Israelis and Americans Back Non-Orthodox Conversion — and Pluralism at Kotel

Prayerful Protest: A member of Women of the Wall prays at the Kotel. Image by getty images

By Josefin Dolsten September 15, 2016

— A large majority of American and Israeli Jews say Israel should recognize marriages and conversions performed by Reform and Conservative rabbis.

A poll conducted by The Jerusalem Post and the American Jewish Committee found that 74 percent of American Jews and 62 percent of Israeli Jews believe the non-Orthodox rites should be recognized. The findings were released Tuesday.

In Israel, the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate controls all religious ceremonies — including marriage, divorce, conversion and burial — and those performed by non-Orthodox clergy are not recognized by the state.

The survey of 1,002 Americans and 500 Israelis also found that a plurality of American Jews, 48 percent, think Orthodox control of the Rabbinate weakens ties between their community and Israel. A similar portion of Israeli Jews, 54 percent, do not want Orthodox control over religious matters in their country.

A majority of both groups, 70 percent for the Americans and 61 percent for the Israelis, favors creating a pluralistic section at the Western Wall plaza for egalitarian services.

In January, the Israeli government approved a compromise deal to expand the non-Orthodox section adjacent to the plaza while also solidifying Orthodox control of the main prayer section. The deal has yet to be implemented.

Fifty-two percent of the Americans polled have never been to Israel.

The Jerusalem Post and the AJC conducted the polling in the United States, and the Rafi Smith Polling Institute conducted the survey in Israel. The poll has a margin of error of 3.57 and 4.5 percent, respectively.

Josefin Dolsten is a New York-based writer who has reported for the Forward, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Times of Israel and other Jewish publications. She currently works as an account director at Fenton Communications, supporting organizations that work to advance racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality, reproductive rights and more. Dolsten earned her B.A. in government from Cornell University and her M.A. in comparative religion and Jewish studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

This year, we have stood together in strength and sorrow. Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO