IJII

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For centuries, rabbis steeped in Torah and Halacha have served as the gatekeepers of the Jewish people. They have determined which non-Jews may join the Jewish people as converts.

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During the middle ages, Jews lived in the island of Mallorca (Majorca) as in many other parts of Spain. With the vicious anti-Jewish persecutions of 1391 and shortly thereafter, open Jewish life came to an end in Mallorca. Those Jews who remained were forced to accept Catholicism.

In spite of their having converted to Catholicism, these "new Christians" were subject to ongoing humiliations. The "old Christians" referred to them with the pejorative term "Chuetas". The Chuetas were disdained because of their Jewish blood. No matter that they were now Catholics, the Chuetas were assumed to maintain Judaism in private; the old Christians shunned them, and certainly did not want to marry them.

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My grandfather, Bohor Yehuda Angel, left the Island of Rhodes in 1908 to settle in Seattle, Washington. He and his older two sons, Moshe and Ralph, worked tirelessly to save enough money to bring the rest of the family to Seattle-my grandmother, Bulissa Esther Angel, and the children Victoria, Luna, Abner, Joseph and Rahamim.

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“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are createdequal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,that among these are Life, Liberty, and thepursuit of Happiness.” These words from the American Declaration ofIndependence reflect the deepest ideals and aspirations of the Americanpeople.  America is notmerely a country, vast and powerful; America is anidea, a vision of life as it could be.

When these words were first proclaimed on July 4, 1776, Congregation Shearith Israel was almost122 years old.  It was a venerablecommunity, with an impressive history--a bastion of Jewish faith and tradition,and an integral part of the American experience.

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A good friend and supporter of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals has asked me to describe the qualities that should characterize the "ideal Modern Orthodox rabbi". He has been very interested in the formation of our new Orthodox rabbinic association, the International Rabbinic Fellowship, and has inquired about how the goals of the IRF are different from those of other Orthodox rabbinic groups.

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Our heritage is rich and vast and we claim that we teach it. But do we truly understand the wholeness of the Jewish people, or is our knowledge really limited and fragmented? Do we, can we, inculcate the concept of Jewish unity in our students?  If we as educators are unaware of or disinterested in Jews who have had different historic experiences than we have had, how can we convey the richness of Judaism? How can we, in fact, demonstrate the sheer wonder of halakhic Jewry without a sense of awe at the halakhic contributions of all our diverse communities throughout the world, thoughout the ages?

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But if we do not try to imagine peace, peace will not come. So let us imagine, in spite of all the "facts on the ground", that peace must be achieved. What voices can guide us? What words can be a salve to our wounds? How can we put the dream of peace into real terms?

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(This article is reprinted from Hadassah Magazine, November 2008.)

Great news.
Many thousands of people in Israel want to convert to Judaism. Most are from the former Soviet Union and have Jewish ancestry or spouses. Many others, of various national and religious backgrounds, have come to Israel to study Judaism and to become Jewish.

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