Orthodox Grassroots Grow Strong at the Agudah Convention

Orthodox Grassroots Grow Strong
BINYAMIN JOLKOVSKY


STAMFORD, Conn. — Standing below a banner proclaiming “Keepers of a sacred trust” Rabbi Shmuel Bloom, executive vice president of the Orthodox grassroots umbrella group Agudath Israel of America, faced a crowd of nearly 2,000 men, women, and children of varying ages gathered here for the group’s annual convention. He declared, “We have an unprecedented opportunity today to have a true impact on the American political scene. Almost 70% of Orthodox Jews, compared to 23% Conservative and 15% Reform Jews, cast their votes for President Bush.” His organization, he added, has done a “wonderful job establishing and promoting a special relationship with the administration.”
It was more than an applause line or mere triumphalism. To those in the audience — and others in 15 cities across North America connected via a Webcast — it was a call to continuing arms.
If they missed the rabbi’s first reference, there was another: “The time has come for Agudath Israel to stand up and take its rightful place at the helm of the Jewish community. And to stand there proudly and without compromise as the bearer of the Torah’s message, as the movement whose members care about all Jews throughout the world.”
The fervently Orthodox and chasidic communities are often portrayed as insular. But they are realizing they’ve become a power to be reckoned with, and they are beginning lay the groundwork to make sure their newly found status becomes permanent.
Walking the halls of the Westin hotel here, one passed the usual luminaries — long-bearded rabbis and their stylish but modestly dressed wives, noted authors, educators, and lecturers. But this year, there were other “stars”: Grassroots activists, previously unknown, appeared to be everywhere. There were yeshiva educators who organized the Jewish get-out-the-vote drive in the battleground states of Florida and Ohio, the small-business entrepreneur who spearheaded voter registration in Israel. The convention was for many of them the place to meet for a toast after an against-the-odds success.
But there’s a long way from ambition to actuality, as became evident from one roundtable forum, “Culture Climate Control: Can We Affect the Moral Tenor of the World Around Us?”There, activists debated a strategy of seeing their goal realized.
The first step, proposed Michael Landau, the chairman of the Council of Orthodox Jewish Organizations on Manhattan’s West Side,is to draw attention to the distinction between observant Jews and their more secular co-religionists.
“It is important to make sure the American majority knows we are part of that majority. That Orthodox Jews are not like the rest of the Jews, and we are very much in line with the moral majority of America,” he said. “We must begin to redefine ourselves internally within the Jewish community and make sure our voice is better heard.”
One model proposed was to emulate evangelicals. “We can be perceived, if we really make clear the things we profess to believe, as a faith community, not unlike that of the Christian faith community,”argued Michael Fragin,an executive assistant to Governor Pataki. “We are here as the oldest faith community in the entire world, the oldest monotheistic religion in the world. We are the religion that gave birth to all others and gave birth to society. And somehow we are outside that debate.” By “we” he meant Orthodox Jews.
On a personal level, Mr. Fragin said he feels “ashamed” when confronted by Christian co-workers wondering why the Jews are “always on the other side.”
Secular Jews, he said, “time and time again have shown that they are interested in removing any vestiges of God and faith in many cases from the public debate and society.”
Religious Jews, he asserted, must step forward and change that.
Agudath Israel has, of course, long made coalitions with other religions over secular and sociological issues. And it has always remained nonpartisan.The reason, Rabbi Avi Shafran, one of the group’s officials, observed, was because it is not prudent for Orthodox Jews to be “constrained by consistency.”There are times, he said, “when we should and must argue there should be a separation of church and state and there are times when we shouldn’t. That may not always be a pretty thing to hear and say, but it’s a reality. In the end, what must concern us is the welfare of our children and what the Torah demands of us. It’s as simple as that, though it’s not a simple equation.”