ISRAEL AND HALF-JEWISH PEOPLE
Many children and other descendants of intermarriage wonder if we are welcome in Israel -- well, we are "half" welcome.
Israeli law on the subject of adult children and other descendants of intermarriage, and the actual "situation on the ground," appears to be a tangled, complicated mess, but here is our best summary, based upon the most recent information that we have.
(We will change this page as we get new information, also please keep an eye on "News & Research About Half-Jewish People" and "Who Is A Jew?". The situation is very fluid, with changes from year to year. If you have relevant information about the situation of interfaith families in Israel, please contact us at binarystar@aol.com)
ALIYAH: WHAT IT MEANS, WHAT IT DOESN'T
There are two kinds of children and other descendants of intermarriage in Israel -- those born in the Diaspora (outside of Israel) and those born in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Let's talk about those born outside of Israel first.
An adult child or other descendant of intermarriage who immigrates to Israel as an adult, intending to become an Israeli Jewish citizen (called "making aliyah"), is entering a situation in which Jewish identity is under the joint control of the Israeli Jewish secular government and the Orthodox rabbis.
This grew out of the history of the founding of Israel in the late 1940's. Most Israeli Jews in that era, and today, are either secular (non-religious) or Orthodox, so decisions on interfaith families reflect their divergent secular-versus-religious viewpoints.
Born Jews, with two Jewish parents, who immigrate to Israel from the Diaspora are automatically considered Israeli Jewish citizens, unless they have officially converted to another religion.
They become Israeli Jewish citizens under the decades-old "Law of Return."
Children or grandchildren of either a Jewish father or a Jewish mother may also make aliyah to Israel under the Law of Return and become Israeli Jewish citizens.
However, once they arrive in Israel, the situation becomes complicated.
STATE & RELIGION NOT SEPARATE IN ISRAEL
In Israel the adult children and other descendants of intermarriage may become secular Israeli Jewish citizens. They pay taxes, serve in the army, etc.
But status as a "Jew" in Israel is also under the official state control of the Israeli Orthodox rabbinate. This control of Jewish identity in Israel is shared with the Israeli government.
Adult children and other descendants of intermarriage who have grown up in countries where there is some legal separation of the church and the state should understand that Israel is very different.
ORTHODOX JUDAISM SPONSORED BY ISRAELI STATE
Orthodoxy is the only fully-recognized form of Judaism in Israel.
Only Orthodox rituals (marriages, conversions, burials) -- whether performed in Israel or elsewhere, such as the United States -- are fully recognized as legal by the Israeli government.
The Israeli government also gives huge amounts of money to the Orthodox synagogues and schools in Israel.
The Israeli government gives very little money to non-Orthodox Jewish synagogues and schools in Israel, such as the Reform and Conservative (Masorti) institutions.
While Conservative (Masorti), Reform, Reconstructionist, Renewal, etc. -- the non-Orthodox movements -- and their rabbis, congregations, and havurot (small groups) exist in Israel -- they have no legal validity.
The marriages, conversions, and other ceremonies that the non-Orthodox movements perform in Israel are not recognized as legally binding by the Israeli government.
Ironically, non-Orthodox conversions, marriages, etc., performed outside of Israel (such as a Reform conversion performed in the United States) are legally recognized in Israel.
If this situation existed in the United States today, the United States would be an officially "Christian" country, and would recognize only Roman Catholics as "real" Christians.
Only Roman Catholic weddings, burials, conversions, and baptisms would be accepted as legally binding for Christians by the U.S. government.The United States would give Roman Catholic schools and churches millions of dollars annually.
Other Christian denominations (Protestants, Greek Orthodox, etc.) would receive only tiny amounts of money from the government for their schools and churches.
Life cycle ceremonies performed in the United States by non-Catholic clergy, such as Greek Orthodox or Protestant, would not be legally valid for government purposes, though they might be tolerated or ignored.
At the same time, the United States would legally recognize non-Catholic (Protestant, Greek Orthodox, etc.) life cyle ceremonies -- marriages, conversions, etc. -- performed outside of the United States.
