The Israeli Reform movement is a shadow of its American counterpart. Look no further than a recent Pew Research Center poll: Whereas 30 percent of American Jews identify as Reform, merely 3 percent of Israeli Jews say the same.
Yet Reform Judaism is far from irrelevant in Israel.
Sitting in his wood-paneled office at Temple Israel of Hollywood, Rabbi John Rosove rattled off a list of issues for which he thinks the American Reform movement can provide much-needed support in Israel, from African immigration to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Earlier this month, Rosove assumed the position of board chairman for the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), the Zionist wing of the national Reform movement. The position puts him among the most prominent figures in American Zionism.
Already, he said, Israeli Reform leaders have been central in the struggle to wrest power from the ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate on issues such as civil marriage, egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall Plaza and conversion to Judaism — a religious insurgency that Rosove said draws on traditions of American Reform.
“That’s the nature of the American Reform movement: We are on the cutting edge,” he said.
Rosove, 66, assumed the head post at Temple Israel nearly three decades ago but was active in the Reform movement long before, dating from his youth at the Leo Baeck Temple in the Sepulveda Pass.
He described himself as a lifelong advocate for Israel and said he has been involved with ARZA for the majority of its three-decade history. (He also happens to be a second cousin of the Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin.)
In an interview with the Jewish Journal, Rosove discussed ARZA’s role in the broader picture of American Zionism and the civil liberties battles it fights in Israel. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Jewish Journal: What is ARZA’s goal or mission?
John Rosove: It’s simply first to organize and expand the reach of Zionism in the Reform movement in America, to educate and to stimulate activism on behalf of the State of Israel, to get people there on congregational trips and also to support the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, which is the Reform movement there. There are 45 Reform congregations in Israel; there are many, many social justice projects; there are two kibbutzim in the south, there’s the Leo Baeck school in Haifa; there are a number of ganim [kindergartens] in synagogues all over the place. … There’s also the Israel Reform Action Center, which is the most prominent social justice organization in Israel arguing before the Knesset and the courts on diversity issues and rights for all citizens of the state.
JJ: ARZA asks Americans to “take ownership” over Israel. Where do Americans get that right? Why do we deserve a say in what goes on in Israel?
JR: We won’t be telling the government what to do. I don’t believe we have that right. What I do believe personally, and this is very personal, is that we are partners with Israel — secondary partners. Israeli citizens are the ones who have to make the decision. Their government makes the decision. They’re the ones who pay the taxes and go into the army. We support them as a statement of love. … There’s Klal Yisrael, there’s Am Yisrael, there’s Eretz Yisrael, and there’s Medinat Yisrael [the community of Israel, the nation of Israel, the land of Israel and the State of Israel]. We have to distinguish what we’re talking about here. For us, it’s all of them. It’s all of them together. We have a stake in what Israel is and becomes and does. Our security here is dependent on that.
JJ: You served as a regional co-chair of J Street, an organization that is often critical of the Israeli government. A lot of people don’t think of J Street as a Zionist organization, so I would be remiss if I did not ask you to square the circle for those people.
JR: All you have to do is look at the J Street website. It is a pro-Israel Zionist organization that’s on the middle-left with regard to the two-state solution. Those who say it’s not pro-Zionist have a very narrow definition of what Zionism is, and I just beg to differ. I think it’s unfair and it’s wrong and it’s exclusionary. What we’ve seen happen is that the fastest growing element of J Street is on college campuses — J Street U — those students are the first line of defense against BDS [the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel]. Everybody recognizes it. Those are the kids who are eloquently and with strength standing up against BDS on college campuses around the country. … So those who say it’s not a pro-Zionist organization, they’re just flat wrong.
JJ: Does ARZA or the Reform movement more generally have a position on the peace process or the two-state solution?
JR: Yes. A two-state solution is the only way that Israel can remain democratic and Jewish. The Union for Reform Judaism is on record with resolutions, ARZA is on record — it is a Reform movement position. But we are also a very strong pro-Israel community.
JJ: How can ARZA change or help or move the conversation on the Western Wall Plaza, allowing egalitarian prayer, which is so deadlocked in Israel right now, and so contentious?
JR: The agreement that was made was so carefully struggled for, any change will mean it will collapse. And now, what [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants] — because he’s gotten pressure from the religious parties — is he wants to go back and renegotiate it. It won’t work. And so our position has been, the Reform movement and the Conservative movement, that you have an agreement, that’s the agreement, and that’s it. And if you renege on this agreement, Mr. Prime Minister, you will be basically — what’s the right word? — you will go back on a promise and on a commitment to Diaspora Jewry. If you follow it through, you’ll be a hero on this issue. It’s that simple. Either you violate a vow and a commitment, or you become a hero, and it’s your choice. And we’re not negotiating anymore. The negotiations have taken place. This is the line — we’ve gone as far as we’re going to go.
JJ: Despite the best efforts of Reform leaders, their movement hasn’t caught on in Israel. Why is that, and how you can change that?
JR: Surveys have been done that indicate that 30 percent of Israelis would go to a Reform or Conservative synagogue if there were one near them. They’ve been exposed to a different kind of Judaism, in Orthodoxy, which they won’t touch with a 10-foot pole. There’s a hunger for liberal Judaism in Israel, as there is in the United States.
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