Masorti Australasia
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On a small desk, squeezed between a closet and a wall, the writing of the first women's Torah scroll in Israel began a few weeks ago. The scribe, Hanna Klebansky, says she hopes the writing and reading of the scroll will send a message contradicting that of the segregation of women.
Schechter Institute | 4 Avraham Granot St. | POB 16080 | Jerusalem | Israel | 91160 | Israel |
Masorti Australasia
Masorti means traditional
Mercaz-Masorti Australasia Inc is the new organisation representing Masorti Jews in Australia and New Zealand
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Mercaz-Masorti Australasia Inc
www.masorti.org.au
email: info@masorti.org.au
skype: masortiaustralasia
ph: 61 2 8005 1854
fax: 61 2 9327 8715
Contributors
Torah scribe wields her quill against segregation of women
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by Masorti Australasia
Masorti Women's Study Days: Feb 14, 22, 26
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Schechter Institute | 4 Avraham Granot St. | POB 16080 | Jerusalem | Israel | 91160 | Israel |
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by Masorti Australasia
: Intl. Holocaust Remembrance Day
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Masorti Olami | 18 Ha'uman St. | Jerusalem | 93420 | Israel |
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by Masorti Australasia
MOMENT MAGAZINE
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE PRO ISRAEL TODAY?
A Moment Symposium
David K. Shipler
It seems obvious to say that being pro-Israel means supporting Israel’s survival, security and well-being as a just and prosperous society. Nobody would disagree. Where people part company is over how best to achieve those goals: Territorial compromise or an unyielding hold on every inch of land? A shared Jerusalem or undiluted Israeli sovereignty? A measured military response to terrorism or punishing air strikes against civilian areas? There was once a quaint notion that land could be traded for peace. Israel tried it in 2005 by withdrawing unilaterally from Gaza, and Hamas answered with rocket attacks. Nevertheless, 70 percent of Israelis, in a recent poll by Hebrew University, still favor a Palestinian state. That suggests Israelis might want to see most of the West Bank become Palestine one day, if they can get a reliable peace in exchange. If so, then Israel might do well to keep open the possibility of withdrawing instead of slamming doors in its face by continuing to build Jewish settlements there. For decades, Israel has been narrowing its options by expanding settlements. By my reckoning, therefore, being pro-Israel means favoring policies that maximize Israel’s flexibility and keep open various exits from the current stalemate. It is not pro-Israel for its leaders to lock the country into the conflict and to impose irreversible decisions on future generations. David K. Shipler, former New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. His latest book is The Rights of the People: How Our Search For Safety Invades Our Liberties. He writes online at The Shipler Report.
Judea Pearl
Jews are a nation bonded by a common history and a common historical narrative. If we forget that narrative, gone is our Jewishness. Throughout our history, the driving engine of survival has been the hope for returning to sovereignty in the birthplace of our history—Eretz Israel. The State of Israel is the culmination of this dream, and also the crucible in which Jewish heritage attains its full expression and comes to life through the resuscitating touch of normalcy.
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by Masorti Australasia
Peres Praises Masorti Movement, Condemns Extremists
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israeli President Shimon Peres praised the Masorti movement's contributions to Israel and condemned extremists in Israel.
“I came here this evening to hear women singing,” Peres said Jan. 5 after a performance of the Masorti youth movement's coed singing troupe at a dinner to mark the movement's founding 35 years ago. Peres said the controversies "created by fringe extremist groups" facing Israeli society today are not new, but that it has become more difficult to overcome the extremists' rhetoric and find common ground. "I am aware that they are the extreme margin, and believe that the majority of haredi, Dati-Leumi and secular communities seek to live together in a spirit of mutual respect, tolerance and brotherhood. And to each their way of life, for democracy in our time is not only the right to be equal, but also the equal right to be different," Peres said. "The problem is that this marginal minority breaches the law. They are a law unto themselves, and slander the country. They disgrace the state." Peres praised the Masorti movement for establishing itself in Israel, "building a large number of communities and synagogues throughout the country, and winning hearts." "Different streams exist in Judaism, which has room for conservative and liberal viewpoints, for those who abide by the 613 commandments and those who say 'Sh'ma Israel,' ” Peres said. "To be a Jew is not a matter of public relations but to be historically part of a great collective spirit that crossed oceans of hardships, deserts of suffering. And which never stopped yearning for the Promised Land, nor abandoned the aspiration to be the chosen people. A light unto nations." Peres praised the movement's NOAM youth movement and its bar/bat mitzvah program for children with special needs.