Discord Mars Plans for Jewish Gathering : Rallies: Organizers seeking to show unity in the face of divisions over the Mideast peace process make changes to attract participation of Orthodox Jews, some of whom remain wary.

The idea was to pack New York’s Madison Square Garden in a show of American Jewish unity. The hope was to help bridge the deep divisions within the Jewish community over the Middle East peace process--divisions greatly exacerbated by the assassination of Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin.

But the rally--tentatively scheduled for early this month--has become embroiled in intra-religious squabbling, largely between non-Orthodox and Orthodox Jews.

To attract the participation of Orthodox Jews opposed to the agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, rally organizers have dropped references to the “peace process” and now call the rally a show of support for the “pursuit of peace.”

“Peace process” refers to the agreement worked out between Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, which would turn over West Bank land held by Israel to Arab control in return for peace.

“Unfortunately, we live in a time of code words,” said Mandell Ganchrow, president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, a major synagogue umbrella group. “Nuance is important.”

Orthodox Jews--the most theologically and politically conservative of all Jews--account for less than 10% of the 5.5 million Jews in the United States. But their involvement with Israel is generally far greater than that of the vast majority of American Jews.

Many Orthodox Jews consider the West Bank holy land and oppose ceding any of it to Arabs.

A survey by the American Jewish Committee taken before Rabin’s death found that 31% of American Orthodox Jews back the peace process, while 68% of all American Jews support the process.

Rabin was shot to death Nov. 4 by an Orthodox Jew, Yigal Amir. Since then, some non-Orthodox Jews in Israel and the United States have blamed the strident rhetoric of some Orthodox leaders for creating a climate that allowed Amir to feel justified in the attack.

The result has been a backlash, both in the United States and Israel, against Orthodox Jews that has further divided Jewish groups. The Manhattan rally was seen as a way of bridging the divide.

The rally was conceived as a memorial to Rabin and a dramatic public show of support for his attempts to create a stable peace .

But its official purpose is now “support for the people of Israel, the government of Israel and the pursuit of peace,” said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice president of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, a coalition of 53 Jewish groups from across the community’s theological and political spectrum.

The coalition is the lead agency coordinating the rally, which Hoenlein said will probably be held Dec. 10.

But dropping overt references to the peace process was not enough to gain full Orthodox support.

Rabin’s successor, Prime Minister Shimon Peres, and the slain leader’s widow, Leah Rabin, are both scheduled to attend the rally, which organizers hope will attract 20,000 Jews to the famed arena.

Rally organizers have also agreed to add Orthodox speakers to the program, including Rabbi Yisrael Lau, one of Israel’s two chief rabbis and a peace process critic.

They are also asking all speakers--including Leah Rabin, who immediately after her husband’s death harshly criticized Orthodox leaders--to avoid turning the officially nonpolitical gathering into a partisan rally.

“We are doing all we can to assure all segments of the community that this is a rally meant to restore some unity among Jews who are, sadly, far too divided,” Hoenlein said.

Despite those assurances, some Orthodox groups are still wary.

“You can’t guarantee what someone will say once they are in front of a mike,” said Rabbi Pesach Lerner, executive director of the National Council of Young Israel, another Orthodox group.

“We don’t want to be party to something that turns into Orthodox-bashing,” he said. “We’d like to be there, but we’re still thinking about it.”