The United States would also legally recognize life cycle ceremonies performed by clergy of non-Christian faiths (Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc.), whether they were performed in the United States or abroad.
The United States would not have legally binding civil (non-religious) life cycle ceremonies, such as weddings performed by judges. All life cycle ceremonies would have to be performed by clergy of some faith.
INTERMARRIAGES IN ISRAEL
Interfaith couples who were married overseas before their arrival in Israel are automatically recognized as legally married by the Israeli government.
However, intermarriages cannot be performed legally in Israel itself. If a Jew and a Christian or a Jew and a Muslim fall in love in Israel, one of them must convert to the other's religion in order to have a legally binding Jewish, Muslim, or Christian religious wedding.
If neither member of a Jewish-Christian or Jewish-Muslim interfaith couple in Israel wants to convert to the other spouse's religion, they cannot have a legally binding wedding ceremony in Israel performed by clergy of any faith.
An interfaith couple cannot seek out a judge and have a civil wedding ceremony in Israel, because Israeli law does not permit legally binding civil weddings -- all weddings must be performed by clergy of some faith.
If an interfaith couple rules out having one spouse convert to the other spouse's faith, and still wants to get married, they must leave Israel temporarily, and get married in a ceremony in another country.
Many couples who cannot marry legally in Israel often chose to have civil marriage ceremonies in Cyprus.
When an interfaith couple returns to Israel after a marriage ceremony in another country, the Israeli government does legally recognize their marriage.
Israeli Conservative (Masorti) and Reform clergy and Israeli kibbutzim -- secular farming or industrial communities which hold property communally -- do perform wedding ceremonies in Israel, but these weddings are not legally recognized by the Israeli government.
Our current understanding of Sharia indicates that Muslim men are legally allowed to intermarry under Islamic law, but Muslim women are not. However, we have seen several reports indicating that there are Palestinian Muslim women involved with Jewish men in Israel and in the United States.
Current anecdotal evidence indicates that some Jewish, Christian and Muslim Israeli communities are tolerant of interfaith families in Israel, but others are not.
In the past, Palestinian Arab communities have reportedly been more tolerant of these families than Israeli Jewish communities. However, under the stress of the most recent intifada (Palestinian revolt), we have heard stories indicating that Palestinian communities are becoming less friendly to these families.
How does this complex web of laws, rules and social circumstances affect adult children and other descendants of intermarriage living in Israel?
MATRILINEAL JEWS IN ISRAEL
Adult children and other descendants of a Jewish mother (your mother was Jewish, or your mother and your mother's mother were Jewish, etc., and your father was not Jewish) -- the matrilineal Jews -- who make aliyah as adults -- or are born to interfaith Israeli couples -- are considered to be fully Jewish, and have the same rights as any other born Jews (Jews with two Jewish parents) who are citizens of Israel.
But while some matrilineal Jews report being heartily welcomed by secular and Orthodox Israeli groups, others experience some social discrimination and harassment -- ridicule and other negative experiences -- in some segments of Israeli society, both secular and Orthodox, for having a non-Jewish father.
They may be expected to produce paperwork proving that their mother was Jewish. They report being asked foolish questions about having non-Jewish fathers. Some of them report being treated as second-class citizens. Others settle comfortably into Israeli life.
PATRILINEAL JEWS IN ISRAEL
For patrilineals making aliyah as adults, or who are born to Israeli interfaith couples, the situation is even more complex.
Adult children and other descendants of a Jewish father (your father was Jewish, his father or mother was Jewish, etc., and your mother was not Jewish) are considered legal Jewish secular citizens. They can serve in the Israeli army, vote, and pay taxes, the same as the matrilineal Jews.
But the Orthodox rabbinate will not recognize patrilineals as Jews unless they formally convert to Judaism via Orthodox ritual.
To complicate matters still further, the Israeli Reform and Conservative (Masorti) movements concur with the Orthodox in not recognizing patrilineal descent (being Jewish through one's father). Their stand breaks with the U.S. Reform and British Liberal Judaism movements on that issue, as well as breaking with other liberal Reform and other non-Orthodox movements in other countries.
