Can anyone please tell me why she should be allowed a legal Jewish wedding ceremony when she isn't Jewish? By her Father marrying a non-Jew he is the one who has caused the problems not the Rabbinate

The Rabbinate is in severe need of reform, especially in this area. Their unbending, myopic, archaic policies only weaken "Ahm Yisrael".

If you dont want to follow the law then leave!

What you have is nonsense. You are not preserving the Jewish nation with you stanglehold on marriage etc, rather you are splitting it. Israel will always be a Jewish country because over time the non-Jews up and leave. Its been like that for ages. When religion comes between people who love eachother, its not religion,Its madness. The Jewish religion has outlived all and will be around forever. If you want to look at madness, witness the fact that the hassidim refuse to marry outside of their slect clan. They end up marrying their first cousins and the result is a huge population of special needs kids.

If conversion in Israel is an option for her she should just do it. The rabbanut can find easy ways to facilitate as they find all sorts of far fetched ways in order to permit other things. She grew up here in Israel and certainly knows enough in order to pass any exam they may want her to take so why be hard on someone like this?

What's the difficulty here, YNet? She admits it herself, she isn't Jewish according to halacha. More importantly, why does anyone think a Rabbi should be so irresponsible as to countenance a marriage between a non-Jew and a Jew? She's clearly not Jewish, by her own admission. Her fiance clearly is. Nothing has changed in thousands of years. Convert or a Rabbi won't marry you. Deal with it.

I can understand, sympathise and recognise her frustration. She can die for Israel but cannot get married there. They are idiots.

Leave if you don't like it. America has killed more Jews by intermarriage then the Nazis did with weapons. Keep the state of Israel Jewish!!

that my daughter (of absolute Jewish grandparents - haredim - and parents) and her husband (also absolutely Jewish) opted to marry in Cyprus, 13 years ago. Can't understand this girl's angst. What's the big deal?

Why do you presume that she wants to marry in a legal Jewish ceremony. The issue is that if one is not halachically Jewish then you may not marry in Israel period. Even two halachically non-Jews may not marry in Israel!! Why should anybody have to go and find another country to get married in when they are dutiful citizens??

...and also not with Ms. Margolis' army service (for which she deserves praise). It's simply that Torah-observant Judaism is based on Halacha (Jewish religious law) and according to that, a person with a Jewish father but a non-Jewish mother is not considered a Jew for religious purposes. That's why she can't have an orthodox Jewish wedding. In Israel, there is no civil marriage and never has been. Since the times of the Ottoman Empire, marriage has been exclusively in the hands of religious functionaries (Jewish, Muslim and Christian) - anyone who is not religiously accepted as a member of these groups has to either get accepted (e.g. by conversion) or marry outside the country (e.g. in Cyprus, which thousands of Israelis do every year). As Ms. Margolis spent most of her life in Israel, she must have been aware of this before. I'm sure she didn't suddenly discover these facts one morning just as she got engaged. And by the way, the Israeli army offers a program that is open to all soldiers who want to convert to Judaism. Sorry, but it's either that or Cyprus.

these people in ?

There is simply, absolutely NO reason for these two "Tru-Jews" NOT to be allowed to join. In Israel! Period. I do not really care who has to move on this situation, but someone has to grow a pair and do the right thing by these two and all similarily situated.

ARE U?? WHAT A TIRESOME CRAP...We Jews had to deal with it when all kind of anti-semitic idiots.. and now this, in Israel ? a person is an israeli , loyal to Israel ..and that should be enough

If rabbis do not want to perform the marriage, well and good. But if, as they do, they prevent someone else from performing the marriage, they are scoundrels. And a government that allows this should be ashamed of itself.

And I am getting tired of the " I serve in the army" thrown up to us every time this matter of being Jewish comes up. You probably never light shabbat candles and have nno intention of bringing up children who will actually follow Judaism, rather secular kids who happen to live in Israel. I personally know of many who have or are serving in the army who consider themselves Israeli not Jewish......or Israeli before being Jewish. They have no clue as to what this Jewish country is about and no wish to participate in anything "Jewish". Just because you are in the army doesn't make up for having no interest in living as a Jew. Israel is for Jews. You happened to arrive here as a 4 year old but apparently have done nothing to advance your understanding of Judaism or even a desire to be part of the Jewish people. Being in the army is a good career move for you though.

