Schechter News | In the Media

Conservative and Reform leaders throw down the gauntlet to Lupolianski

By Neil Bar-Or

Already shell-shocked by Uri Lupolianski's snubbing of international leaders of the Reform movement at a gathering organized by the local Hebrew Union College board of governors, Conservative and Reform Movement leaders are planning to challenge the new mayor to make good on his promise to be everyone's mayor now that the election is over.

Anat Hoffman, Director of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) - the Reform movement's political and legal arm - told Anglo File this week that Lupolianski "claims to have no problem with meeting us in principle, but so far the evidence is to the contrary."

When asked directly whether or not Lupolianski would meet with Conservative and Reform leaders, a spokesman for the Jerusalem mayor would say only that "decisions on such meetings will be made only after the coalition building process is completed," but added that "the mayor of Jerusalem is the mayor of all its residents and will not exclude any movement or organization in the city."

Hoffman said she planned to test that pledge. "We're going to invite him to our Sukkah, we're going to invite him to greet - as other mayors have - a new batch of rabbinical students when they arrive in the city. We will send him invitations well in advance of many events and we will ask him to commit to at least one."

Hoffman said the election of Jerusalem's first Haredi mayor provided a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews. "On one hand, Lupolianski has a chance to prove that what we as Jews have in common is greater than our differences; that regardless of technicalities, those who identify themselves as Jews can feel welcome in Jerusalem. On the other hand, this could turn out to be final proof that the Orthodox politicians serve one part of the people and one part only."

Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman of the Reform synagogue Kol HaNeshama is worried that tough times in Jerusalem for non-Orthodox Jewish groups are about to get a lot tougher. His organization already has to soft-pedal its affiliation with the Reform movement to get results. Weiman-Kelman presumes that working with the municipality now will become even tougher.

"We always have to downplay the Reform aspect of anything we do. Any changes that we've been able to get [approved by the municipality] in terms of expanding our campus have been on the basis of it not being for the purposes of a Reform synagogue, but that it be for `youth activities' or the like."

Rabbi Professor David Golinkin, President of the Conservative Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies said he saw Lupolianski as a tolerant man with a reputation of helping all citizens of Israel through his organization, Yad Sarah, that loans medical supplies to Israelis regardless of religious or ethnic affiliation. But Golinkin warned Lupolianski to deal with issues such as Shabbat through dialogue rather than legislation.

"If the new mayor is smart, he will not try to legislate such things or ram them down people's throats, but rather speak to people like Nir Barkat and other secular parties and arrive at a consensus. The Haredi world will be making a big mistake if due to their new political power, they try and pass stricter laws regarding Shabbat or forbid things that used to be permitted."

IRAC Director of Public Affairs Gilad Kariv, was not so worried about losing freedom of religion in Jerusalem. "They won't wave the Shabbat flag, at least not immediately. Lupolianski is not stupid. He knows Jerusalem is poor and if he closes down the stores and cinemas that are open on Shabbat they'll collapse, leaving the municipality less money to fund Orthodox schools and yeshivas."

In the wake of continuing budget cuts from state coffers, Kariv sees the new ultra-Orthodox-led city council prioritizing recouping as much of those lost funds as possible through the municipality.

Kariv said he believes the bigger problem lies in Jerusalem's connection with world Jewry. "Our five congregations in Jerusalem will be fine. The non-Orthodox public here needs us - for bar mitzvahs, for holidays and for batei midrash. But we as a movement want to see Jerusalem function as the heart of the Jewish people."

"In order to bring Reform tourists to Israel, we need to make them feel comfortable in Jerusalem. When a Reform family comes to Israel, they come for the Western Wall, and they come for Yad Vashem, and they come to see Rabin's grave. They may want to stay on Tel Aviv's seashore, but they're coming [to Israel] for Jerusalem."

In response to questions about Lupolianski's plans for maintaining a connection with international Jewry, the mayor's spokesman said again, "once the coalition is finalized, the mayor will be able to sit and address such concerns."

Rabbi Golinkin agreed that Lupolianski's election has implications that reach far beyond the city limits, "Being the mayor of Jerusalem is a high-profile job, you meet with a lot of foreign dignitaries, you meet with a lot of tourists that come to Israel, UJA groups for instance, are always being greeted by the mayor. So potentially the mayor can have a huge influence on the image of Jerusalem and on the image of Israel."

Though their relationships with the new mayor's office is the critical question on the minds of Conservative and Reform leaders, there were some aspects of Lupolianski's election that leave them hopeful.

Rabbi Weiman-Kelman said he was "slightly more optimistic on a political level in the sense that the Haredi world has always been a little bit more practical and accommodating in a way that Ehud Olmert as a Likudnik never could be."

Rabbi Golinkin also noted that "as Jerusalem is a city sacred to three religions, it would seem that a religious mayor would be very sensitive to the needs of the three religions, not just Jewish needs but Christian and Muslim needs as well."

"In theory he might be more sensitive than previous mayors have been, being religious himself. Of course, only time will tell whether that is the case."

Most of the Conservative and Reform leaders agreed that Lupolianski has the potential and possibly even the intention to be just such a uniter not only among the three major religions in Jerusalem but among Jews themselves. But the question remains whether he has the strength to challenge other Haredi leaders.

Hoffman wondered "whether what we have here is a good guy who put himself in an untenable position."

"Uri Lupolianski is a man who avoids conflict, but if he is to serve the needs of all Jerusalemites he will have to challenge both [leading Haredi] Rabbi Eliashiv and his own number two, Yehoshua Pollack. My belief is that he will not, and the interests of Jerusalem will suffer."

Alice Shalvi, Chair of the Schechter Institute's Executive Committee concurred. While lamenting the dissolution of the former Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek's vision of Jerusalem as a true international city, Shalvi said that while she was encouraged by Lupolianski's initial tendency to maintain the status quo, "the real question is whether the religious on the city council will override him."

Kariv stressed that if it turned out that Lupolianski indeed "alienates liberal Judaism, you'll see more and more Jews in the U.S. support us and give us funds to fight Lupolianski, but they will not come here, they will not shop on Ben Yehuda Street, and they will not stay in our hotels."