Bridging Israel’s divides
Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein, a pioneer of Tzohar, an Israeli Orthodox rabbinical organisation dedicated to reaching across the country's religious-secular divide, will address Jewish groups across Australia next week.
Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein, a pioneer of Tzohar, an Israeli Orthodox rabbinical organisation dedicated to reaching across the country’s religious-secular divide, will address Jewish groups across Australia next week.
Rabbi Feuerstein, a cognitive psychologist, will visit schools and communal groups in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, with a message of togetherness.
“Jewish society is in danger of splitting up into clans,” he told The AJN from Israel on Tuesday. “The secular-liberal, the Zionist-religious, the Russian clan … the Shas movement, the ultra-Orthodox .
“The role of Tzohar lies in searching for the common Jewish-spiritual denominator that will bring common awareness and feelings on the one hand, and on the other will allow every ‘clan’ to shape its life as it sees fit.”
A key point of his tour will be an address to a Melbourne commemoration organised by the Zionist Council of Victoria on November 4 to mark the 15th anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. He will also canvass issues such as Jewish identity in Israel, crises and challenges of the religious establishment, and approaches to secular Israelis.
Tzohar, which means ‘illumination’, was founded in 1997 by a group of religious Zionist rabbis dedicated to bridging deep rifts in Israeli society exposed by the murder of Israel’s prime minister.
It now lists more than 1000 volunteering rabbis and educators as members, conducting weddings, of which there have been some 30,000, running a marriage crisis hotline, and helping immigrants to identify their Jewish origins to help them register with the rabbinate for marriage.
Tzohar’s public activism encourages Knesset members to consider Jewish values in their decision making.
Rabbi Feuerstein is also vice-chair of the Feuerstein Institute, which advances thinking and learning skills of individuals with special needs, as well as those of children, students, and the elderly. “I became involved in this institution following the birth of our second son with Down Syndrome,” Rabbi Feuerstein said.
“The psychological and therapeutical philosophy of my father, Professor Reuven Feuerstein, presumes an attitude of optimism, a basic premise that all human beings can change significantly.
PETER KOHN
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