RETURNING, WITH RIGHTS

.0pclaw:Dec. oth
esday• Dec. 7t11

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bowed to pressure from the Orthodox
of inflammatory remarks. One haredi
parties and changed another law to
politician, speaking during a Knesset
prohibit similar moves.
committee meeting, branded all non-
At the same time, to satisfy secular
Jewish immigrants a "fifth column.
parties, the Law of Return was
Rabbi Avraham Ravitz, a haredi
expanded to grant automatic citizen-
Knesset member from the United
ship to anyone with a Jewish parent,
Torah Judaism bloc, has criticized his
spouse or grandparent
colleagues for these outbursts. He
"The real issue here for most peo-
shares some common ground with
ple in the center or the balanced cen-
Sharansky in his analysis of the roots
ter is what it means to be a Jew," says
of the problem.
Bernard Susser, a political scientist at
"We have an identity crisis among
Bar-Ilan University and co-author of
ourselves," says Ravitz. We are talk-
a recent book entitled Choosing
ing about a spiritual crisis, and if you
Survival: Strategies for a Jewish Future.
take these problems, and bring in a
"For most secular
cynical way thousands of
=
Israelis,
Jewishness is not
people who are shattering
a
halachic
identity, but
the concept of a Jewish
rather it's a matter of
state, it creates a problem
t historical consciousness
for Israeli society."
— throwing your lot in
Ravitz is opposed to the
2 with the Jewish people
Jewish Agency's actively
and seeing yourself as
encouraging gentiles with
part
of Jewish history. In
,
0
7
:
loose connections to the
that
regard, a great many
Jewish people to immigrate.
immigrants,
although
He has also drafted a pro-
halachically not Jewish,
posal to change the Law of
Sh aransky
are certainly Jewish."
Return, specifically the part Natan
However, says Susser,
allowing those with a Jewish
even many secular Israelis feel uncom-
grandparent to immigrate.
fortable accepting gentile immigrants
Barak made it clear Sunday that he
who
do not want to join the Jewish
opposes any change in the law. But
people
and are simply seeking refuge.
Sharansky said that although the law
The
Law of Return was written at a
should not be fundamentally altered,
time when it was inconceivable that
its details should not be considered
Israel would have a thriving economy
sacred." However, changing the Law
that would become a magnet for
of Return along the lines suggested by
Ravitz would only solve a small part of immigration from poorer countries.
Chaim Chesler, treasurer of the
the problem.
Jewish
Agency, says the solution is
Even the haredim do not advocate a
more
Jewish
education and conversion
more sweeping change to the law, such
before
the
immigrants
leave home.
as preventing non-Jewish spouses or
Changing the Law of Return, he says,
children of Jews from coming to Israel.
is not the answer.
It is not the first time the Law of
"We cannot punish the Jews or
Return has been challenged. The orig-
relatives or relatives of relatives after
inal law of 1950 laid out the principle
73 years of a Communist regime
of automatic Israeli citizenship "to any
during which holding a Hebrew-lan-
Jew who expresses his will to live in
guage book was enough to be sent to
the State of Israel." The principle was
Siberia," Chesler says. "I believe that
put to the test in 1958 when Oswald
although many immigrants may not
Rufeisen, a Polish Jew who converted
be Jewish according to halacha,
to Christianity and became a monk
either they or their children will
known as Brother Daniel, claimed the
eventually become a part of the
right to Israeli citizenship. According
Jewish people."
to halacha, or Jewish law, he was tech-
For immigrants like Yuri Bocharov,
nically a Jew since his mother was
that
is easier said than done. In 1993,
Jewish. But the Supreme Court ruled
Bocharov
explored what it would take
that the term Jew did not apply to
to become Jewish. He discovered that
someone who had voluntarily convert-
to convert in Israel, he would have to
ed away from Judaism.
observe the Sabbath, kosher laws and
In 1970, Binyamin Shalit, an Israeli
other religious practices according to
Jew who married a non-Jewish
Orthodox tradition.
Scottish woman, insisted on register-
"When I understood the whole
ing his children as Jews since they
story,
I said, 'Sorry — this is not for
were part of the Jewish people. The
me,
I
am
a complete secularist,'
Supreme Court backed Shalit, but
Bocharov says. Fl
Golda Meir, then prime minister,

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