Last week the first civil marriage took place in Israel on Tuesday evening, between Svetlana Sadigursky and Gabby Liebeschitz, Mazal Tov! Unfortunately it isn't as good as it sounds- only couples in which both partners are non-Jewish or 'defined by the state as lacking religious denomination', can marry, after the original law, which would have enabled any Israeli citizen to marry in a civil ceremony was cut back drastically to avoid a veto by religious parties. Twenty five couples have met the criteria, reports the Jerusalem Post; all were questioned by rabbis to make sure they are not Jewish, and are investigated, with rabbis performing 'an examination of the local religious communities'.
This raises an interesting possibility; can an Atheist marry an Atheist in Israel now? And who defines a person as an Atheist? I rather suspect that the Chief Rabbinate will insist on defining a Jew as anyone who was born to a Jewish mother, no matter what their beliefs, thus making a mockery of the whole 'civil' aspect.
Is it just a coincidence that this is how Hitler defined Jews?
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