Rabbi Rick Jacobs
Photo: Noam Galai
Top US rabbi slams minister's 'ignorant' comments on Reform Judaism
Rabbi Rick Jacobs slams religious services minister's statement that reform Jews were 'Jews who lost their way'.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism in the US, denounced what he said were ignorant comments made by Shas Minister David Azoulay, who said he did not consider reform Jews to be "real Jews."
"It would be one thing if minister Azoulay's comments were simply his own personal expressions of what I would say is ignorance, but the real danger is that he sits at the cabinet level of the Israeli government," Rabbi Jacobs told Ynet.
Religious Services Minister Azoulay on Tuesday said reform Jews were "Jews who lost their way" and he hoped they would "return to the midst of Judaism according to Jewish law."
Rabbi Rick Jacobs talks to Ynet (צילום: אורי דוידוביץ וניצן דרור)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later released a statement saying he rejects the minister's "hurtful remarks about reform Judaism, which do not reflect the position of the government."
The comments by the religious affairs minister followed a cabinet decision to reverse an initiative aimed at easing the conversion process to Judaism. It marked a blow to the previous government's attempts to break the ultra-Orthodox monopoly in Israel and make Judaism more inclusive.
The more liberal Reform and Conservative streams of Judaism make up the largest denominations in the United States but they are mostly marginal in Israel, where religious life is dominated by a strict ultra-Orthodox establishment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
