Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on January 15, 2015

Israels Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau spoke to the Israeli-American Council during his six-day visit. Photo by Rani Sikolski

In his six-day visit to Los Angeles last week, Israels Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau made some unlikely stops.

At the pluralistic New Jewish Community High School (NJCHS) in West Hills, Lau spoke to 200 students and faculty members, opening the assembly by reminding students of the intrafamilial conflicts throughout the Bible, implying that despite the ideological and even theological differences between him and the students, I came to say, Hello, my brother. I came to sit with you.

Following brief remarks, Lau responded for nearly an hour to a bevy of questions and concerns on students minds ranging from the conflict between Charedim and some activist Jewish women regarding restrictions on how women pray at the Kotel, to questions about the Israeli rabbinates Orthodox conversion standards and definition of who is a Jew. The students touched on most of the hot-button issues and uncomfortable topics that are often points of contention between Israels Orthodox establishment and non-Orthodox communities in the United States.

As a Charedi, many of Laus views were clearly to the right of his young audience, yet he made sure to keep the mood as light as possible, joking with students sometimes in English hard to understand and never adopting an overly serious tone, even when students challenged him on controversial topics.

On the question of who Lau considers to be Jewish, posed by a female student who had converted to Judaism, the rabbi responded, To be Jewish is according to two points: You are from a Jewish family a Jewish mother or through conversion. The student, sounding somewhat irritated with Laus answer until he added that conversion is an acceptable way of becoming Jewish, did not push Lau to clarify that he feels conversions must be done according to established Orthodox standards.

To another student, who asked his opinion of Women of the Wall, a group fighting to allow Jewish women to sing, read from the Torah and wear traditionally male religious garments at the Western Wall, Lau responded, a bit cryptically, Pray as you wish, but give respect. When the student, Hannah, pushed the rabbi, asking why women cannot wear prayer shawls at the wall, he said that when the group brings cameras and journalists to gain publicity, its disrespectful, but when they arent trying to send a political message, he has no objections.

If they came with tallit, without voice, without to make a political [point], Lau said, Im sure that no one says any word.

Laus view on Charedi Jews in Israel who eschew compulsory military service in order to study in yeshivas a particularly divisive topic in Israel is that Jews who excel at learning Torah should not have to sacrifice their religious studies, just as an Israeli who excels at basketball can forgo military service in order to pursue that path. Lau himself served in the Israel Defense Forces and is a reserve major in the Intelligence Corps.

Nevertheless, elaborating on a theme he repeated in an interview with the Journal the following day, Lau said resorting to passing laws in this case, forcing Charedim to participate in military and civil society should be a last resort.

See more here:

Across L.A., Israels Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, a Charedi, casts wide net

Category: Ashkenazi
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