Since only Orthodox rabbis can perform legally binding Jewish wedding, conversion and burial ceremonies in Israel, it means that a patrilineal Jew who does not have an Orthodox conversion may be denied services that are basic human rights, no matter how many years he or she has lived in Israel, and how good a citizen that person has been.
PROBLEMS FOR ISRAELI INTERFAITH FAMILIES
For example, in 1998 two Israeli toddlers, Thomas Rodnocko, 3, and his brother, Ya'akov, 2, were killed in a fire. The two little boys were buried just outside of the Ashkelon Jewish cemetery's borders because their mother's mother -- their grandmother -- wasn't Jewish.
We are aware of only two secular cemeteries anywhere in Israel, and they did not exist when the Rodnocko boys died.
We also have received recent disturbing anecdotal reports that some Israeli matrilineal families and patrilineal families and their Israeli-born children of intermarriage, are experiencing legal trouble with the current Israeli government -- attempts to deport the non-Jewish spouse if his or her passport is not in order or he or she is an illegal immigrant, etc.
Be advised that this harassment in these stories does not appear to be focused primarily on Palestinian Arab-Israeli Jewish intermarriages -- we have received anecdotal reports of such discrimination also being directed at the African Somali husband of an Israeli Ethiopian Jewish woman and the Ukrainian Christian wife of an Israeli Jewish man.
We are monitoring these reports.
WHAT DO OTHER FAITH-BASED CULTURES SAY?
While Christianity does not define the religion of the child by the ancestry of one of the parents, it is our present understanding that in Islam the religion of the child is determined by the religion of the father, if the family follows Sharia, the Islamic religious law.
This means that children of a Muslim father and a Jewish mother are considered Muslim by Islam, and Jewish by Orthodox and Conservative Judaism and the Israeli state.
HOW DO ISRAELI-BORN HALF-JEWISH PEOPLE IDENTIFY?
Some Israeli-born half-Jewish people identify as Jews, including patrilineal Jews who insist on being treated as Jews despite Orthodoxy's refusal to recognize them or provide services for them.
Just as there are patrilineal Jews born in Israel who do identify as Jews, despite the refusal of the Orthodox establishment to recognize them, there are also matrilineal Jews born in Israel who do not identify as Jews, even though they are automatically recognized as Jews by both the Orthodox rabbinate and the Israeli state.
These matrilineal Jews instead follow the religion and/or culture of their other parent and identify as Christian, Muslim, etc. The same is true for some patrilineals.
Israeli-born half-Jewish people have parents from a variety of cultures. Some are the children of Israeli Jewish sabras (Jews born in Israel) and an American or European Christian spouse.
There are also adult children of Jewish Israeli-Palestinian Christian Arab and Jewish Israeli-Palestinian Muslim Arab intermarriages in Israel. They have very tough time. Some identify as Jews; some apparently as "both"; and some as members of the Muslim or Christian family faith and culture.
ISRAELI-BORN HALF-JEWISH PEOPLE AND THE INTIFADA
Supposedly, the adult children of Israeli Jewish-Palestinian Arab intermarriages are not required or allowed to serve in the Israeli army. However, we have seen several reports of Jewish-identified adult children of these intermarriages volunteering and being accepted to serve in the Israeli armed forces.
In one verified instance that we are aware of, a half-Jewish man who joined the Israeli army left the Israeli armed forces after being asked to interrogate his Palestinian Muslim family members at gunpoint at an Israeli army checkpoint on the West Bank.
We are also familiar with the story of the son of an Israeli Jewish woman and a Palestinian Muslim man, raised as a Palestinian Muslim with an Arab name, who left the Palestinian areas with his mother as a teenager, shortly before the most recent Palestinian intifada (revolt against the Israeli Jews), took a Hebrew name, became an Israeli Jewish citizen, and joined the Israeli army.
We have also seen reports about adult children of Israeli Jewish-Palestinian Arab intermarriages who side with the Palestinian Arab "half" of the family in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and become active political advocates for separate Palestinian and Israeli states.
One example was the adult child of a Jewish Orthodox Israeli mother and a Palestinian Muslim father, who was brought up as a Palestinian Muslim. When the area where his family lived was periodically cut off from Israeli by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, his family remained in touch with his Orthodox Jewish grandmother by telephone.
