Is it true, like Frau Asher says, that in Israel Orthodox Jews are not permitted to marry Conservative Jews? I mean, that wouldn't happen of course, because an Orthodox Jew wouldn't marry a Reform Jew, but is it true that the Beit Din simply wouldn't allow even a marriage between two Reform Jews? I'm confused!!! Can anyone explain how marriages work in Israel? Frau, I hope you'll forgive me for having mentioned you. So how do Reform people get married in Israel? Are there any Reform synagogues in Israel? Or are they all Orthodox?
Religion & Spirituality - 11 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
All I know is that Israel has no secular marriage; this country does not provide that basic service for some of its citizens. They actually need to leave the country and get married elsewhere. And when rabbis control marriage, they allow or forbid it according to ridiculous, arcane rules. Has your child been born out of wedlock? No marrying inside the country for him.
2 :
Not true. An Orthodox rabbi will not perform a wedding in which the bride or groom is not Jewish, but once the "Jewishness" and single status of both bride and groom are verified, an Orthodox rabbi will be happy to perform the wedding, no matter what beliefs the bride or groom hold. If the bride or groom CONVERTED to Judaism via the conservative or reform movement, and NOT according to Jewish law, then they cannot be considered Jewish, and thus an Orthodox rabbi cannot understandably perform the wedding ceremony. EDIT: There are about 21 reform congregations in Israel, and the one in Ramat-Hasharon is sanctioned by the Israeli government. Many people who do not desire to undergo a religious wedding ceremony go to places like Cyprus, Greece, or Italy, where they offer civil marriages. Many Israeli travel agencies offer such packages: A civil ceremony and a honeymoon. These are very popular among Israelis who are secular and could not care less about religion. The Israeli governments does recognize wedding ceremonies performed in other countries.
3 :
um, no, you can get married in israel. in fact, i know orthodox jews who live in america and went to israel just to get married. the fact is, jewish marriage is really just signing a contract, you do not even need the rest if you dont want-- stepping on the cup, breaking the plate, the chuppah, etc. etc. Jews are not obligated to get married in israel.
4 :
I don't know how it's being worked at the moment, but I know the past problems with this were hammered out & it's no longer the oddball issue it used to be. What Orthodox are permitted is only going to matter to Orthodox & within that community & it's a religious question, not a civil one. If you're Orthodox then you'll want to marry someone of like mind, so it's not going to come up. And if your marrying a secular who's joining you in Orthodox -- then how would one evaluate? An important concept is that Israel doesn't work off the Reform, Conservative, Orthodox model. They have religious who care about what the jewish court says, & non-religious or less observant, often called secular. EDIT: Yes there are representatives synoguages of the various branches. I was trying to not be confusing. There it's often not stated that way at all. I tried asking a question on a politics tour & thoroughly side tracked the guide & half the bus by using those terms. It's just confusing...because it is. This all has NOTHING to do with civil marriages in Israel. My secular (non-religious) cousin got married a month ago with no hitches. I think it's that there was a problem for a while getting the religious side of a secular marriages to be recogized, so people went out of the country to Cyprus (a short trip) & then it' could be "imported" in just fine, but that's since changed for a while now. I tried to go to Cyprus & for security reasons you can't get there directly anymore & no one, not even the official Israel Travel branch knew of a way to do what I wanted. =============== I think you may be getting caught up in some internal drama stuff, that's confusing in part because of Jewish style of lots & lots of talk & pushing for change as needed, so it gets attention & sounds very messy in the process. The marriage issues are long since in the past. The conversion questions are recent, but have some basis, & they'll get sorted out too. We use debate as a form of entertainment & problem solving remember... But nothing so horrific is occuring that the community is getting on it at a loud level (NOT hearing much about it NOR distress statements from heads of organizations), so I'm not worried at this point. Just some internal stuff. Mark S had a link for supporting converts in general - I bet that'd be a good place to ask about this.
5 :
yes
6 :
not accurate. an orthodox rabbi will not perform a wedding when the jewishness of one of the partners is in doubt. if someone was born jewish and is conservative/reform/"secular" there's no problem. the problem starts when the person converted through a reform or conservative beith din (rabbinical court). in some cases even people who converted through an orthodox beith din are required to promise to keep a religious observant home. since in israel there are only religious marriages. people who are not "marriagable" will have to go somewhere else and get a civil union certificate or just live as common law partners.
7 :
Kismet is right.
8 :
The specific issue is that conversions performed by Conservative or Reform clergy are not Halachicly acceptable. That being the case, the Israeli Rabbinate, which is Orthodox, will not officiate at a marriage in which one (or both) of the people had converted via Conservative or Reform rabbis. However, if both are Jewish (i.e. born Jewish) or converted under Orthodox auspices, I don't see why they would decline to officiate. There are a few Reform synagogues, from what I have heard. Hebrew Union College (Reform seminary) has a branch in Jerusalem.
9 :
The Rabbinate does perform the marriage ceremony. Therefore, inter-religious marriage is not allowed. Marrying between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews shouldn't pose a problem, unless if one of the parties became Jewish through a non-Othrodox conversion. If that is the case, the conversion is not recognized by the Orthodox community and therefore the Rabbinate (which is a beit din in Orthodox Judaism in Israel) will consider that as an inter-religious marriage. There are three routes to go then: 1) go seperate ways, 2) the person in question converts to Judaism via Orthodox Judaism, or 3) the Israeli government recognizes marriages perfomed outside of Israel as well.
10 :
All Jews no matter what denomination, in Israel you must marry in a religious wedding because civil wedding arent valid. Then and there. Its very simple and you may have been confused by what Frau said, when it just had to be stated simply. Yes, There are Reform, Conservative and Orthodox Synagogues in Israel. There is a active Conservative movement in Israel. As well as the Reform movement.
11 :
No, that's not true. In Israel, a Jew is allowed to marry a Jew, whether or not either are religious.
