{"id":5279,"date":"2008-09-22T11:02:42","date_gmt":"2008-09-22T19:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=5279"},"modified":"2008-09-22T11:02:42","modified_gmt":"2008-09-22T19:02:42","slug":"an-unorthodox-dip-in-the-mikveh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=5279","title":{"rendered":"An UnOrthodox Dip In The Mikveh"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the Jerusalem Post<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The Orthodox establishment’s ban on non-Orthodox converts and brides using state-funded mikvaot (ritual baths) is a desecration of God’s name, Rabbi Barry Schlesinger, the newly reelected president of the Masorti (Conservative) Movement’s Rabbinical Assembly in Israel, said on Sunday. <\/p>\n

"We have to put an end to the discrimination against Conservative converts and brides," Schlesinger said. <\/p>\n

"Tax-paying Israelis, interested in adhering to Halacha, are being prevented from using indoor mikvaot that are run and funded by the state just because they are not Orthodox Jews. <\/p>\n

"Instead they are forced to perform their tvila [ritual immersion] in the sea or in a natural spring, where they are exposed to the elements and to less than ideal hygiene," he said. <\/p>\n

A spokesman for Religious Services Minister Yitzhak Cohen said he was unaware of any restrictions on the use of mikvaot. <\/p>\n

"We actually want to encourage as many people as possible to use the mikve," the spokesman said. <\/p>\n

Rabbi Yitzhak Ralbag, the official marriage registrar in Jerusalem, said he personally refused a woman slated to be married in a Reform ceremony written permission to use the mikve. <\/p>\n

"If she wants to use the mikve nobody will stop her," he said. "But don’t expect me to give a Reform marriage legitimacy. The pig also tries to prove it is kosher by showing that its hoofs are cloven." <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the Jerusalem Post: The Orthodox establishment’s ban on non-Orthodox converts and brides using state-funded mikvaot (ritual baths) is a desecration of God’s name, Rabbi Barry Schlesinger, the newly reelected president of the Masorti (Conservative) Movement’s Rabbinical Assembly in Israel, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,37,193,18,89],"tags":[12810,3920,12812,8892,12813,12811],"class_list":["post-5279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conservative-judaism","category-israel","category-jerusalem","category-orthodoxy","category-reform-judaism","tag-barry-schlesinger","tag-jerusalem-post","tag-marriage-registrar","tag-rabbi-barry","tag-ritual-baths","tag-ritual-immersion"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t