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Frustrated by what they see as major affronts to religious freedom in Israel, Conservative rabbis and lay leaders from around the Bay Area will converge Sunday, June 1 to try to turn their concerns into action.

In addition to focusing on how to support the Masorti movement, Israel's version of Conservative Judaism, the all-day forum at Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland will also explore the essence of what it means to be a Conservative Jew.

"Before we start screaming and yelling that people are trying to disenfranchise us, we ought to figure out what makes us Conservative Jews," says Rabbi Mark Diamond, spiritual leader of Beth Abraham and an organizer of the Masorti Educational Forum. "What are the positive values we stand for?"

Helping to answer that question will be Rabbi Bradley Artson of Mission Viejo, author of two books and a syndicated column called "Dear Rabbi." William "Ze'ev" Brinner, professor emeritus of Middle Eastern Studies at U.C. Berkeley, will be on hand as well.

Also attending the forum will be Rabbi Benjamin Segal, president of Jerusalem's Beit Midrash, the academic center of the Masorti movement. In a recent interview with the Jewish Bulletin, Segal asserted that Judaism in Israel "has been made a matter of politics, a matter of power, instead of a matter of promise or personal identity."

Recent events inspiring the forum include the recent initial success of a controversial conversion bill that would legalize the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate's final say over conversions performed in Israel. Conservative and Reform leaders say the bill delegitimizes their movements not only in Israel, but also in the United States, where less than 10 percent of the Jewish population identifies itself as Orthodox.

Conservative Jews are also upset by the widely publicized declaration by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada stating that non-Orthodox Judaism is not true Judaism. Many say the recent move, even though it didn't occur in Israel, has added salt to the wound caused by such Israeli actions as the conversion bill.

In the face of such developments, a key concern is how American Jews — thousands of miles away from Israel and unable to cast votes there — can hold sway over the country's religious policies.

Diamond insists plenty can be done.

First and foremost, he says, "it is time for Jews in this country who believe in religious pluralism to stop funding organizations that do not share the same values we share. It is critical for us to begin to put our money where our mouths are."

Diamond, in fact, has disseminated to his own congregation a list of organizations that support democracy and tolerance in Israel. These include the Masorti movement itself, the Gesher Foundation and New Israel Fund.

At the forum, other strategies will be discussed as well. Diamond, for example, will suggest that rabbis encourage congregants to register to vote in the World Zionist Organization Congress, the closest thing to an international Jewish parliament.

Through the Congress, which will next convene in December, delegates from around the world meet and set policies for the WZO, including decisions regarding Zionist education and Jewish identity, Israel-diaspora relations, problems of assimilation, aliyah and absorption and the nature of Israeli society.

"To vote in those elections," Diamond says, "is another very simple positive step we can take to make sure our voices are heard."