She repeats and repeats the army the army... She knew her condition in Israel .Why is she soooo revolted now? If she didn´t agree to what Israel gave her,she could always had come back to Ucraine.Nobody hold her by force. If she wants to be married in Israel she must convert.Period! I agree with rabbinate on this.Imagine if everyone does in Israel how they feel like.There would be no Israel. Druse also do proudly the army and it is not because of that that they want to change the character of Israel(well,I´m not so sure about them in this matter,anyway...) This girls is way too much agressive and if she wants to live in Israel according to its laws it is simple:CONVERT! I smell an anti-semite here. My mother always said :do not marry a non Jew,because sooner or latter he will throw that in your face . My mother is right! This girls wants to be obeyed by Jews and because she is not ,she is publishing everywhere what she really thinks and that´s only the beginning!

all the masses of Jew-haters, they are not the problem. The problem is Jews that have no understanding of the value of their Jewishness. The next budget should include a couple of billion shekels to educate Jews to free themselves, since they still think like Pharaoh's slaves.

and the courts should make this legally possible... IN ISRAEL. but she should not be allowed to marry by reform or via any rabbi. That's crazy.

Very long shot - change of law and legalization of civil marriage. More realistic approach - giur, may be a problem due to personal convictions. The easiest way out - marry on Cyprus.

Rita Margolis is a very accomplished, patriotic and smart young women. She has a Jewish heart and soul..And that is why, I fail to understand her refusal to grasp and concent with our ancient Jewish Rabinical Law, which is good and necessary...Rita needs to cool down, stop waisting time and begin the process of Halachic and kosher conversion...In comparison to what she has already accomplished, it would be a "piece of cake"...

to permit civil marriage in Israel.

Kol hakavod that you are a good citizen, serve in the army, etc, but the bottom line is that you are an Israeli citizen but not Jewish. There are Druse, Circasian, Xtian, Moslem, and other soldiers who are not Jewish here too, but that does not make them able to marry in a Jewish marriage. Israel is the only Jewish country in the whole world and most of us want to keep her Jewish. By not converting and having Jewish children, you are breaking the chain of Am Yisrael. Civil marriages for a Jew marrying a non-Jew like you want will destroy the Jewish People. If you really care, you should convert.

Time to modernize Israel and save it from the haredim before it's too late. I just came back from Israel, volunteered in the IDF and I didn't see any haredim in the army... they think they are better than everybody, but in fact it is the opposite and they have no right to condemn anyone, and yet they speak about Halacha, there are many atheists in israel, who are at least as good patriots as religious people, I think depending a modern democratic state on thousands years old laws are wrong. That's why I support the Reform judaism, yet I don't agree with some of theirs pro palestinian propaganda. I'm a right wing Jew, and consider myself conservative, but religious stuffs should be separeted from group, it is scary in the 21th...christians burnt many of us in the past, just because of religious stuffs, and so the muslims demand us based on the religious books, so time to use sense and consider these patriots Jewish too. Besides probably this girl is more Jewish based on her roots than many of haredim.

It's just the way things are. Mother not Jewish then you're not Jewish, unless you convert. It's not gonna help throwing a tantrum... I do love the way the secular treat the idea of being part of religion (Jewish) it's almost like the way they treat the idea of marriage. It's just a piece of paper after all...or is it?

rita-israel gives you a good life. For children, one faith is less confusing than 2. you are not ready-take a course in judaism over the next months and see if like the faith and its history, which by the way you are becoming part of by doing your idf duty. Then you can see what develops. You can marry abroad in a reform or conservative shul. In my case,my wife is catholic and I am jewish. I did not force her though as time went on, she liked jewish customs and holidays. But she is roman catholic. We married in a church in Belfast. Our children were converted before their bar mitzvahs and they both had bar mitzvah. My wife is roman catholic but we celebrated jewish holidays primarily and shabbat in the first years. So I suggest to you, Rita,hold off, take a course in judaism studies and review your position 1 year from now.

It makes me wonder where has she been all this time , where has her parents been on this issue all the time and what's her angle. If being Israeli and Jewish really does mean so much to her, and I believe it does, then for herself and her children's future she should be humble and go through the process once and for all. Otherwise it is all just narcisstic crocodile tears .

I am a strong unapologetic supporter of Israel, but if you are going to have to rely on "Full Jews" and make people convert, I would say Israel is in for a bad future personally with all the anti-semites in the world and based on past history if you want to have your "Samson Option" as the final middle finger to the world, I could care less but if you are going to have to rely on "Full Jews" in the future, and make what little Jews who are left marry and have kids with each other, I would say you are in for a bad awakening, not only is that not healthy from a hereditary point of view with all the diseases it could bring on, but from a "evolution" point of view it is dumb as religion is a bunch of crap, so yea I would say Israel either needs to get on with their Samson Option, or they need to rethink the way they do things, I could care less if you do either one

What a hatefull biped you are !

It's a democratic, liberal Jewish state/ The orthodox Jewish marriage should be a choice NOT a default !!! There should be a choice between civil ceremony and religious ceremony. The Reform movement should also have a present. If Israel lets half Jews and "quarter Jews" do Aliya and be citizens, it MUST allow them the same rights and opportunities as the "pure" Jews !!!! It's a modern country, not a shtetl in Poland !