Friedmann-Amar civil marriage agreement dramatically expands Rabbinate's authority and jurisdiction
Photo: Reuters
A brilliant oxymoron
New Israeli precedent: Civil marriages supervised by religious establishment
Many have already had their say on the "civil marriage agreement" hammered out by Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann and Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, arguing that the agreement is embarrassingly meager and lean, and will only apply to a few hundred "faithless" people, namely non-Jews – who wish to marry among themselves.
There were also many who noticed that at the price of this dwarfish agreement, the rabbinate would gain absolute monopoly over all matters of conversion in Israel. This is quite an exorbitant fee.
Solution Found?
Justice Minister Friedmann, Sephardi Chief Rabbi Amar reach agreement on civil marriage for couples ineligible to undergo a religious marriage. 'This is an important step in expanding the right for marriage,' justice minister says
For the sake of those who are still unaware of this: Israel is the only democracy in the world where there is no procedure allowing for interfaith marriage. The relevant Israeli law only recognizes religious marriages - each religious denomination according to its own religion. Deviations from religious purism are illegal. They are not prohibited, but rather, they simply do not exist. A marriage of a Jew to a non-Jew, for example, is akin to a marriage between a piano and a philodendron. It doesn't exist.
Only one group has managed to extricate itself from the religious grasp: Those with "no religious affiliation." This group is comprised of immigrants who define themselves as not belonging to any particular faith, or those who fall between the cracks of several religions, and those who simply were unable to prove the purity of their bloodline to the religious clerics.
The problem, however, is that these people cannot marry in Israel. And it was for these people "without a religion" that the agreement between the justice minister and the chief rabbi was made. So that they could at least marry amongst themselves.
For the sake of judicial accuracy, Friedmann and Amar simply invented another "denomination" - the denomination of those "with no religious affiliation." And this denomination - similar to all the other religious denominations recognized by the State - will only be eligible to marry within that "faith" and is banned from "assimilating" into other denominations.
Messiah is here
However, there is one fascinating difference between the group "with no religious affiliation" and all the rest: While all other religious groups have their own priests and clerics, those "with no religious affiliation" will be bound by Jewish laws. Because the rabbis and the Jewish religious laws - who have the exclusive authority to decide "who is a Jew" and "who is not a Jew," which subjugates them to Jewish marital laws - will also be those with the exclusive authority to decide which person "with no religious affiliation" is entitled to marry before a judge.
And this is what it will look like: A man and woman will arrive at the civil marriage registry; they will proudly declare that they have "no religious affiliation" and ask to be married. An immediate query will be made with religious officials, they in turn will rummage through their archives and if - heaven forbid - they find any trace of a third or fourth generation Jewish mother they will sound a great cry: "Forbidden! Stop it at once! There is suspicion that one of them may be a Jew!"
And hence, the bride and groom will immediately be banished from the marriage registrar - because the rabbinate did not authorize their marriage. Because the rabbinate determined that they are not eligible for civil marriage.
And here we have yet another global Israeli precedent. "Civil marriage" – under the supervision of the rabbinate. Rabbi Amar already tried to market this brilliant oxymoron in the past (in May 2006, I believe,) but it appears that it didn't even occur to the optimists among rabbinate officials that they would actually succeed: To receive absolute control over "civil marriage" and also to finally gain monopoly over all matters of conversion. The days of the Messiah are here.
And had the Jewish clerical establishment followed the Catholic establishment by granting its beneficiaries the sainthood – Professor Friedmann would most certainly have been a worthy candidate. And all those who are assuming that a hole has been opened up in the clerical wall, it should be noted that rather than a hole opening up, a plug has been inserted.
This plug would make it even more difficult to make any progress towards enforcing real civil marital laws - civil marriage that is not dictated by religion, but rather, by law.
