A Call for Civility for ALL Israeli Citizens

Where have all the great rabbis — in the mold of Ponovitch Rav — gone? It seems to me that decency and respect have gone out the window and fanatiscism and ignorance now reign. To paraphrase Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin: This is not the Israel I signed up for! The only solution is to allow for a civil track for personal status issues and take the enormous power away from the rabbis who now sit in the Knesset as politicians instead of sitting in the yeshiva and teaching true Jewish law.

I prefer to continue to believe that Judaism and democracy can reign as king and queen in the State of Israel. Many of my progressive colleagues here in Israel do not believe this could happen in our lifetime. I prefer to believe that it could. After all, that is why I moved to Israel.

Shari Eshet is the Director of the Israel Office for the National Council of Jewish Women