Ultra-Orthodox Rabbinate in Israel Divides Jews

What craziness! The March 18, 2011 issue of The Jewish Advocate, a Massachusetts weekly, reported that Israeli Jews seeking to get married in their own country must first prove that they’re Jewish. Due to the fact that the religious party is inevitably needed to form a majority coalition government in Israel‘s legislature, the Ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate has been perpetually ceded exclusive jurisdiction over marriage, divorce, burial, and conversion, Jewish rituals that carry legal weight in Israel. That means that two Jews can be married in Israel only by an approved Orthodox rabbi. Now, in an escalation of their efforts to make all Israelis adhere to the Ultra-Orthodox interpretation of Jewish law, the rabbis have been asking for proof that aspiring spouses are Jewish. This has caused much aggravation to many who have no documentation of their Jewishness beyond their own knowledge of their family history. While some have gone through the effort to dig up family records, many other have preferred to either live together out of wedlock or to get married in a foreign country. Also, while Israel’s Law of Return grants citizenship to anyone with a Jewish parent or grandparent, the Rabbinate deems only those with a Jewish mother to be Jewish., thereby denying 320,000 immigrants to Israel status as legal Jews. In addition, the Rabbinate does not recognize conversions performed by Conservative or Reform Jewish rabbis or even conversions by many Orthodox rabbis outside of Israel.

This situation is insane. All other major religions welcome converts with open arms, but those given power over Jewish law in Israel not only make it extremely difficult for those who want to become Jewish to do so, but actually deny participation in major Jewish rituals to those whose identity and family history are undeniably Jewish. What a perfect way to drive Jews out of the fold and to perpetuate the status of Judaism as a relatively tiny and weak member of the world’s community of religions. With the high birthrate of the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel (see my last blog entry) and much lower birthrate of less religious Israelis, the entrenchment and audacity of the Chief Rabbinate seems likely to escalate further. This can only serve to divide the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel both from other Israelis and from Jews around the world. This does not bode well for either Israel or for the unity among Jews needed to stand up against the military and political threats by which it is constantly besieged. Israelis must take the bold step to greatly weaken the power of the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel and spread it more equitably among Jews of various levels of religiosity.