Orthodox Jews in Israel: Back to the Dark Ages
Posted by: adonis49 on: October 14, 2009
Orthodox Jews in Israel: Back to the Dark Ages; (October 13, 2009)
The Jewish Agency, supported by the Israeli government, has launched in September a campaign to “sensibilize” Jews in the Diaspora of the risk of mix marriages; Jews were contacted via Facebook.com to refrain from processes of assimilation in their home countries.
What do you think a Jewish Orthodox widow should do after the requisite time of mourning? Well, she is supposed to quickly marry her brother-in-law according to the religious Jewish laws. In case either party is not satisfied with this regulation then a “halitza” ceremony is undertaken so that the widow would spit on the shoes of the brother-in-law and then pay him a sum of money. Otherwise, the honor of the tribe is injured and lineage of the male is at risk. An interrogated rabbi said: “This ceremony is basically destined to humiliate the brother-in-law and to punish the widow”. This custom has not been abolished and is practiced daily amid the Orthodox Jews. This story in Shomer Masakh was transmitted by the Israeli Channel 10.
In Lebanon, marrying in another religious sect sends the couple to Cyprus for a civil wedding to be later acknowledge by the government. Flying to Cyprus to get married is done In Israel with a twist; if one partner is not an Orthodox Jew then the couple has to go to Cyprus. Well, yes, there are the Orthodox Jews, the reformist or liberal Jews (mostly French speaking Jews), and the conservative or traditional Jews (mostly USA and Eastern European Jews). Don’t ask me on details but you may fill me in with your comments.
In Lebanon, only the Sunni Mufti is paid by the government (a continuation of the Ottoman period). In Israel, all three thousand Orthodox rabbis are paid by the government.
In Lebanon we don’t have a ministry of religious affairs though we have 18 recognized sects legally running the civil status of the citizens from birth to death. Israel had always had a ministry for the Orthodox Jews since its creation in 1948. This religious ministry has a substantial budget of over 100 million dollars; 500 religious building were erected exclusively for the Orthodox Jews; the other Jews have no access to these facilities. Actually, if an Orthodox woman is being married by a non Orthodox rabbi then she is denied the visit of her hometown mikveh (Temple).
The Orthodox Jews constitute only 20% of the Israeli citizens but they have large political and financial leverages. This powerful minority pressure many other ministries such as Education, Construction, Housing, national infrastructure, and Defense to pay their dues to the Orthodox communities.
The Orthodox Jew has the right not to participate in the military service if he chose to; why should he? Why should any Israeli serve three years in the army and then be summoned every year to serve an entire month as a reservist? Why the Israeli should participate in all the pre-emptive wars just to enrich the military infrastructure and inflate the Defense budget? Why the Israeli is forced to be a low paid mercenary for the western powers’ interests?
Note: This topic is an extract of an article in Yediot Aharonot, an Israeli daily. If you have other examples, send them in.
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