He was entirely non-observant, as is the rest of his family.

Dan, Most United and Reform Jews in England celebrate Christmas -extreme sects do not. It is a public holiday and it would be bizarre if Jews opted out of the usual family feast! Relax - come out of the Ghetto, enjoy life and try not to be so paranoid!

I too think that the non-religious Jews at the conference have a lot of intermarried kids and grandkids. A friend of mine who deals with Reform told me that many of the members are not Halachically Jewish. A very high percentage of the children are not Jewish. Soon these families will have no Jews left in them. Eli Yishai is correct. The people who booed him don't want to admit to the truth.

by whom?? As a Conservative Jew I find those holier than thou rabbis merely another form of hypocrite. Just as these phoney rabbis blamed the Shoah of the rise of the reform movement, they blame everything else on the reform movement. Perhaps they would be much better off to look at themselves and their hatred of the Jews who do not accede to their hypocrisy. Then they would learn that we do lose Jews to whatever because of THEIR sickening behaviour and actions. The sooner they shut their stupid mouths, the better off Judaism will be.

Quote :”.. accept the fact that we're all created equal ..” You are absolutely correct. We are all created equally, in the sense that we are all the sons/daughters of the Supreme Father, YAHWEH. You are correct in stating “that people on power trips” prefer to set groups apart from each other. IF a leader (political or religious) wants us to be religious -- he should inspire us by his profound speech and by his impeachable action. That is how he can inspire us to be religious. BUT when he will come with threats, and hell and fire, and beatings -- in order to make us religious -- it will backfire. People will leave that religion in droves. CONCLUSION : Leaders (political or religious) should be VERY careful in their speeches how to present ideas and thoughts. BTW Nice to hear something (which is always a pleasure to read) from you again.

What a load of cow droppings , how about the beahvior of Shas MKs 7 convicted so far ,may be this is the moral berhavior his holliness Eli Yishai is so keen to promote

I rather blame the haredi for losing the Jewish people.When I see the hatred and the money grabbing from that side I am totally turned of of Judaism.

You must be joking. Reading all the mean spirited coments about reform Jews is appaling. Reform Judiasm is alive and thriving in America. We happen to value freedom from right wing people like y'all, just like the right wing lunatics in America. If you don't play nice with us you may lose some of the funding the reform Jews send to keep you in existance. Shabbat Shalom.

It's easy for people to criticize other views of judaism, to side with a hypocrite like Yishai. It's much more difficult to be compassionate and forgiving. They're so irrational that they blame reform judaism for assimilation, yet they post here during Shabat. It's totally crazy. By the way, if you know anything about Israel politics, you know that Shas cares very little about secular jews, ashkenazi jews or any thinking jews for that matter. Moreover, they have several several members under investigation for corruption. The fact that this guy is a minister in our government is in itself a huge embarrassment for us.

You're not gonna like what I have to say. American Jewry (of which I'm a member) is Israel's worst enemy because we are assimilating so much due to a lack of Jewish education. The once a week, "sunday school" at the reform "temple" or memorizing hebrew prayers on cassette tapes at the conservative shul is not cutting it. Fanya, you say with glee "you may lose some of the funding the reform jews send to keep you in existence shabbat shalom"...Just to let you know, those that matter already know that it's going to happen either way because the reform/conservative movts are not replacing (or explanding on) the older generations that are pro-Israel. The majority of the SCIENTIFIC studies, like the one entitled "matrilineal ascent patrilineal descent" all show that reform/conservative are eliminating future generations of Jews. Do you not realize that Israel KNOWS that the reform/conservative religions are eliminating Jewry and thus American support for Israel? I thought reform people liked to talk about "using their heads" and believing in "science". WELL... practice what you preach and accept the scientific facts and REALITY and don't act like those--as you and other "liberals" say--religious ignorant fanatics that don't accept reality, etc etc. I'm liberal and as such, you cannot deny the facts.

The name alone should be quite telling - the Mass of Christ, celebrating the day on which (for Christians) Jesus was born. It was a holiday set and cemented by a largely Christian populace, and while it is suitable for the Christian majority (who are entirely justified in deciding on public holidays of religious origin), it is entirely against the Jewish faith. That most Reform Jews see no problem with celebrating the Christ-Mass further illustrates your assimilative drive, and eventual interfaith marriage and abandonment of the last, tattered remains of your Jewish self.

the Hypocrisy of the haredim knows no bounds!

But what do they mean by : celebrating xmas ? They certainly won't go to the church [ or it must be that there is a great concert , then they go for the music ] Does xmas has some religious signification for non Orthodox Jews ? No of course . In Christian countries there is a festive athmosphere during December , with decorations , illuminations , trees , and so on . you can't evade this . As in Christian countries most , if not all , businesses are closed this day , should non Jews stay at home ? Why not enjoy this day off ? Why not have a good meal ?

Should non Jews stay at home : must be : non ORTHODOX Jews

If you, your husband, and children are all Halachically Jewish but belong to the Reform movement - you are in the minority. Many of the members of Reform temples are not halachically Jewish. This is a fact.

I would like to tell you about my best friend's family. His great-grand parents came to America from Lithuania, Russia and Germany in 1920s, and were fully halachically observant Jews. Their children, my friend's grand-parents associated with Conservative movement that in the mid-century was still close to the Modern Orthodox (before they allowed driving on Shabbat). They only occasionally wore tefillin however still prayed every day. Their children, however became reform, and the only Jewish affiliation that I knew them from in our town -- is that they all comprised the leadership and high positions in local chapter of B'nai B'rith. My friend.... married a non-Jewish woman. They have a daughter, who they planned to raise in "two religions", which included taking her to church and "christening" her with a Christian name. What you have read above is a history of a typical American Jewish family exemplified by my friend's family history. Yes, reform movement is partially to blame for that, but also partially the freedoms. The question becomes, why is it only when Jews are hated, persecuted and killed do we cling to our religion and culture so much? Why is it that we seek G-d only in trouble but when everything is peaceful we deny the necessity of Halacha?

It is people who share the bigoted philosophy of the Shas Party who drive people away from Judaism. Their attitude towards the children of foreign workers is cruel, xenophobic and could be compared to the racism and xenophobia that is rampant in South Africa even to this day despite the end of apartheid. Viewing these people as a threat to Jewish identity is absurd as much as it is ridiculous. Has Shas style Judaism lost its soul and become intolerant towards the non-Jew?

Many in the Reform temples are not even Jewish. And I also think that a Jew who has a Xmas tree observes almost nothing of his own religion. An observant Jew would never put up a tree no matter how pretty they are. Most secular Jewish grandparents in the States nowadays have some if not all non-Jewish grandchildren. You don't have to be blind to not see the handwriting on the wall. In the US and other places outside of Israel, more Jews are dying than being born.

Yishai is just another example of Orthodox arrogance. There not enough space to write everything down. But essentially, while Orthodox exclude, Reform accept. 1. Who said Judaism is matrilineal? Read the Torah, carefully, and read our history. Matrilineal rule is MAN made. Not G'd's word. 2. Who said only (a) an Orthodox (b) Beit Din determines "who is a Jew"? NOT THE TORAH. Another man made policy. The Jewish people do not need to be divided like this.