375 Reform, Conservative andOrthodox Congregational Rabbis, serving hundreds of thousands of American Jews and representing the entire religious and political spectrum of the Jewish community, also signed this letter.

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is a proud member of the
Orthodox Union.

A.M.C.H.A.

RABBIS RELEASE LETTER OF CAUTION
TO PRESIDENT BUSH
May 23, 2003

375 REFORM, CONSERVATIVE & ORTHODOX RABBIS TAKE UNIFIED STAND ON ROAD MAP IMPLEMENTATION
              &
CALL FOR 1 MILLION AMERICANS
TO ADD THEIR NAMES TO ONLINE PETITION

NEW YORK The Interdenominational Rabbinic Committee, coordinated by Amcha The Coalition for Jewish Concerns, released the text of the letter of caution sent to President George W. Bush at a 10 am press conference today inManhattan. The letter was signed by 375 Congregational Rabbis who serve hundreds of thousands of American Jews from the three major branches of Judaism and represent the entire religious and political spectrum of the Jewish community. Never before have so many diverse Congregational Rabbis come together to sign a letter of consensus on such an important issue affecting Israel.

Noting the overwhelming grass roots response to the letter, the Rabbis announced the launching of adrive to garner one million American signatures. The petition can be signed at
www.petitiononline.com/amcha503 or viewed at
www.cjcamcha.org.

In explaining the reasoning behind this effort, Rabbi Bruce Ginsburg said, We believe that the Road Map allows for a variety of interpretations. What we aredoing with our statement is urging President Bush to make sure its implementation is in line with his vision forMiddle East peace as articulatedon June 24th of last year. Rabbi Ginsburg also stressed that just as America can not defend itself and its friends by hoping for the best, neither canIsrael.

The statement high lights three principles related to Israeli security concerns that must govern any peacemaking attempts in theMiddle East. While written before its debate on the Road Map, these principles were also articulated by the Israeli Cabinet in the reservations and resolutions accompanying its acceptance.

The three principles are:

The PA must renounce the notion of a Palestinian Right of Return to the Jewish State. The PA must dismantle the existing terrorist infrastructure andendits anti-Semitic incitement to violence before the Road Map is implemented. Road Map advancement must be basedon performance, not on arbitrary timetables that encourage non compliance.

In stressing the importance of these principles and their relation to Israeli security concerns, Rabbi Neal Borovitz observed that Israelhas a passionate concern for peace, but not at the price of Jewish suicide.

When askedwhether the letter constitutes endorsement or rejection of the Road Map, Rabbi Avi Weiss explained that thedocument is remarkable precisely because both advocates and opponents of the Road Map joined together to issue the statement in support of Israel. While every individual Rabbi has anuanced position towards the Road Map, ours is a consensus position, said Rabbi Weiss. There are Rabbis who would have votedin favor of the Road Map and signed because they want to send a cautionary message to the President. Then there are Rabbis who would have votedagainst it and signed because they want to highlight the dangers of proceeding along these lines.

In explaining the role of Rabbisduring these precarious times, Rabbi Harlan Wechsler announced that American Rabbis are trying to wake up American Jewry as well as others, so that our great country the United States of America can effectively, andI underline effectively, help Israelis andArabs achieve a lasting peace that will not leadto war.

The letter was written by the Interdenominational Rabbinic Committee and coordinated by Amcha The Coalition for Jewish Concerns. The six committee members are Rabbi Bruce Block (Reform), Rabbi Neal Borovitz (Reform), Rabbi Bruce Ginsburg (Traditional), RabbiShmuel Goldin (Orthodox), Rabbi Harlan Wechsler (Conservative) and Rabbi Avi Weiss (Orthodox). The names of the 375 Congregational Rabbis who signed the letter will be posted shortly, and are available upon request in the interim.

Text of Letter

May 23, 2003
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave
Washington,DC20500

Dear President George W. Bush,

We support andcommendyour courageous leadership in theMiddle Eastandare sincerely grateful for your further deepening of the strong ties between America and Israel.

Mr. President, on June 24, 2002 you presentedyour vision for achieving peace in the region. You concluded by saying,

this moment is both an opportunity anda test for all parties in the Middle East an opportunity to lay the foundations for future peace, a test to show whos serious about peace and who is not. The choice here is stark and simple. The Bible says, I have set before you life anddeath, therefore choose life. The time has arrivedfor everyone in this conflict to choose peace andhope andlife.

The undersigned Congregational Rabbis, representing the entire religious and political spectrum of the Jewish community, are unitedin the belief that to fulfill your vision, the relationship between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) must be governedby the following principles:

1) The PA must renounce the notion of a Palestinian Right of Returnto the Jewish State. This ostensible right is a ploy todestroy the State of Israel. Were the millions of Palestinians currently living throughout the world actually resettled in Israel, the Jewish State wouldcease to exist.

2) The PA mustdismantle the existing terrorist infrastructure andendits anti-Semitic incitement to violence before the Road Map is implemented. Additional obligations on the parties must be introduced sequentially, not simultaneously.

3) Road Map advancement must be basedon performance, not on arbitrary timetables that encourage noncompliance.

Adherence to these principles offers the best prospect of peace and hope andlife that we all pray fordaily.

Respectfully,

Rabbi Bruce S. Block Rabbi Neal Borovitz Rabbi Bruce Ginsburg
Reform              Reform                  Traditional

Rabbi Shmuel Goldin Rabbi Harlan Wechsler Rabbi Avi Weiss
Orthodox          Conservative              Orthodox

375 Reform, Conservative andOrthodox Congregational Rabbis, serving hundreds of thousands of American Jews and representing the entire religious and political spectrum of the Jewish community, also signed this letter.

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Phone: (718) 884-8499 Fax: (718) 884-9866 Email: cjcamcha@cjcamcha.org Web: www.cjcamcha.org

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