samet@sfmag.UUCP (A.I.Samet) (03/17/85)
> I don't think it is very important to "Mr. Cohen", who wishes to marry a > divorced woman in Israel, that his ancestors were priests. His only desire > is to get married to his sweetheart. Yet, the law in Israel does not allow > him to do so. I am not suggesting that the state should force the Orthodox > to change the religious laws to permit the marriage of "Mr. Cohen". I am > requesting that the state should permit civil marriages and divorces, > so people such as "Mr Cohen" could get married in Israel. (Yosi Hoshen) This exemplifies the problem in trying to have a state which is both Jewish and secular. Israel is in a bind trying to be "Jewish" while trying to satisfy everyone. In Yiddish their is a saying which translates as "You can't dance at two weddings at once." The secularized approach to Jewishness, which typifies much, if not most, of Israel's educational system, has shown itself to be weak in providing Jewish identification. It has failed to inspire the current generation of Israelis to remain in Israel. (The figures I've heard about the number of Israelis in New York are too astounding to believe.) In the diaspora, future support for Israel is seen as jeopardized because younger people identify less and less as Jews. I am not proposing a particular solution to the problem. Just pointing out an important contradiction embedded in Israel's setup. Yitzchok Samet