I was recently doing a net search, and decided to search on the following series of phrases:
  • +"Reform Judaism"
  • +"Conservative Judaism"
  • +"Orthodox Judaism"
  • +"Jewish unity"

    The only page which I found with this search string was a page on the JTSA (Conservative Judaism) site. So, I went to that page and found a link to an article by Rabbi Dr. Schorsch on the topic of Jewish unity. I'd appreciate your feedback on this article, since as you will see below, Dr. Schorsch does not have time to respond. I hope that you will consider responding to me, because I feel that the only way to achieve true Jewish unity is through dialog.

    Please write me with constructive comment on these (hopefully) constructive thoughts.

    Send email to schubach.1@osu.edu

    On Sun, 13 Jul 1997, I wrote:

    Hello Rabbi Dr. Schorsch, I read rather carefully your remarks delivered at an American Jewish Committee Symposium on December 11, 1995 (http://www.jtsa.edu/pubs/schorsch/ajc.html), and would like to dialog with you via email. I will keep my remarks brief, until I hear back from you, so that I know that you are getting my email, and are interested in discussion. For one thing, I would humbly ask you to explain the comment,
    "First, the peace process must continue with undiminished vigor, in part because Israel has no viable alternative, in part because of the added support it has gained through Mr. Rabin's martyred death and in part because in the long run that is the only way to eliminate the reason for our escalating disunity."
    I don't quite understand how the peace process will eliminate the reason for our escalating disunity. I read where you said,
    "To my mind, the root cause of the assassination of Mr. Rabin was not Orthodoxy or verbal violence, but messianism."
    Even if this is so (which I would disagree with), there is more splitting our people right now than messianism. There are concrete religious issues, separating our people right now, unfortunately, such as a dispute on who can perform a conversion. Furthermore, you write:
    Regrettably, that political division serves to exasperate the already strained relationship between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews in Israel and America,"
    thus admitting that there is an "already strained relationship" among the Jews. I would agree with this statement, but I see little discussion in this particular speech about any of the other issues separating Jews from Jews. Also, perhaps you could explain the comment:
    "Peace between Jews and Palestinians must lead to the correction of this structural flaw that so grievously impedes mutual respect and social harmony among Jews."
    I'm curious how you perceive that cause and effect possibly occuring. I look forward to discussing this with you via email. In the meantime, you might also want to check out my brief remarks, which can be found at: http://www.oocities.org/Heartland/6807/jewishunity.html. You also might want to check out the rest of my home page, if you're curious.

    Sincerely Yours, and Have a Good Week,

    Bernard Schubach.

    jameadow@JTSA.EDU wrote on Monday, 14 Jul 1997:

    Dear Mr. Schubach, I thank you for your questions on my AJC remarks. Unfortunately, I do not have the time to enter into a dialogue.

    With all good wishes,

    Sincerely,

    Ismar Schorsch

    Please write me with constructive comment on these (hopefully) constructive thoughts.

    Send email to schubach.1@osu.edu

    After sending me email (hint, hint), you can return to my home page by clicking here, or you can return to my Jewish Unity page by clicking here.

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