As an adult he identified as a Palestinian Muslim, and apparently joined the Palestinian resistance. He spent years in Israeli prisons, where he learned Hebrew and interceded for his fellow Palestinian prisoners with the Israeli authorities.
After being released from prison, he became an accountant and an advocate for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. He continued to identify as a Palestinian Muslim, and expressed the hope that he could help start a joint Israeli-Palestinian Chamber of Commerce some day.
We have also heard rumors about another child of a Jewish Israeli-Palestinian Arab intermarriage who engaged in violence against Israel, but we have not been able to verify this story.
ORTHODOX CONVERSIONS IN ISRAEL
Some adult children of intermarriage, especially those making aliyah to Israel, seek out Orthodox conversions as the best solution to our ambiguous legal status in Israel.
However, there are widespread complaints that Orthodox conversions are being deliberately made difficult by the Israeli Orthodox rabbinate in many instances for members of interfaith families, apparently in the hope that they will drop out of the conversion process.
Now, where conversions can be politically advantageous to the Israeli Orthodox community, conversions are said to be hastened -- when some -- not all -- centuries-old communities of "lost" Jews coming in from Asia and other countries arrive in Israel.
Some of these "lost" Jewish communities seem to be getting fast conversions, apparently because they are likely to live as Orthodox Jews after conversion and vote for political parties favored by the Orthodox.
Whereas many Russian Jewish interfaith families and Ethiopian Jews, where their ancestry has been questioned, have reported long conversion processes and major obstacles placed in their way, even when they sincerely want to live as Orthodox Jews.
Apparently some Orthodox groups suspect that these Russian Jewish interfaith families and some Ethiopian Jews may return to being secular Jews after conversion or may perhaps join other non-Orthodox religious and political groups after conversion.
HELPING ISRAELI JEWISH GROUPS WHO ARE FIGHTING FOR HALF-JEWISH PEOPLE'S RIGHTS
Unfortunately, the question of "Who Is A Jew?" in Israel has spread outward into the Diaspora (the Jewish communities outside of Israel), making life difficult for interfaith families elsewhere. (For more information, see "Who Is A Jew?" and our "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)")
The prejudice with which half-Jewish people are sometimes treated in Israel encourages intermittent unkindness toward interfaith families in Diaspora Judaism, and vice-versa, forming a self-reinforcing, self-perpetuating loop of discrimination against interfaith families in some -- not all -- Jewish communities throughout the world.
Several secular and religious groups are fighting for religious and political pluralism in Israel. Among them is the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), which engages in all kinds of lobbying and lawsuits on behalf of interfaith families and other groups discriminated against in Israeli society.
Please visit IRAC's website and donate money to them. You will be helping a Jewish group in Israel that is fighting for our rights. They can be reached at:
Another group that is fighting for our rights is the Association for the Protection of Mixed Families in Israel (the AMF). Founded in 1999, the AMF is currently focusing on Russian Jewish intermarried family members in Israel, including the adult children and grandchildren of intermarriage. The AMF is presently:
1. operating community and school-based projects to help these families integrate into Israeli society;
2. providing consultation and intervention services when these families' rights have been violated; and
3. promoting public policy and raising Israeli and Diaspora (outside of Israel) awareness on behalf of Israeli interfaith families.
The AMF publicizes and tries to combat efforts to restrict or take away the Jewish identity and Israeli citizenships of members of Russian-Jewish intermarried families in Israel. For more information about the AMF, please visit AMF of Israel and then their website at:
http://www.mixedfamilies.rustreet.com/english/index.php
Please visit the AMF's website and donate money to them. Your money will go to help the Israeli adult children and grandchildren of intermarriage. They also help adult children and grandchildren of intermarriage in the Diaspora by working against Israeli policies that harm adult descendants of intermarriage, and actively advocating for policies that help us.
SOME THOUGHTS ON DONATIONS TO CAUSES
Reminder: before you give financial donations and volunteer time to any Israeli or any other Jewish cause or organization anywhere in the world, find out what their policies and attitudes are towards interfaith families and adult children and other descendants of intermarriage.
