c. 1997 Religion News Service
Group wants `religious pluralism’ in Israel included in sermons
(RNS) The High Holy Days are the best-attended worship services of the Jewish year in the United States, and liberal rabbis are being encouraged to take advantage of the high turnouts by including in their sermons a call for”religious pluralism”in Israel.
The New Israel Fund has sent resource guides on the issue to more than 3,500 U.S. rabbis affiliated with the Conservative, Reconstructionist and Reform Jewish movements. About 100 liberal Orthodox rabbis have also received the guide.
Religious pluralism in Israel refers to the effort of non-Orthodox Jewish religious movements to gain parity with Orthodox Judaism in the Jewish state. The latest skirmish in the long-running battle is over the official acceptance of non-Orthodox converts to Judaism in Israel. An Israeli government commission is seeking to resolve the dispute.
The resource guide was jointly prepared by representatives of the Conservative and Reform movements, which together account for about 3 million American Jews. The guide provides Jewish legal and moral arguments supporting the religious authenticity of non-Orthodox Judaism.
The High Holy Days begin the evening of Oct. 1, with the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The High Holy Days end with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, on Oct. 11.
The New Israel Fund is a Washington-based organization working to strengthen democracy and social justice in Israel.
Society of St. Andrew honored for anti-hunger efforts
(RNS) The Society of St. Andrew, a Methodist-related organization began in 1979 to combat hunger, has been given the first”Hero of Food Recovery & Gleaning Award”by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The award was presented to the group’s co-founder, the Rev. Ken Horne, at the first National Summit on Gleaning and Food Recovery in an effort to raise the profile of food recovery as an inexpensive means of helping feed the hungry with good, nutritious foods that would otherwise be wasted.
Vice President Al Gore addressed the summit and unveiled a plan to increase the amount of recovered foods by 33 percent.”When we reach our goal, we will be able to use the recovered food to feed 450,000 more people each day for a year,”Gore said.
The Society of St. Andrew has collected more than 200 million pounds of fresh produce and delivered it to soup kitchens, food banks, Salvation Army centers, church food pantries and homeless shelters since it began.”There is enough surplus food in this country to feed every hungry person,”Horne said.”No one should ever have to go hungry.” The society, headquartered in Big Island, Va., operates four food salvage and recovery programs _ The Gleaning Network, the Potato Project, Harvest of Hope and the Seed Potato Project.”We could easily distribute twice as much as we do now,”Horne said.”Farmers call every day with crops to donate, and there is no end to the food banks, church and human service agencies that need food.”The only limitation is the money needed for bagging and shipping,”he said.
Charitable giving bill introduced in Congress
(RNS) A bipartisan group of House members has introduced legislation that would expand the tax deduction for charitable contributions to all taxpayers _ not just those who itemize their tax returns.
Under the bill, non-itemizers would be allowed to deduct 50 percent of their annual charitable contributions over $500 each year.
The current average contribution from households who do not itemize is $465, according to a study by Independent Sector, a coalition of 800 voluntary organizations, foundations and corporate giving programs.
According to a study by Price Waterhouse, the accounting firm, if passed, the bill _ the Charitable Giving Relief Act _ would increase charitable giving by approximately $2.7 billion a year and would spur $16.5 billion in charitable contributions between 1998 and 2002.”This is an issue of fairness,”said Rep. Wally Herger, R-Calif., one of the co-sponsors of the bill.”Many non-itemizers give generously, but do not receive any tax deduction for their donations. These contributors deserve fair treatment under the tax code.”Those non-itemizers who already give generously will be encouraged to give more and those who don’t will be encouraged to start,”he said.
Other sponsors of the bill include Reps. Philip Crane, R-Ill., William Coyne, D-Pa., and Karen Thurman, D-Fla.
Luce Foundations awards $1.9 million for theological research
(RNS) The Henry Luce Foundation has awarded a grant of $1.9 million to the Association of Theological schools to continue the Henry Luce III Fellows in Theology program to nurture scholarship deemed to shape theological education, church life and the broader society into the next century.
Under the grant, seven theological scholars at ATS member schools will be selected for 12-month fellowships in specific areas of study.”This is the the premier program of support for the research of faculty in theological schools,”said Henry Luce III, chairman and CEO of the foundation.”It provides the leading theological scholars in North America the opportunity to research and then to comment on important issues of contemporary life and religion.”
Reform Jewish movement disappointed on Clinton land mine stance
(RNS) President Clinton’s decision not to commit the United States to signing a comprehensive ban on anti-personnel land mines was”the wrong decision, at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons,”Rabbi David Saperstein said Tuesday (Sept. 23).”A strong and leading role by the United States is critical if the international campaign to ban land mines will be successful in ceasing production and use of these hideous weapons which each year kill or main 26,000 non-combatant men, women and children,”Saperstein said in a statement.
Saperstein is director of the Religious Action Center, the social policy arm of Reform Judaism.
Last week, Clinton announced the United States would not sign a draft treaty banning the weapons because it would not make certain exceptions sought by the U.S. military, including the right to deploy anti-personnel land mines along the border between North and South Korea.
The treaty, drafted in Oslo, Norway, was approved by 89 nations and will be formally signed at ceremonies in Ottawa, Canada, in December.
Saperstein, in imploring Clinton to reverse the U.S. decision, said the Bible”sets forth in Deuteronomy several limitations on war, a number aimed at ensuring that once war was over, normal life could soon renew itself.”Can you think of a conventional weapon that so violates that standard more than land mines,”he asked.
Quote of the Day: New Era founder John G. Bennett Jr.
(RNS)”Your honor, at 60 years old, I now look at my life against the backdrop of eternity. I will face a higher judge one day and therefore I will be condemned to a greater prison _ hell _ if not truthful before Him. I never intended to defraud or hurt anyone.” _ John G. Bennett Jr., founder of the failed Foundation for New Era Philanthropy, in a statement before being sentenced Monday (Sept. 22) to 12 years in prison for his role in the biggest charity swindle in U.S. history, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
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