Muslim, Christian states OK; Jewish state all wrong??
They don't call it the Church of England for nothin'. So why is Israel's status as a Jewish state being questioned? Are we Jews the only religious community that's not allowed to have one single state with our own religion as the official religion? See this must-read by David Bogner/Treppenwitz.
See also Baka Diary's "Why Can't We Just All 'Get Along'". Warning: Not "politically correct." (Hat-tip: The current edition of Havail Havalim, posted by Soccer Dad.)
See also Baka Diary's "Why Can't We Just All 'Get Along'". Warning: Not "politically correct." (Hat-tip: The current edition of Havail Havalim, posted by Soccer Dad.)
posted by Shira Salamone at 10:12 PM
1 Comments:
I liken my process of conversion to life itself. Yours, mine, anyone's... it is an ongoing work that will never really be finished. I could quit my job, go into the poorhouse, take classes rapidly, and pass the local Conservative synagogues beit din without a hitch. That's not as encompassing to me so I am taking my time, and remaining employed.
Along the way, I've read something pertaining to this subject of Israel as a Jewish state and it was this. The passage I read likened Judaism to a national identity. Namely the nation of Israel but not necessarily the same as the one on the east side of the Mediterranean. The Israel in the heart of Judaism. The one that exists ephemerally in a believer's heart.
So you have this free-floating nation, and it was put that this is like let's say the USA. People born in the USA need not prove themselves loyal, nor need they let's say stand before any court and say, "I buy all the articles and amendments of the US Constitution, as well as agree to follow all the laws passed by its politicians." They are in no danger of having citizenship revoked.
Those who emigrate must agree to all that. Pass certain cultural knowledge questions, agree to be loyal, etc.
Similarly, those who come to Judaism must also agree, no matter what. Those born Jews need not sit before a beit din. Membership has its privileges as the credit card commercial goes, and you're going to pay for them if you didn't luck out in being born with them. American citizenship or Jewish citizenship.
I agree with this outlook. Nations are entities that happen to occupy a given piece of land. They're agglomerations of people, associations of people, not the land they sit on. In this case, it's a little of both now with the (re)founding of Israel as a physical place, but the premise remains.
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