At a press conference shortly after Israel became an independent state, David Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister, was asked how he felt about the fact that the Jewish state had to prosecute and arrest thieves, criminals, prostitutes, drug addicts, child abusers, etc. In response, Ben Gurion stated that, as an independent state, Israel had joined the community of nations which meant having to deal with the good and the bad that comes along with an autonomous democratic society.

If I could turn back the clock of time, I would like to be present at such a press conference. I would then ask Prime Minister Ben Gurion, inquiring as to his feelings about intolerance, intransigence, restriction of religious freedom and Sin'at Chinam - unnecessary hatred of one stream of the Jewish population toward the others. .

The concept of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" - war, pestilence, famine, death - has threatened mankind for times immemorial. Humanity has been struggling to eliminate these evils from the face of the earth, sometimes successfully - even if for short periods of time - but without eradicating them into oblivion.

The "Ten Plagues" embittered the lives of the Egyptians, extracting a great toll for Pharaoh's failure to grant freedom to the Hebrew slaves. The centuries-old lingering oppression kept our people shackled and hopelessness prevailed. The long-sought elusive freedom seemed then to be unattainable. However, the long awaited emancipation of the enslaved Hebrews was achieved, at a great cost to the oppressors, with Moses leading our people towards the promised land.

When a house is infested with termites that threaten to destroy its foundation, the only way to eradicate them is to use a strong insecticide applied by a competent professional; when a person's body is infected with a powerful virus, causing great harm and misery to the afflicted person, the only manner to put an end to it is by having an experienced physician administer a powerful drug.

Now, as we face the ushering in of a new decade, a new century and a new millennium, we are confronted with our own "Y2K bug", which is comprised of severe chronic conditions that have lingered on for over 50 years, since Israel's establishment as a free State: intransigence, intolerance, "sin'at chinam" - unnecessary hatred and restriction of religious freedom.

This "bug" threatens the very foundations of Israel's democratic principles and has eroded the core and essence of the basic freedoms stipulated by the Declaration of Independence.

Therefore, and fortunately, due to a growing presence of the liberal/progressive forces in Israel, spearheaded by the Masorti and Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, the Israeli landscape has been undergoing a gradual and irreversible change.
                               
Under the capable leadership of the Israel Religious Action Center and the IMPJ as well as the Masorti movement, tremendous efforts have been exerted in the area of advocacy before the Supreme Court of the land. Such steps aim at correcting situations where injustices and misdirected protectionist policies: - restrictions for marriages, conversions, divorces, and other celebrations of life-cycle events officiated by reform and conservative clergy; "out-of-bounds" policies stipulated by Municipal Religious Councils regarding participation by non-orthodox representatives - practices enforced for years by militant fanatic activists who fear that liberal/progressive streams of Judaism will "contaminate" and "infect" the Israeli Jewish landscape.

Supreme Court decrees issued recently stating that Reform and Conservative clergy could instruct candidates for conversion; Basic Laws legislated by the Knesset allowing for non-orthodox members to join Municipal Religious Councils; and statements of solidarity issued by prominent and respected Israeli writers, supporting the development, expansion and blossoming of Jewish progressive institutions in Israel, amount to important and significant strides in the direction of the attainment of a liberalized openness toward all streams of Judaism in the land.

However, these are palliative measures that only serve as "band-aids" or "patch-up" steps, without attacking the root and core of the ailment. The only way to "grab the bull by the horns", the only solution to "nip this affliction in the bud", the only way to exterminate this "Y2K bug" of ours is through the implementation of thorough and drastic measures.

* - We need to establish once and for all a constitution that is the hallmark and guarantee of religious freedom for all of Israel's inhabitants. A constitution is the insurance that democracies count on in order to protect the rights of their citizens. A majority of Israel's population thirsts for it, hungers for it and demands it. Evidence of this fact could be clearly noticed when thousands of persons crowded progressive synagogues throughout Israel during the recent High Holy Days, creating unprecedented congestion, forcing synagogues to set-up last-minute seating arrangements and installing loud-speakers for the overflow crowds of worshipers.

Presently, synagogues have long waiting lists to schedule life-cycle events: marriages, bnei and bnot mitzvah; schools are crowded beyond capacity, having to turn away families seeking a liberal Jewish education for their children. Nine congregations in Israel await the raising of sufficient funds that would allow them to build their own houses of worship.

** - We must educate ourselves as much as possible; we must become active and militant while embracing the task of enlightening friends, relatives and fellow congregants; we must sensitize Israeli dignitaries, diplomats and Knesset members, when they are in our midst, by inviting them to our synagogues as well as other Jewish organizations in our communities; by stressing the importance of pressing, through their votes and legislative measures, for the establishment of a modern Israeli society suitable for the 21st century and beyond; a society which will enable the development of a tolerant, sensitive, liberalized multi-faceted and thoroughly genuine pluralistic democracy in Israel; Then, and only then will we be able to consider ourselves as members of the planetary community of free nations.

*** - By getting involved in pro-active liberal and progressive organizations, by learning more about progressive and liberal Judaism; by appreciating the privileges given to us in this country, allowing us to live the kind of Jewishness of our own choice and by encouraging the development of the same in Israel. We must exercise our prerogatives to be partners in the shaping of our Jewish destiny in this country, in Israel and in other parts of the world.

**** - By contributing generously to the thrust of major fund-raising efforts to build more progressive and liberal synagogues, schools, teachers' training institutes, we will become enablers and shapers of our aspired dreams.

By being cognizant that it is incumbent upon us to become the eradicators, the eliminators of the "Y2K bugs" that assail our people, we will actually and ultimately be able to implement the ancient quest of "Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof" Justice, Justice Shall you Pursue, which will then truly enable us to become an "Am Echad" - a United People and an "Am Gadol VeKadosh" - A Great and Holy People.