Orthodox and Secular Views of Israel’s Path

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/17/opinion/letters/israel.html

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To the Editor:

In his essay “Israel, This Is Not Who We Are” (Op-Ed, Aug. 14), Ronald S. Lauder sees the Israeli sky falling, as a result of Israel’s “destructive actions” like the maintenance of traditional Jewish religious decorum at the Western Wall, which Mr. Lauder criticizes as coming at the expense of a planned egalitarian prayer space, and a new Israeli law that establishes Israel as a state with a Jewish identity, which he says “damages the sense of equality and belonging of Israel’s Druze, Christian and Muslim citizens.”

But Israel, as a self-described Jewish state, needs a Jewish standard for public behavior at religious sites and to inform religious personal status issues. The standard that has served the state since its formation has been the Jewish standard of the ages — what the world calls Orthodoxy. And, whether or not the nation-state law was necessary or wise, it does not impinge in any way on the equality before the law of any Israeli citizen.

Israel is not, as Mr. Lauder says some think, “losing its way.” It is the vast majority of the world’s Jews, those who do not regard their religious heritage as important, who are in danger of being lost — to the Jewish people. And it is those indifferent Jews who have the most to gain from the example of Israel preserving the traditional Jewish standards and values that have stood the test of history.

Avi ShafranNew YorkThe writer, a rabbi, is the director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America.

To the Editor:

I’ll bet that reading Ronald S. Lauder’s Op-Ed article helped thousands of American secular Jews like me — someone who has been so proud of the genius of Israel — to breathe again. We had been holding our breath because under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the Orthodox Jews were removing democracy, the brick on which the Jewish state had been built, from its core of values.

Israel can be a true Jewish state only if every person is valued equally. Jews across the world pray and hope for that to happen.

Sandra EisdorferChapel Hill, N.C.