Ask questions and get answers before you donate your time, money and energy. Be selective in your giving.
If you buy small amounts of books, or CDs or ceramics or calendars or other products from Israeli or other Diaspora (outside of Israel) Jewish organizations opposed to intermarriage -- well, that's their opinion, not ours, and we can all live together, hopefully. We don't have to agree on everything all the time. Enjoy their products.
But be very wary of Israeli Jewish and Diaspora Jewish organizations that take an active part in working publicly against intermarriage and interfaith families.
Your donations may be used to harm other members of interfaith families, for example, directly or indirectly funding Israeli political campaigns to change the "Law of Return" in ways that would exclude us from Israeli citizenship, or harm the non-Orthodox (Reform, Conservative, etc.) Israeli religious groups.
The same cautions apply to Christian, Muslim and other faith-based and secular/cultural organizations in Israel and elsewhere in the world that sponsor projects in Israel and projects in other countries. Some of them are not friendly towards interfaith families, and their actions may be harmful to us.
Don't judge anyone by their label. Some groups are our friends, some are not, and the same is true for individuals.
And remember that even supposedly monolithic organizations often have individuals within them who are not in favor of their organization's current pro- or anti-interfaith family policies.
We have met Orthodox individuals who were friendly and helpful to interfaith families, even though their Orthodox organizations worked against such families, and Reform individuals who were very hostile to interfaith families, even though Reform organizations have strong interfaith family outreach.
Ask before you give!
ABOUT ISRAEL & THE PALESTINIANS
Israel, as a nation state, remains a complicated and painful subject for adult children and other descendants of intermarriage. After all, we have a Jewish parent, many of us have a Christian parent, growing numbers of us have a Muslim parent, and some of us have parents from other cultures in Africa and Asia.
As half-Jewish people, whether we are Jewish-identified or identify as members of other faiths or cultures, we are sometimes put under great pressure to unquestioningly accept Israeli government or Palestinian Authority actions and to give money to Israeli and Palestinian causes of all kinds -- Jewish, Christian, Muslim -- without asking too many questions.
Perhaps someone has approached you: "You're Jewish? Give to Israeli cause X! Our fellow Jews are in danger!" or "Your father is Muslim? Give to this Palestinian charity Z! Your Muslim brothers and sisters need you!" "As a Christian, surely you understand that our church has the best of intentions --"
Before you open your wallet, assess this cause: does it promote violence in its writings? will your dollars be used to assist groups that fund violence or engage in it themselves?
Does the cause that wants your donation believe that its religion alone is the one true way and that people who don't accept that idea aren't entitled to much consideration?
It is our experience that Jewish, Muslim and Christian groups supporting violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are not usually friendly to members of interfaith families, to put it mildly.
Does the cause that is asking you for money promote diversity, tolerance, and peace?
Is this cause friendly or at least willing to consider the needs of interfaith families?
Be advised that even groups that are friendly to members of interfaith families on an individual level, welcoming them to membership, may have theological or political goals that contribute directly or indirectly to violence among the Israelis and Palestinians.
These are questions that you may want to ask before you donate money, time and energy.
For information about Israeli resources for members of interfaith families, please visit "Israeli Interfaith Resources."
PLEASE DON'T DISENGAGE FROM ISRAEL & THE PALESTINIANS
Some adult children of intermarriage and other descendants of intermarriage find the subject of Israel so painful that they are tempted to completely disengage, and ignore all news about Israel and "Who is a Jew?" and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
But if we disengage from the Israeli Jews and the Palestinian Muslim and Christian Arabs, we will lose all ability to influence the events there in any way. We will become helpless bystanders. Our voices, donations and emails are needed.
Also, if we give up on Israel and the Palestinians, we are abandoning a deep connection to the three "Peoples of the Book" -- Jews, Christians, and Muslims, all connected through a shared Tanach (Hebrew Bible, the Christian "Old Testament") -- in Israel and the Palestinian territories, who desperately need our help, our donations and our prayers.
Let's just help them wisely. Some day we'll be glad we did.