The politics of conversion
The two articles on the nature of conversion in Toronto and elsewhere (“The politics of conversion,” Dec. 18) only begin to scratch the surface in dealing with some of the issues around conversion. And those issues, in turn, connect with the perennial question of “Who is a Jew?”
We may pride ourselves here in Canada on having a pluralistic society, but let’s not kid ourselves: to the Orthodox rabbinate, and many Orthodox Jews, the other forms of Judaism are not legitimate, not acceptable, not good enough.
You can call that political, or you can identify it as ideologically based. But it is a fact that the genealogy of our people is interwoven with that of many non-Jewish wives and mothers, some of whom were known heroines.
The “politics of conversion” is not just about the autocratic or unfair practices of some converting rabbis. It is about the whole question of who is a Jew and the question of who gets to make that decision or set that policy.
The current situation, in which a few ideologues play God and set the rules for everyone, is bad for the long-term health of the Jewish People.
Michael Diamond
Toronto
Israel and the Diaspora
I strongly disagree with Simon Adler’s article (“Diaspora Jews shouldn’t try to influence the Israeli election,” Dec. 25).
Diaspora Jews should absolutely get involved in the Israeli election. They need us.
First, getting an outsider’s perspective is helpful. Sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees, and getting an outsider’s view is sometimes enlightening.
Second, Israel can’t survive without Diaspora Jewry, because of the political, moral and financial support given by the Diaspora.
If Israel expects such support, it also must take into consideration the Diaspora’s views if it wishes to continue to get support.
The election is one of the most important in Israel’s history. Diaspora Jews need to have their voices heard.
Peter Farkas
Toronto
Counting heads
Your statistic in Gematria (Jan.8) that in 2016 Palestinians will equal the number of Jewish Israelis in Israel and the West Bank, is wildly confusing.
Is the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) now calling every Israeli Arab a “Palestinian” and including them in their overall population stats? That’s the only way that the number of “Palestinians” could equal the number of Israeli Jews by 2016.
If that’s the case, the PCBS and the Palestinian Authority should ask themselves how many of those “Palestinians” will move to the wonderful new Palestinian state they are trying to create. My guess is none.
Israeli Arabs value the freedom and stability the State of Israel offers too much to fall for that foolishness.
Steve Mitchell
Toronto
The impossibility of peace
In his letter criticizing Yossi Klein Halevi’s belief regarding the “impossibility” of reaching an acceptable peace deal with the Palestinians, Bernard Katz (“The impossibility of peace,” Jan. 8), touts the “2002 Arab Peace Initiative endorsed by every Arab state” as refuting the impossible. But since that so-called peace plan upholds the right of Palestinian “refugees,” who at this stage of the game amount to around five million people, to “return” to their “rightful” homes and thereby put an end to Israel as a Jewish state, it is clear why the Arabs would endorse the Saudi king’s ideas.
It is also clear that the plan would not result in the sort of peace that Israel could or would accept, which is to say a peace that allows for its continued existence.
And let’s not forget that, for most Arabs, the reality of a sovereign Jewish nation is anathema on religious grounds.
As such, pace Bernard Katz, King Abdullah and the Arab League, true peace will remain an “impossibility” for the foreseeable future and long thereafter.
Mindy G. Alter
Toronto