Ha'aretz - 04.01.2005

Ha'aretz

Reform Jewish group condemns article by chief Russian rabbi

By The Associated Press

MOSCOW - A coalition of Reform Jewish groups on Thursday condemned Russia's Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar for a magazine article in which he suggested that Reform Judaism is opposite to the Jewish holy book, the Torah, and "can't be labeled as a religion."

In a statement, the World Union for Progressive Judaism said that the article by Lazar - who comes from the Lubavitch-dominated Federation of Jewish Communities - said Reform Judaism was contrary to the approach of the Jewish holy book, the Torah.

The article was printed in the February edition of a magazine published by the Federation of Jewish Communities.

"Reform Judaism can't be labeled as religion if we take religion seriously!" the article said, according to a translation provided by the WUPJ. "Reform Judaism treats the Torah as an anthology of laws created by man for his own convenience. God has no place. What Reform Judaism is are clubs to meet their interests and it seems odd to me that the directors of these clubs call themselves 'Rabbis."'

Lazar could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

"It is regrettable that (the Lubavitch movement) ... so easily returns to its old, hateful bashing of Reform Judaism," WUPJ executive director Rabbi Uri Regev said in a statement.

The dispute comes as the High Court in Israel handed a sharp blow to country's Orthodox monopoly over religious affairs, ruling that non-Orthodox conversions to Judaism partly performed in Israel could be recognized.

Thursday's court decision cut to the heart of the perennial question of who is a Jew.

The Reform and Conservative movements - the largest streams of Judaism in the United States - said the Israeli court ruling was an important step in their efforts to win recognition in Israel.

The Lubavitchers were one of many Hasidic groups that were uprooted from Eastern Europe by the Holocaust and came to the United States. The once-tiny sect has swelled in number and influence and Lubavitchers have become a powerful religious and economic institution throughout the world Jewish community.