Today, we visited Binah, a Jewish movement for social change. The name is an acronym for “workshop for the nation’s soul.” We met with Elliot Glassenberg. Binah supports both social action and Jewish learning.
Binah was started as a way to study Judaism from a non-orthodox perspective. To give an example, while we were there, our entire group studied Israel’s declaration of independence as one would study the Talmud. We analyzed the promises it makes and the reality of those pledges in society today.
Binah is a yeshiva, but because it is not orthodox, it is not recognized by the Israeli government. Because of this, its students are not exempt from conscription, making it different from any ultra-orthodox yeshiva. We discussed the special status orthodoxy has with regards to the military. It is the only sect receiving exempting “deferments” from the military. Secular Jews in Israel dislike the chief rabbinate and feel that it has too much power that is not justified. They feel that it is wrong for one branch of a religion to make decisions for an entire nation, and I understand their point. For example, they control marriage. This effectively bans intermarriage and same-sex marriage. It is wrong for individuals to impose their religious beliefs upon others, and it is wrong to oppress others. Secular Jews are generally more liberal than traditional Jews in Israel. They support marriage equality and other issues that more conservative sects oppose.
After our information and study session, we went to help out in their garden. The garden helps the community by supporting native plants and animals. We took part in tikkun olam as we pulled out invasive weeds. This was a very unique learning and volunteering experience for our group.