Rabbinical Alliance of America Supports Passage of the Nation-State Bill in Israel

From RRW 

Contact: Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik  

Rabbinical Alliance of America 

Supports Passage of the Nation-State Bill in Israel

The Rabbinical Alliance of America — Igud HaRabbonim, with a membership of over 950 Orthodox Rabbis — supports the passage of the Nation-State bill under consideration in the Knesset that will codify already-essential elements of Israel's make-up. These elements include the country's predominantly Jewish character and balance; its right to rely on Jewish law in addition to the range of legal systems to which its courts refer; its use of Hebrew as the main language of cultural discourse; and its ability to continue to serve as the religious and cultural center of the Jewish people worldwide.

Additionally, this bill's passage will help protect Israel and Israelis from the anti-religious coercion and judicial manipulation that, in the name of humanism and liberalism, trample on basic Jewish principles. Jews in Israel and throughout the world support the office of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in its national role. The RAA/Igud refuses to sit by silently while militant elements of Diaspora and Israeli secularists — aided by the progressive streams of Judaism —manipulate Israel's liberal activist courts to divest the country of its religious-humanistic values rooted in the ancient Jewish tradition.  

Rabbi Yehoshua S. Hecht, Presidium Chair of the RAA/Igud, stated, "Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people. It must remain a beacon of decency where family values and basic standards, held sacred by the Jewish people for millennia, are not trampled upon with impunity."

Rabbis from across North America, represented by the RAA/Igud, raise their voices in support of an Israel that heeds both the Prophetic and Rabbinic calls for justice and compassion for the "home-born" and "stranger" alike. The nearly 1,000 rabbis of the RAA/Igud urge Israel's elected officials to act responsibly and fairly in their ongoing negotiation over the details of the Nation-State law. The RAA/Igud looks to Israel to continue modeling the best of the Jewish spirit. The miraculous Jewish state must represent all that is hopeful and possible in our time. The time is overdue to pass a Nation-State bill that guarantees that Jewish communities will never again suffer destruction and exile. 

The RAA/Igud continues to pray for the peace of all who desire peace and for all who work to bring understanding and truth to a world so conflicted and splintered. May the One who makes peace in His heavens make peace upon us and upon all Israel, Amen.

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