Israeli gov’t decision to fund Reform, Conservative rabbis sets precedent for equality with Orthodox

By Ben Sales

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

NEW YORK (JTA) — This week’s announcement that the Israeli government for the first time will pay the salaries of some non-Orthodox rabbis represents a major victory for the Reform and Conservative movements.

But it’s a victory more of principle than major practical changes — at least, so far.

The Israeli attorney general’s office said Tuesday that Reform and Conservative rabbis in some parts of Israel will be recognized as “rabbis of non-Orthodox communities” and will receive wages equal to those of their Orthodox counterparts.

For now, the decision applies only to Israel’s regional councils — large districts of rural communities — but not Israeli cities. And the non-Orthodox rabbis, unlike their Orthodox colleagues, will have no authority over Jewish law or ceremonies such as marriage or divorce. Rather than being funded by the nation’s Religious Services Ministry, they will receive their salaries from the Ministry of Culture and Sport.

Even though the decision will not affect most Israeli Reform and Conservative Jews because the vast majority of them live in large metropolitan areas such as Jerusalem and metro Tel Aviv, the decision nevertheless opens a door toward full equality with the Orthodox, non-Orthodox Israeli leaders said.

“The importance of the decision is that it sets the model for the relations between the non-Orthodox movements and the government,” said Rabbi Gilad Kariv, the executive director of Israel’s Reform movement.

The Reform movement also has a petition in court to give Reform rabbis in cities the same rights of those in regional council areas. According to Kariv, Tuesday’s decision only gives full-service synagogues with at least 50 affiliated families in regional council areas eligibility for the funding.

“There’s no reason to adopt this in the regional councils and not in the cities, and the government knows it,” he said.

It’s not clear when the Israeli courts will decide on the Reform movement’s petition, but if the petition is accepted, the change would affect virtually all Conservative and Reform congregations.

This week’s announcement followed out-of-court negotiations over a 2005 petition by the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism and Rabbi Miri Gold, a Reform rabbi from Kibbutz Gezer in central Israel. Gold had petitioned the state to fund the Gezer Reform community just as it funds Orthodox communities and their leaders.

Initially, the government has agreed to fund 15 non-Orthodox rabbis in the regional council areas. But the funding could increase as more Conservative and Reform congregations are established.