This past Shabbat (Sabbath) was a dark day in American Jewish history. Once again — this time within Judaism — the rule that the Left destroys everything it touches was exemplified.
Twelve hundred American synagogues participated in "Repro-Shabbat." "Repro" is short for "reproductive rights." The idea, which originated with a left-wing organization called the National Conference of Jewish Women (NCJW), was to have as many synagogues as possible promote the idea that Judaism supports a woman's right to abort the child she is carrying at any time in her pregnancy and for any reason, that the human fetus is never a human being — even five minutes before it is born — and that it has no innate right to live.
That this is the position of the American Left is a given. That it is counter to science and to common decency is also a given — as is most of what the Left stands for: "Men give birth"; sexual identity is "nonbinary"; young children should attend drag queen events; a person's sex or "gender" is not a biological fact, but a subjective feeling; men who say they are women must be allowed to compete against women in sports and be placed with women in women's prisons; young girls who say they are boys and want their breasts surgically removed should have their breasts removed; boys and girls as young as elementary-school age who say they are not a boy or a girl must have this belief "affirmed" by schools, psychotherapists, physicians and society; and schools are duty bound not to inform these children's parents if their child identifies as the opposite sex at school and is treated as such there. These are among the many examples of left-wing nihilism.
And these are the positions of the NCJW. What is more disturbing, however, is that the NCJW and 1,200 synagogues regard the left-wing view of abortion — that it is never immoral — as the position of Judaism.
Unlike Christianity and Islam, which are religions only, Judaism is both a religion and a nation (or "people"). Therefore, to be considered a Christian one must affirm core Christian beliefs; and to be considered a Muslim one must affirm core Muslim beliefs. But Jewish beliefs do not determine who is a Jew. A person who is born to a Jewish mother (or in Reform Judaism, a Jewish father or mother) is a Jew no matter what he or she believes. One who is born a Jew can be an atheist or even a fascist or communist or work for Israel's destruction — and remain as much a Jew as the chief rabbi of Israel.
That explains Jewish groups like the NCJW. The only thing Jewish about the National Conference of Jewish Women is that it is composed of Jews. Sadly, this is increasingly the case with regard to most rabbis and synagogues within Reform and Conservative Judaism, the two major non-Orthodox Jewish denominations. They are Jews who hold left-wing values. Left-wing values — unlike liberal and conservative values — are antithetical to normative Jewish values (just as they are to normative Christian and normative Western values). The founders of Reform and Conservative Judaism would turn in their graves if they were to see what has happened to the movements they founded.
The NCJW is so far left that its website promoting "Repro-Shabbat" urges people "to use gender-neutral language (such as) 'people,' 'pregnant individuals,' or 'patients' rather than 'women,'" and "to say 'women and all people who can get pregnant.'"
And how's this for representing Judaism? The NCJW prepared a "Repro-Shabbat Playlist" on Spotify featuring such Jewish and holy songs as:
"Bitch" (Meredith Brooks).
"I Spent My Last $10 (On Birth Control & Beer)" (Two Nice Girls).
"Bodies" (Sex Pistols), whose lyrics deemed appropriate for Repro-Shabbat include "Ah! F--- this and f--- that. F--- it all, and f**k the f**king brat."
"I Luv Abortion" (Xiu Xiu): "When I look at my thighs, I see death / It is great, I love abortion!"
Wash It All Off (Foetus): "You've got Foetus on your breath / You've got Foetus on your breath / You've got Foetus on your breath / You've got Foetus on your breath."
And the NCJW advises the song, "F--- Men" (Ms. White) — perhaps to be sung while the Torah is being taken from the ark. Its refrain goes like this: "F--- men / You don't need those tears in your eyes / F--- men. You can tell him that it's too hard / And just leave him with a broken heart / And baby f--- men, f--- men, f--- men."
Non-Jews get a thoroughly perverted picture of Judaism as a result of the NCJW, the 1,200 synagogues and all the rabbis who went along with "Repro-Shabbat." Of course, Judaism, like every legal system, allows abortion to save the life of the mother, and various religious authorities have allowed it in cases of rape or incest. But Judaism has never held that all abortions at any stage of pregnancy are morally acceptable. In fact, Maimonides, the great philosopher and codifier of Jewish law, a man almost universally regarded as the greatest Jewish thinker since Moses, declared abortion "akin to murder."
Even an article on abortion in the largest left-wing Jewish periodical, The Forward (Aug. 1, 2018), acknowledged: "There are (no) halakhists (Jewish legal authorities) who permit abortion in all cases, i.e., that halakhah (Jewish law) is 'pro-choice'; a cursory look at any of the sources cited would show clearly that such a position is unsustainable."
If you ask any religious Jew, "What is the greatest Jewish sin?" he or she would almost definitely respond, "chillul HaShem" — the public desecration of God's name.
That is what the 1,200 synagogues who celebrated "Repro-Shabbat" engaged in. Non-Orthodox Judaism, like mainstream Protestantism and much of contemporary Catholicism, is dying. Killed by the destroyer of all good things: the Left.
Dennis Prager is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and columnist. His commentary on Deuteronomy, the third volume of "The Rational Bible," his five-volume commentary on the first five books of the Bible, was published in October. He is the co-founder of Prager University and may be contacted at dennisprager.com.