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Part Four - Judaism, Culture and State
Termination of marriage registration
Marriage as a fundamental that existed before the state
Marriage is not owned by the state. Marriage is one of the most fundamental pillars of humanity in all its stages and manifestations. Marriage was in the world before there was Judaism in the world, and even before there were countries in the world. The registration of marriage is a historical innovation, and it is not at all a given. People married before the state took responsibility for registering their marriage, and people would continue to marry even if the state stopped registering it.
Zehut believes that opposition to the regulation and definition of marriage by the state is morally justified. The state should not determine from above what marriage is, but rather the society and community to which the person belongs. The real and penetrating debate over the definition of the family unit and the basic values of society as a whole is an argument that must be taken away from the state and placed in the hands of the public.
The Situation Today
Today, the State of Israel records the marriage of its citizens and classifies them accordingly at the Interior Ministry and in identity cards as single, married, divorced or widowed. Marriage registration is based on marriage in the State of Israel, which by law is under the authority of representatives of the various religions, or on marriages in other countries that are recognized by the Ministry of the Interior as marriages in Israel as well.
This reality is the legacy of the status quo on the one hand, whereby the state undertook to place marriage in the hands of the Chief Rabbinate, but left an opening for actual civil marriage by "importing" the status of marriage from other countries, and on the other hand, the tradition of interference by modern states in the life of the individual, and the assumption that they can define in law the fundamentals of life of their citizens.
The boomerang of coercion
Since the early years of the state, this reality has caused many problems. The necessity of marrying according to the law of Moses and Israel on the one hand, and the reality of those who were forbidden to marry on the other, has aroused great resentment against the rabbinate. For its part, it has tried to reduce the phenomenon of marriage disqualifications to a minimum, even at the price of extreme halachic criteria, to the point that the very validity of the process has come into question[48].
The influx of non-Jewish immigrants who have arrived in recent decades has created a reality in which some citizens of the State of Israel are not allowed to marry at all, to the point of absurd situations.
First and foremost, there is a stubborn and wide-ranging struggle to have the state recognize same-sex marriage. A struggle that in principle has already been decided with the state already recording men and women married to their own sex as married under certain conditions.
The desire of those who sought to anchor marriage according to the religion of Moses and Israel as the recognized marriage in the State of Israel was to protect the Jewish identity of the state and to protect the sanctity of the Jewish people, but what was achieved was the exact opposite. The official recognition by the State of Israel of same-sex marriage is the absolute opposite of a Jewish state identity. In fact, the mere recognition of non-halachic civil marriages as recognized state marriages is already a material violation of the Jewish identity of the state, and the fact that it is forbidden to marry in a civil marriage in the state of Israel does not change the fact that they are recognized.
Termination of registration
Zehut believes that the Jewish identity of the state will be much less affected, while the freedom of its citizens will increase much more, if the very registration of marriage by the state ceases altogether. Marriage itself is not a possession of the state to grant or take and recognition of a marriage by the state should not increase or decrease its value, which is defined by the society in which it exists. Zehut believes that the state has no right to define for its citizens whether they are married or not. That is not its business.
So how does one get married?
The state does not marry people. People get married. Both today and in the past. Nothing will change in this area other than the legal aspect. People who decide to get married will marry as they wish, in the type of ceremony they choose and in a way that suits them.
Zehut believes that just as an absolute majority of the married population in Israel marries in a traditional Jewish wedding, it will continue that way, and even grow and become more natural and truthful in the absence of coercion. However, the option of other wedding options will be available, as the couple sees fit.
When the sting of state recognition in marriage is removed, the flames of the public debate will also fall. Even people who wholeheartedly oppose same-sex marriage will not claim that it is their right to prevent people from living together as they please in their own view and to conduct for themselves and their friends rituals as they see fit. On the other hand, even those who advocate same-sex marriage will not require recognition of their status, when this recognition will be irrelevant.
Marriage by the Rabbinate and the Chuppah Standard
The local rabbinates, in the form of the rabbinical courts, will be able to continue to offer to perform chuppah-marriages for the public, but without the monopoly they now hold. Anyone who wishes will be able to legally perform chuppah-marriages and "compete" with those offered by the local rabbinates. However, the marketing of chuppah-marriages will be regulated according to the standards detailed below, in order to prevent the public from being defrauded.
