeli Jewish population in the country, but regardless of what type of Jew they are, they are still Jews nonetheless.  There are those that "eat milk and meat, but never on Sabbath.  Most are two holiday Jews who pray in synagogue only on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Others pray in the soccer stadium, but only when their team is losing" (Rosenthal, 232).  Most non-orthodox Jews still believe in God and Jewish spirituality but are just not as interested in the synagogue based aspect of the religion.  This leads to Orthodox Jews looking down upon those are not Orthodox.

 At times there would be discrimination.  For example, when Sivan Meshulam was a little girl, she would walk home from school and the Haredi would call her a certain name.  It turned out that she was being called a slut in Yiddish.  It is known that "Haredi men on 'modesty patrol' sometimes harass secular women with exposed arms and legs who enter their neighborhood.  They have thrown ink and cursed at dozens of women…" (Rosenthal, 235).  If anything, it is the Orthodox who are at the root of the discrimination because of their very biased point of views.  Sivan feels that "it really annoys [her] that there are narrow-minded haredim who think everything that deals with Judiasm is theirs.  They believe they have better values, that they're holier than use.  We're also legitimate Jews" (235). 

This picture deals with the high tension between the religious and the non religious jews in Israel. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yonilcom/2864358139/

As stated in this recent article regarding Israel violating religious freedom, the Religious Freedom Report places Israel with Afghanistan, China, Iran, Iraq, and Sudan in the list of governments that lack government protection of non-Jewish holy sites.  "Government allocations favoring the Orthodox, extra legal protection to Jewish holy sites and Orthodox hegemony over life-cycle events are among Israel's religious freedom violations".  The report said that "Government allocations of state resources favored Orthodox (including Modern and National Religious streams of Orthodoxy) and ultra-Orthodox (sometimes referred to as 'Haredi') Jewish religious groups and institutions, discriminating against non-Jews and non-Orthodox streams of Judaism".  It was also reported that the state does not recognize conversions performed by non-Orthodox rabbis.  The only marriages that can be recognized are those that have been performed by the Orthodox Jewish establishment.  The same goes with who can be buried at Jewish state cemeteries.  It is good to see that what is going on in Israel is being recognized throughout the world as a problem.

There are some really interesting points of view in chapter 11 of the Rosenthal book regarding the subject on non-Orthodox Jews.  She used real life examples to show the struggles that these non-Orthodox Jews face on a daily basis.  There is a lot of insight provided and to be honest, I was completely unaware of this issue.  To help gain a better understanding, I was able to find an article on the Jerusalem post that was posted just a couple days ago (November 18)!  Things are not going to change until the Orthodox Jews that have control over the government are willing to provide the non-Orthodox with assistance in their fight for religious freedom.