Posted by Melanie Nathan, May 18, 2024.
This is the Statement issued by Beit Kaplan supporting the pro-Israel students who recently withdrew from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College:
We are a rabbinic partnership dedicated to advancing the ideas of Mordecai Kaplan and the historic Reconstructionist movement.
We are deeply distressed by the revelations from former students of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, exposing a diametric shift in attitude from the fundamental position of Mordecai Kaplan and the vast majority of Reconstructionist Jews: that the legitimacy and welfare of the State of Israel is central to the existence and well-being of the Jewish people.
Recent expressions opposing Zionism and Israel at the College have been defended by its leadership as freedom of expression within the concept of the “big tent.” We are further troubled that the College has pressured the publisher of the pro-Israel students’ testimony to alter their opinion piece, and shockingly mischaracterized their goals as “demanding to silence students with whom they disagree.”
To the contrary, these two pro-Israel students are the ones who have been demonized, called racists, and harassed and intimidated into leaving the College because they refuse to remain silent.
As long as the word “Reconstructionist” continues to be part of the name of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, its administration has an obligation to adhere to and promote the Reconstructionist movement’s essential principles.
We decry the disrespect evidenced in the College’s denial of the students’ lived experience. And we disagree that in a purported ‘covenantal community’, pro-Israel students can be subjected to condoned verbal abuse. We do not perceive that future rabbis are being trained to “lead with love and compassion,” as the College asserts.
Freedom — including free speech — always has boundaries and limitations. While rabbinical students may debate the merits of the current Israeli Administration or question its military strategy in Gaza, RRC students who deny the legitimacy of Israel as the Jewish homeland, and harass classmates who maintain a pro-Israel stance, must not be met with inaction by the RRC administration. Doing so raises doubts about its credibility in leading a historically Zionist institution.
Beit Kaplan is open to all rabbis committed to the existence and security of the State of Israel, as we seek to understand and further the efforts of Mordecai Kaplan, Ira Eisenstein, Jack J. Cohen and other giants of Reconstructionism.
To join BEIT KAPLAN efforts, contact us HERE
BEIT KAPLAN WEBSITE HERE
BEIT KAPLAN ‘s website notes:
Beit Kaplan is a forum for the cultivation of a flourishing, dynamic Jewish civilization. With deep ties to Reconstructionist Judaism, we advocate Ahavat Yisrael – love for the diverse, creative Jewish people and for its ancestral homeland – and the centrality of Jewish peoplehood.
We embrace the stream of thought, guidance, and practice of our ancestors, the teachings of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan and other modern thinkers, and engagement with the thoughtful, disciplined incorporation of our contemporaries.
We unequivocally support the right of Israel to exist, and to exist as a Jewish state.
Beit Kaplan’s founding members are 50 rabbis in six countries. Contact us to provide input and stay up to date on new events and discussions.
MY COMMENT
– Although I am not a follower of Reconstrutionist Judaism -I subscribe to the view that all forms of Judaism are important to the greater ecology of the wide array and diversity of Jewish people and Judaism – from Orthodox and the ultra religious denominations to Reform and Reconstructionists – you have my love and support and appreciation – to Beit Kaplan I say KOL H’KAVOD. Central to all our stations is exactly as Beit Kaplan notes, and so I repeat: I “unequivocally support the right of Israel to exist, and to exist as a Jewish state.” Melanie Nathan
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