By Rabbi Julie Schonfeld
Originally posted on The Jerusalem Post
For the first time in Israel’s history, the Jewish state has passed a law that criminalizes a purely private religious act that harms no one and subjects persons who engage in that act to time in prison. Israeli Jews who participate in marriage ceremonies outside of the Rabbanut and the rabbis who officiate such ceremonies are subject to a penalty of two years’ imprisonment. Israeli legislators liked this idea so much in fact, that they affirmed it twice – once when they slipped it in at the last minute to the Tzohar bill and a second time, this week, when an effort by MK Aliza Lavie to undo this provision was blocked in the Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs. That fateful meeting included some powerful supporters of the Prime Minister voting against this most basic expression of human rights, while other voices were notably absent including a disappointing abstention by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni...[Read More]
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