The Reform movement’s legal campaign against religious life in Eretz Yisrael.
(Courtesy of Eretz HaKodesh) Over the past decade or so, a wave of lawsuits targeting the lifestyle of the religious communities in Eretz Yisrael has been brought before the powerful and left-leaning Israeli Supreme Court. While not all of these cases have succeeded, they’ve complicated life for hundreds of thousands of religious people. Moreover, these petitions have deepened the divisions within Israeli society. But who is spending time and money to bring these cases? And why do they care how the frum community chooses to live?
A close look into each of these cases reveals a fascinating pattern. The fingerprints of the Jewish American woke left, organized into the Reform movement, are present each time. Desperate for relevance, Reform leaders in America have merged their anti-Torah ideology with the woke left agenda, launching a systematic campaign against the Torah communities of Eretz Yisrael. In doing so, they have created a cause célèbre to rally their dwindling membership.
While the Israeli court system leans strongly to the left and is widely viewed as unkind to religion, by law, courts do not initiate actions against Israeli citizens. Courts intervene only when a petition is filed before them. Successfully bringing a case before the Supreme Court requires expert legal representation and significant financial resources. Litigation typically starts at around 20,000 shekels, and many cases drag on for years, racking up large legal fees. Without the backing of a well-funded institution, these petitions or lawsuits hardly stand a chance of gaining any traction. For these reasons, the status quo understanding between the state and the religious communities in Israel has mostly held. Only in more recent years have so many rulings been handed down by the courts targeting religious practices.
This new reality is due to the emergence of a new force on the Israeli scene: The Reform Center for Religion and State. This legal arm of the Reform movement in Israel has taken the lead in each of these petitions and the lawyers they retain have fought these battles.
The Reform Center was established approximately 35 years ago. Officially, it was founded to advocate for the rights of Reform communities and promote the recognition of pluralistic and Reform values. However, in practice, the Center has led campaigns against virtually every area in which the Torah communities of Israel operate.
Key Legal Battles
Since the advent of cell phones, the Charedi public in Eretz Yisrael has embraced the use of kosher-filtered cell phones, which safeguard the purity and wholesomeness of their chosen way of life. But in 2016, a lawsuit claimed these phones don’t allow access to hotlines for people with alternative lifestyles. This sparked a years-long legal saga to protect what the Charedi community views as a basic right. While this case continues to work through the legal system, the courts have already ordered the Knesset to pass laws that satisfy these pluralistic goals.
A review of the official court documents shows that the petition was jointly brought by organizations advocating for those who practice alternative lifestyles along with the Reform Center and the Movement for Progressive Judaism, another Reform arm. And that all the petitioners were represented by lawyers who are members of the Center’s legal staff. It is obvious that the Reform movement has no direct stake in the type of cell phones used by the frum community; nevertheless, they exploited this issue to advance their broader agenda of gaining relevance by generating coverage in Israel’s media outlets sympathetic to their cause.
Thousands of working parents in Eretz Yisrael rely on government-subsidized childcare during work hours. For decades, based on the understanding that an avreich has the legal status of a “studying spouse,” families where the husband learns in kollel and the wife works have also benefited from these subsidies. To strip kollel families of this badly needed assistance, a petition was filed arguing that full-time Torah study does not meet legitimate standards of “studying.”
Court documents again reveal that the Reform Center for Religion and State led this petition, along with five other leftist organizations, and that the Center’s legal team represented all petitioners. Ultimately, this baseless petition was dismissed because the subsidies are intended to encourage female participation in the workforce, regardless of their spouse’s employment status.
It’s hard to believe the petitioners truly opposed subsidies for working women, a cause they often champion. Instead, it appears that it was all about delegitimizing the kollel system by painting them as unfairly benefiting from government funds.
Another staple of organized life in Eretz Yisrael targeted by legal petition is the Mehadrin bus lines, which maintain separation between men and women per the community’s societal norms. In yet another case arguing that this longstanding practice violates laws of equality, the Reform Center and its lawyers are listed as petitioners. This time, the courts ruled in favor of the petitioners, forcing an end to Mehadrin seating arrangements. The result? A massive disruption for thousands of frum commuters, whose cultural norms were ironically disregarded under the guise of “equality.”
Also targeted by the Reform Center and its lawyers is the curriculum being taught in the vast network of chadorim serving the Torah communities. Since Tanach is part of the core curriculum taught in every school in Israel, a case has been brought to block the legitimacy of chadorim who refuse to teach Tanach in the politically correct manner acceptable to the woke left in Israel. While this is an obvious non-starter for frum schools, this litigation resulted in a disparity in funding for the religious sector in Israel and became yet another talking point with which to disparage communities committed to following authentic Jewish traditions.
The Effect on Israeli Society
Besides these high-profile cases, many other petitions were brought in at all levels of the Israeli court system but were thwarted along the legal maze. Nevertheless, the mere threat of judicial intervention is enough to make the politicians sympathetic to traditional Jewish values think twice before crafting any new legislation. This dynamic is true at every level of government, from the Knesset, where laws are passed that apply to every citizen of the country, to local municipalities, which are responsible for scores of regulations that affect everyday life. Moreover, these petitions worsen the longstanding tension between the government and the courts. This rift recently boiled over in the well-known judicial reform drama that caused upheaval across Israel.
Media coverage of these lawsuits confuses the question of who truly represents Judaism. Since the founding of the state, only Orthodox Judaism has been recognized as authentic Judaism. This aligns with the perspective of the overwhelming majority of Israelis who identify with religious traditions. In fact, until a relatively short time ago, there was no official Reform presence in Israel.
However, the Reform movement has recently fought to change this perception and be recognized as representatives of the Jewish faith. A notable example of this push is evident from yet another petition filed by both the Reform and Conservative movements against the popular religious media outlet Channel 14. The petitioners argued that Reform and Conservative clergy should be given equal time to present their views whenever a religion-related issue is discussed on air.
As a result, Reform has made significant inroads in establishing itself in many parts of Israel’s national character. Given that the non-Orthodox streams of Judaism have become largely irrelevant in the United States, establishing a foothold in Israel has become a priority for them. This affects every aspect of religious life in Israel, including marriage and conversion, and even the management of holy sites such as the Kotel. These changes threaten to reshape the very identity of the Jewish people as these pluralistic versions of Judaism gain legal and cultural influence.
Countering Them
The Reform movement’s decades-long involvement in the World Zionist Congress directly funds these legal petitions. Through its advocacy efforts in the Congress, the Reform movement has successfully managed to advocate for the direct funding of diverse streams of Judaism. Tens of millions of shekels are allocated each year to fund the growth of the Reform movement in Israel, with official Reform organizations in Israel proudly listing the national institutions as sponsors on their respective websites.
A noteworthy portion of this money is funneled to the Reform Center for Religion and State under the guise of furthering Reform interests. However, as demonstrated by its legal history, the Center is largely used to fight legal battles against established religious communities and to arouse animosity toward the religious sector.
In the 2020 Congress elections, the Reform and Conservative parties collectively received approximately 45,000 votes out of the 120,000 votes cast by American Jews. The Reform movement has intensified its efforts to gain even more votes in the upcoming elections in March 2025. To counter their influence, American Jews who support traditional Torah values must participate in these elections and vote for delegates who will oppose the Reform movement’s attempts to reshape Israeli society.
The outcome of these elections will determine who controls billions of dollars and who shapes the future of religious life in Israel. By voting for delegates with true Torah values, American Jews can help ensure that Eretz Yisrael remains a place where authentic Judaism thrives.
Please make sure to VOTE at eretzhakodesh.org beginning MARCH 10.
