So the rabbis can override the Torah? This is what happens when you mix religion with government.

One of the reasons I made aliyah was because I want Jewish descendants and the chances for that are much greater here than in the Galut - where Jews are disappearing through intermarriage and assimilation. Rita seems to be a good Israeli, but if she really wants to be a part of the Jewish/Israeli People, she should convert. If she doesn't, her children and grandchildren will not be Jewish and this will cause damage to our People.

in no court of law can ignorance be pleaded. This case is truly heartwrenching but there surely is a way to remove the splinter without blood. Thios is a story about historical' mishaps' and 'accidents'This young lady surely must have known her halachic status and so must her prince charming.The solution now is not what serves them ,it is what will serve their offspring.If she converts then she can hold her head up high and say that there will never be a doubt about her children. lets allget together and look forward and not backwards and to the sides.

Heard of the "Anti-Christ"? Well, that's what "Reform," "Reconstructionist" and the like are to Judaism. How much can you superimpose whatever the cultural secular norm is on a religion and change it to suit and expect it remain anything like it's former self. I can paint myself yellow and call myself a school bus, but your kids still won't be gettin' to school anytime soon... (to quote REM, "can't get there from here"). "Reform" in America is responsible for exactly what this article would like to accomplish, for the epidemic rate of intermarriage they'd LOVE to export to Israel-- the oh-so genteel and subtle massacre of the Jewish people, watching them slowly dissolve in a secular-humanist feel-goody brine. Not Jewish. Not religious. Neeeeext.

Dear Rita- Everyday, I feel the same pain you feel. I am an immigrant with full citizenship who came here years ago to be an Israel and to love this nation and her people. My wife, the daughter of both a Jewish mother and Jewish father was still not considered Jewish enough for the Haredi-controlled Misrad Hapanim and was told she could not receive Aliya unless she was Orthodox. Now, she is forced to wait, and live without the dignity of work, or health insurance, in a nation that does not want her. Things in this nation will only change for people like you and my wife when ordinary Israelis stand up and demand a change. We are all Israelis, and we are entitled to life and dignity as anyone would want.

In response to Shalom Hartman - No one can be legally married in Israel unless it is an Orthodox wedding. The issue here is wether or not she can have a Jewish wedding ceremony. She cannot have a legally-binding wedding ceremony of any kind unless she converts to being an Orthodox Jew. And by the way, the Halacha regarding Jewishness being determined only through the Jewish woman is complete rubbish, not backed up by the Hebrew Bible, and invented by human beings.

Take a Druze that also servs in the army and marry him of... Ths is a Jewish country

"..I smell an anti-semite here.." And I smell..no,I'm sure that your IQ about 70.. p.s.Feel sorry for your husband...

You just have to read the Jewish Scriptures. all the family trees list only the fathers name and yes sometimes also the mothers name and origin as in the case of King David. he had a great grandmother and a grandmother not from Israel but one of them was a canaanite (from Jerico) the other was a moabite (Ruth) how that YOU DO NOT KNOW ALL THIS?

...then Torah does not come from God...if I follow your "logic"...

Dear miss margolis You are 100% Jewish acording to the real laws of the thora You are 100 Times beter than this orthodox rabbis that are a disgrace to the ame israel and To the state of israel You did your duty with courage and you will continue to do it Get maried ASAP and have a lot of kids that will be proud israely citizens like yourself MAZEL TOV 100times:) :)

Wait ... what? Reform is religious. In fact, it was the Reform's idea to be a religion. From the Pittsburgh Platform 1885: "We consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community..." It was only later that the ultra-Orthodox and the Zionist-Orthodox streams adopted this divergence and its ramifications.

If patriotic, hard working, supportive half/Jewish people are forced to leave, or not welcomed in Israel, just by laws like this one, I fear that Israel will be swallowed up by other nationalities there who have very high birth rates. I realise that Israel must protect itself and this is why these laws were formed, however, it seems, these very laws that were meant for protection of the country may well back-flip.

The point is that there is no alternative. If she does not want to convert, there should be an alternative "civil wedding" between non-Jewish and Jewish partners. So what! Their kids will not be Jewish, so what? They will grow up in Israel and they will either convert or not! The restriction on "Jewish partnerts" only weddings is good abroad. Here it should not be a problem. Why should she go elsewhere to get married. Come on guys, wake up!

I think this country should have a civil wedding for all the people who fall through the cracks and don't belong to one religion or another.

capiche? -- and yes, besides making irrefutable proof of one's lineage, it is backed up.

desecration of all that they went through and the generations before bearing the torch of Judaism -- just for him to shrug his shoulders, say "eh" and drop it.

Just wanted to know how are Arabs allowed to marry in Israel then?

They should all have a right to Marry. Its a Mitzvah to marry and have children no? Shall I start naming Jewish men who took none Jewish wives in the Torah?

Does the law prohibit an Iman, Priest or Druze leader from marrying two Jews in the State of Israel?

It doesn't matter if she's a Jew or not because the hyper religious burocracy is the one that decides, and generally they rule against love and common sense.

Of course she knew there would be issues if she didn't convert. I don't believe her "surprise" for one minute. She grew up in the country. She can do a 6 month conversion program or do the Army one (which is very quick and basic) and move on with her life. But she is refusing and then acting surprised when she has a problem. If you want to make the case for civil marriage, fine. But it's impossible to have grown up in this country and not know she would have problems marrying a Jew.

Of Israel on INTERNAL matters. And you see people from outside Israel are attacking the whole Israel... It's like their government is utopian. Also to the person that said this is not Democracy... It is Democracy because she is able to speak out and complain... I hope you can see how stupid you sound now.

you imagine that you can determine what will be the desires & decisions of your grandchildren?!? You can't even guarantee me that your spouse won't dumpster you next year.

The Rabbinate are the same arrogant, ignorant, godless Pharisees of Jesus' day!

Mazal Tov R & A !!! It is sad that religious morons (the likes of Abdalla Yussuf) dictate the agenda and subjugate free people to their mindless garbage. Marry in a real Jewish ceremony officiated by a reform female Rabba. We were married in California by a Conservative Rabbi and brought to Israel our California Marriage Certificate Apostille so we are recorded as married couple in Misrad Hapnim, a morons stronghold. I laughed all the way to Misrad Hapnim because the root of the French word Apostille is Apostle, a Christian messenger.

Their is something very wrong in Israeli society when a person courageous enough to defend the country and all of its citizens is denied the right to marry by those very people who do not serve or protect Eretz Israel. This is not the Zionism that Herzl and Weizmann envisioned!