Marketing Chuppah-Marriages and the Chuppah Standard
The meaning of the term "chuppah" in the State of Israel is not liquid and abstract, but rather clear and defined: "chuppah" with no modifier is that which is done according to Jewish law as accepted by the People of Israel for generations, in other words, an "Orthodox wedding". However, this concept, like many legal, halachic and professional legal concepts, is not self-evident to the public[49]. In order to prevent fraud and abuse of the new freedom, the Chief Rabbinate will define a halachic standard of chuppah. This standard will define what is required of the one performing the chuppah-marriage, so that his chuppah will meet the criteria of chuppah according to accepted Jewish law. This standard shall not be compulsory and shall not constitute a condition for the performance of the canopy. The standard will constitute a mandatory condition in marketing. In other words, anyone who publishes his services as an chuppah officiant for the public will be required to make it clear and accessible in his publications whether the chuppah he is marketing meets the halachic standard of the rabbinate or not.
False advertising regarding compliance with the standard will be grounds for prosecution, fines and sanctions as in any case of standard fraud. Zehut emphasizes that this is not a license to perform chuppah-marriages, but rather a standard that those performing the chuppah-marriages must address. In addition, Zehut believes that there is no need for active enforcement of the standard, but rather that the alertness of the public which will complain in cases of deviation is sufficient.
Legal implications - according to the agreement to be signed
The legal implications of a wedding will depend on the legal agreement signed by the marrying couple, and this agreement will be the interface of their marriage with the state, if and when they need to intervene.
The status of marriage shall be the status of a contract between two parties, depending on the contract signed by the signatories in all respects, and as is the case in any contract. Violation of the contract will constitute grounds for prosecution in court, and the court will rule according to the contract.
Implications for legislation
The step of canceling the registration of marriage will have a significant impact on a long list of laws that relate to the individual status of the citizen. All these laws will be modified accordingly, so that the question of registration of marriage will be irrelevant to them[50].
The sanctity of marriage in Judaism and the fear of the division of the Jewish people
Marriage according to the law of Moses and Israel is the foundation of holiness in Judaism, and the attitude towards it is accordingly one of great respect. The loose standards of loyalty and stability of the family unit accepted today in many countries have never been perceived as reasonable according to Judaism's view that its family unit has always been its banner of stability, commitment and holiness.
Against the expropriation of (partial) control by the Chief Rabbinate in marriage in Israel, an argument is often raised that it will split the Jewish people due to the possibility of improper marriage and the large number of disqualified Jews that will make it impossible for observant Jews to marry Jews who are not.
This concern stems from a genuine concern for the integrity of Israel, which Zehut identifies with and is part of. However, this fear is largely unfounded. In today's reality, there is a de facto need for checking relationship status in all marriages. This need is not a hindrance in Judaism, but is rather a fundamental part of the marriage process in Israel for generations, precisely to prevent these problems. Similarly, marriage that is done according to chuppah and kiddushin does not cause the children to be disqualified from marriage unless they are married to non-Jews[51].
Zehut's proposal will lead primarily to a simple return to the classical reality of marriage among the People of Israel. The majority that will apparently choose marriage according to Jewish law will be required by the rabbinic court that arranges the chuppah or the chuppah that is performed according to the standard, to present the marriage contracts of the parents, and to bring witnesses to their unmarried status, as is customary. In the absence of the parents' marriage contracts, a process of clarifying Jewishness will take place, which upon successful conclusion will not be a barrier to performing the marriage.
On the other hand, a Jew who chooses to marry a Jew without a wedding ceremony will not cause his children to be illegitimate at all, but will simply cause them to have to prove their Jewishness when they choose to marry according to Jewish law, just as happens today with those who have married civilly and their children, particularly in the caase of the great majority of immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
What do we gain?
Freedom. The main benefit for citizens in Israel is that the state ceases to be a party to the question of what is a family. This question, which is the foundation of society as a whole, and specifically underlies Judaism, will be decided by Israeli society, in particular by the Jews themselves, without the possibility of using the state as a coercive tool in either direction.
Similarly, it should be noted with regret that performance of chuppah-marriages, like any monopolistic system, is often tainted by corruption and bureaucratic laziness, without intending to generalize. This sad phenomenon is one of the deepest causes of antagonism and hatred toward Judaism, and especially toward institutionalized Judaism. All this, instead of marriage according to the religion of Moses and Israel becoming a natural and joyful anchor for the Jewish identity of the vast majority of the Jewish public.
Zehut believes regarding marriage, as in other areas, that given the public's freedom to choose, the public will choose its Jewish identity and will continue to adhere to it by choice and love.
[48] The famous affair of the mamzers in the 1970s shook the foundation of the position of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel – a shock that it has never recovered from.
[49] Just as it is not obvious to the public what "red wine" meets the standard, and what "electric kettle" meets the safety standard.
[50] In the flat tax method proposed by Zehut, there will be no consequcnces from canceling marriage registration, since the tax structure will not harm families in advance, and they will have no need for credit points.
[51] More specifically, marriage with non-Jewish women, since the child's Judaism depends on the mother's Judaism alone.
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