Criticize the Israeli rabbinate all you want — but this shouldn’t be why.
Hell, I’m angry.
Lau’s quote was grossly taken out of context — not a single news report actually quoted the full interview, in which the rabbi mourned the victims and emphasized that a conversation about denominational differences is irrelevant here.
[...] I replicate here the original words of Rabbi David Lau, when asked by a Makor Rishon reporter about his attitude to the Conservative affiliation of the shooting’s victims: Lau was asked to comment on the ultra-Orthodox Israeli news outlets’ coverage of the massacre, which refused to call the Tree of Life Synagogue a “synagogue” but rather calling it a “Jewish center.”
Lau was evidently aghast. “How is that relevant? Don’t bring that up in [connection to] this topic. We are talking about Jews murdered because they are Jews. Why is this even a question?! I don’t hear or understand what kind of a discussion can be in regard to this question. They were murdered because they were Jews. Why does it matter in what synagogue or what liturgy they were praying?!”
Jumblr folks, if you saw and/or reblogged the post citing the Haaretz article claiming that Rabbi Lau refused to call Tree of Life a synagogue, please reblog this one too.
