ALIYAH COMMITTEE
AMTON Newsletter
Fall 2000
A CONSERVATIVE FROM BROOKLYN
By Joe Romanelli
I grew up in Brooklyn in the 40's-50's and attended
Hebrew school at a Conservative synagogue. As was the
custom in those days, my Bar Mitzvah marked the end
of active involvement in matters Jewish. It wasn't until
the Six Day War that everything that had been inculcated
in me by my parents, family, and Hebrew school re-emerged,
and my Jewish identity and its connection to Israel
came to the forefront of my consciousness. A long thinking
process began. I made my first and only visit in l969
and was entranced by the country. I began getting more
involved, seeking out a Conservative synagogue and volunteering
to collect for the UJA appeal. Eventually I came to
a series of conclusions:
1. My Jewish identity
is important to me.
2. My Jewish identity
is tied to Israel.
3. Israel must
survive and flourish.
4. Her survival
and flourishing depends on people living there and
building the country. That is, it depends on aliyah.
5. Therefore,
I should make aliyah.
So, in January 1972, I did. I married an Israeli woman
and we moved into the French Hill neighborhood in Jerusalem.
During the high holidays, we were walking by Hebrew
University and I heard familiar Rosh Hashanah melodies.
We walked in and found a group of North Americans using
familiar prayer books and speaking English (or Hebrew
with a thick American accent). Later that year, our
Conservative/ Masorti community, Ramot Zion, was organized.
Recently I had the honor of serving as Vice President
and then President and have always been active locally.
I've also begun involvement on a national level.
In the United States, I had never given my Conservative
identity much thought. In Israel, it's clear I belong
to a minority group facing stiff opposition. That doesn't
faze me. I'm very proud of what we have accomplished
in the sense of the numbers of communities we have today,
and the TALI school system (somewhat related to the
Solomon Schechter model) that is enjoying great success.
You've read about the problems we face at the Kotel
(Western Wall), the burning of our Ramot synagogue,
the tsuris connected with not being accepted and having
to make a special effort to be a Conservative Jew. Yet
there also is an excitement and pride in being part
of establishing something that you believe in and that
you think is good, even important, for Israel.
French Hill is a very mixed neighborhood. I would
guess it's about 70 percent non-Orthodox and mostly
non-religious. There are three large Orthodox synagogues
and our Conservative congregation. On the holidays,
it is clear that we are the synagogue of choice for
the large majority of the non-affiliated. Our place
bulges with non-members anxious to pray or have their
children hear the Megillah reading at Ramot Zion.
We struggle with the question of how to convert the
visitors into becoming members and have yet to find
any magic solution. We try to figure out how to run
a synagogue that gets no support from the government
as opposed to the Orthodox ones that are built and supported
by the government.
The list can go on. What doesn't enter my head is
the thought that we should stop trying or give it up.
To this day I remain convinced that if only more Conservative
Jews would understand how important Israel is to their
lives there, and if only a small percentage of those
would consider and make aliyah, the whole face of the
Movement here and of Israel in general would be different.
Life in Israel is fascinating, frustrating, enriching,
and above all, vital. Pioneering won't stop in my lifetime,
if ever, and there's plenty of room for Conservative
Jews. What are you doing with the rest of your life?
Joseph Romanelli attended Hebrew School at a Conservative
synagogue in Brooklyn. He was a foreign service officer
for the U.S. State Department, before making aliyah
to Israel. Since his aliyah in 1972, he has worked in
the Aliyah Department of the World Zionist Organization,
and recently retired as Director of the North American
Desk of the Jewish Agency. He is a founding member of
the Ramot Zion Conservative synagogue in Jerusalem.
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