After Artem Dolgopyat won the gold medal yesterday representing Israel in the Olympics, his mother made a dramatic statement that caused a bit of a ruckus.
Artem's mother announced that while Artem is being celebrated as a national hero, he would not be able to get married in Israel as he is not Jewish. She publicized that Artem's father is Jewish but she, his mother, is not. Because Artem is not Jewish, he cannot get married in Israel as there is no arrangement for civil marriage here. He and his girlfriend would need to travel abroad to get married.
This caused a bit of a buzz. A national hero, someone has contributed so much to Israel and national pride but we won't consider him Jewish?
The correct answer, I think, is yes, we won't consider him Jewish. Being a good person, bringing in a gold medal, serving in the army is not a form of conversion. If he is not Jewish,he is not Jewish. We don't consider people Jewish just because they did good things for Israel. Maybe it can give special consideration in streamlining the process and not being overly burdensome, but it does not give us the right to just say ok, we'll consider you Jewish.
However, someone like this should be encouraged to convert and the process should not be made difficult for him. His comes form a long line of Jews on his father's side. He is zera yisrael. And if he does not want to convert, he does not need to. Israel should offer some form of civil marriage. Israel has many non-Jewish and non-Muslim citizens, and they need to be able to function and carry on normal lifecycle events and daily activities. Civil marriage could be restricted to non-Jews, if people are worried about what it might cause to the Jewish community and the institution of halachic marriage and potential mamzerus, but these thousands of Israeli citizens need their basic rights to be met.
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"restricted to non-Jews"
ReplyDeleteOne side is inevitably Jewish
2. One can serve in US Army, and not be a citizen. One doesn't follow the other.
It's not true that he can't marry. He only cannot marry a Jew.
ReplyDeleteActually, it is true - there's no mechanism for him to marry at all in Israel. He's not Jewish, but he's not any other religion either - and since all marriage in Israel is via religious authorities, there's simply no way for him to marry here.
DeleteAs an aside - I heard this morning on the radio that his girlfriend is also not Jewish, so there's no Halachic reason for them not to marry. I also heard that when he was asked about being able to marry, he said it was a personal matter that he didn't want to discuss - so apparently, it was only his mother who wanted to make a fuss about the situation.
He could not marry his non-Jewish girlfriend in a Xtian ceremony in Israel, via a priest?
DeleteWhy not?
we dont know for sure, but as a guess I would say that just like he is not Jewish he is also not Christian. Maybe he doesnt want a Christian ceremony
DeleteI think we don't know for sure why his mother made that claim and why it's being trumpeted as fact. Perhaps it's not true.
Delete(We do know why it's being trumpeted as fact. But that doesn't mean IT IS fact. And he himself has declined to discuss it, so perhaps his mother was put up to it or perhaps she has her own agenda.)
I'd presume that he doesn't want a Christian ceremony because he's not Christian - and if he's not Christian, I'd say there's also a good chance the Christian religious authorities in Israel won't marry him either if he's not Christian - after all, the Rabbanut wouldn't presume to marry two Muslims who came to them.
DeleteHis mother clearly does have an agenda, while he wants to keep the issue private - but so what? That doesn't mean it's not an issue.
Actually, there is a mechanism in Israel for two non-Jews who aren't one of the recognized religions (in practice, this means Russian part-Jews) to marry each other. Every now and then you see an ad in the paper with a list of all such couples wanting to marry that month, a way of making a public announcement to make sure they're not married already.
DeleteIt may not be called "marriage," but it has all the benefits and the like associated with that.
I believe that may be called "Beit Zugiyut" - but it's not marriage. People often want marriage, not something that's"just as good".
DeleteThey can have whatever they want. They just won't have the government call it that. But I guess some people really need that state approval, for some reason.
DeletePerhaps not being recognized as "married" has tax consequences and legal consequences, for instance as regards to being able to make medical decisions on their behalf or have rights to see their records, should they become incapacitated.
Deletesuddenly proper marriage isnt a big deal? we religious Jews, for whom proper marriage is a super big deal, of all people should understand that marriage is a big deal for other people too and they dont want to just find a half baked solution that is similar to marriage.
Delete