Nearly 4,000 Jews in the San Francisco Bay Area have signed a petition opposing a bill in Israel that would limit the definition of a Jew to someone who practices the religion's Orthodox form.
The Jewish Community Federation in San Francisco mailed the petitions to 17,000 of its donors to give American Jews, most of whom practice more liberal versions of the religion, a symbolic voice in the debate taking place in Israel's governing body, the Knesset.
The group plans to send the signatures to a government-sponsored committee in Israel that is trying to work out a compromise to allow non-Orthodox converts to be registered as Jews in Israel.
"We look to you to find a solution which will maintain Jewish unity and build an Israel where all Jews feel at home," the petition says. "Your decisions will influence the destiny of the Jewish people."
