Religious politics in Israel : Who’s a Jew ?

/21578098-old-religious-argument-once-ag

  • Justice et religion :

    Religious politics in Israel: Who’s a Jew? | The Economist
    An old religious argument once again rears its angry head
    May 18th 2013
    http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21578098-old-religious-argument-once-again-rears-its-angry-head-whos-jew

    WHEN is a Jew not a Jew? When he’s a Karaite. Or so says Israel’s chief rabbinate, which, after 65 years of relative harmony with an ancient Jewish sect, is reopening an old and bitter schism. In recent months, rabbis working for Israel’s ministry of religion have deemed Karaite marriages invalid, fined their butchers for claiming to be kosher, and demanded that Karaites marrying Orthodox Jewish women should convert, sometimes having to undergo tavila, or baptism. “We are already Jews,” protests Moshe Firrouz, a computer engineer who heads the Karaites’ Council of Sages. “The rabbinate is denying us our religious freedom.”
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    The chief rabbinate, Israel’s state religious authority, reluctantly began legitimising their marriages again after a recent order by Israel’s Supreme Court , but it continues to argue that since Karaite rites are not Jewish, Karaites have lesser Jewish rights, too. “Israel is a Jewish state and Jews have superior rights,” says the chief rabbinate’s spokesman. “But the Karaites are not Jewish.”

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    Women of the Wall member is targeted in ’Torah tag’ attack
    By Michael Omer-Man|Published May 20, 2013
    http://972mag.com/?post_type=nstt_feeditem&p=71809&preview=true

    A board member of the Women of the Wall group woke to find hateful graffiti, reminiscent of ‘price tag’ attacks, on her Jerusalem home Monday morning.

    The graffiti, which says “Torah Tag” and “Women of the Wall are wicked,” was spray painted on the apartment building where long-time board member of Women of the Wall Peggy Cider lives.

    Earlier this month, thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews came out to protest against Women of the Wall at the Western Wall, following a favorable court ruling that affirmed their right to pray as they wish at the Western Wall.

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    Les ultra-orthodoxes juifs disent “non” au service militaire
    17/05/2013
    http://www.france24.com/fr/20130517-ultra-orthodoxes-juifs-haredim-jerusalem-disent-non-service-milit

    "Laissez-nous éduquer nos enfants comme nous le faisons depuis des générations, a insisté le rabbin Moshe Shternboch dans les colonnes du « Jerusalem Post ». Vous pouvez voter des budgets et vos décrets mais nous continuerons, sans en tenir compte ."