#BringThemHomeNow

Mar 8, 2010

an open letter regarding legislation being brought forward by MK David Rotem

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rabbi Menachem Creditor <rabbicreditor@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 1:21 PM
Subject: an open letter regarding legislation being brought forward by MK David Rotem
To: "prime.minister'soffice" <prime.minister'soffice@it.pmo.gov.il>
Cc: info@washington.mfa.gov.il, concal.sec@sanfrancisco.mfa.gov.il, consul@sanfrancisco.mfa.gov.il, govaffairs@sanfrancisco.mfa.gov.il, culture@sanfrancisco.mfa.gov.il


The Honorable Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister of Israel
Office of the Prime Minister
Jerusalem, Israel

Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu,

We write to request your immediate intervention to prevent passage of the legislation being brought forward by MK David Rotem (‫הצעת חוק הרבנות הראשית תיקון- סמכות בעניני גיור)

Passage of this bill in its present form especially section 3, will have the effect of providing for a path to alter the Law of Return or, at the least, cause undue hardship to anyone in Israel who has come from Diaspora communities and seeks conversion in Israel.

Sadly, this is reminiscent of those attempts in 1997 to enact similar legislation which ultimately led to the establishment of the Ne'eman Commission.

While we are supportive of your efforts to create greater accessibility to conversion courts in Israel and have done all we can to aid in this effort, the overall impact of the Rotem Bill will set back these efforts. Moreover this legislation will adversely impact the work of our Masorti movement and its members in Israel. This we cannot abide.

Even more regrettably, should this bill be enacted, it will exacerbate a widening gap between Diaspora and Israel communities, which we are all working very hard to avoid. 

Therefore, we believe it is imperative that you, Israel's leader, who cares so deeply about the well-being of our people, intervene and urge withdrawal of this bill.

With hopes of correcting this mistake before it is too late,
Rabbi Menachem Creditor

---
Rabbi Menachem Creditor
-- www.netivotshalom.org
-- www.shefanetwork.org
-- menachemcreditor.org

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.



Total Pageviews