Non-Jewish Immigrants in Israel Face Dilemmas Regarding Marriages

JERUSALEM — Boris, a professional in his 30s, emigrated from Russia to Israel under the country's Law of Return three years ago. The law permits anyone with at least one Jewish parent or grandparent to immigrate and, if they exist, to bring along his or her spouse and children regardless of their religion.

Not long after moving to Israel, Boris, who asked that his last name not be published, found a good job as well as the woman he wants to marry. Although the couple would like to wed in front of their relatives and friends in Israel, this is not an option.

That's because neither Boris nor his fiancée has a religious affiliation, according to Israel's population registry, a fact that will prevent them from marrying within Israel.

Boris’ father is Jewish, but his mother, a non-practicing Christian who defines herself as “Russian,” is not; therefore, according to Jewish law, Boris cannot be classified as a Jew. The same is true for his fiancée, whose grandfather was a Jew.

According to Jewish law, a Jew is someone with a Jewish mother or someone who converted to Judaism. As with other cases of mixed ancestry, the government defines Boris and his fiancée as “non-Jews.”

Like hundreds of thousands of other Israeli immigrants with this classification, Boris and his fiancée live in a kind of religious limbo. In order to marry within Israel, the couple will have to officially convert to a recognized religion.

That's because Israeli law permits only religious — not civil — marriages, which must be carried out by one of the country's many authorized religious authorities. In order to be married in a church, for example, an Israeli citizen must first be recognized by the Israeli authorities as a Christian.

Although this presents no problem for Israel's indigenous Christians, the vast majority of who are Arabs, it is a major obstacle for many of the 250,000 to 300,000 non-Jewish immigrants of Jewish ancestry who have moved to Israel, mostly from the former Soviet Union.

Non-Jewish Immigrants

Though the obvious answer is conversion, immigrants who claim a Jewish parent or grandparent and then convert to Christianity or another religion risk being deported. Those with Jewish ancestry who wish to immigrate under the Law of Return but who are practicing Christians or Muslims, for example, generally lie about their religion for fear of being turned away.

Although an Israeli citizen is free to practice any religion he chooses, government officials often suspect a person who converts shortly after immigrating lied about his status and could thus be deported. Non-Jewish children and spouses — those with no Jewish ancestry — who arrive with the immigrant, however, are free to practice any religion they choose.

Israeli officials defend the law's stringent guidelines on the grounds that they are the only way to ensure that Israel — a tiny, embattled nation created after the Holocaust to ensure the continuity of the Jewish people — will be able to maintain its Jewish character.

The officials also note other countries have even stricter immigration policies based on their own set of criteria.

“Israel was established so that Jews would have a homeland,” said a government official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “If you welcome millions of non-Jews there will be no Jewish majority, and Israel will cease to be a Jewish country. Israel's very reason for being will be destroyed.”

“If we admit everybody, in the end you will have a country where Jews are a minority of the population. That's not what the forefathers and -mothers had in mind,” said Rabbi Ron Kronish, director of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel, an organization devoted to improved relations between various faiths.

Although the Law of Return has governed Israeli immigration for decades, it is only since the large-scale wave of Russian immigration, mostly brought about by the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1989, that people have begun to question its principles.

Protection for Citizens

Whereas religious Jewish parties in the Israeli Knesset have demanded the Law of Return be limited only to people who are Jewish according to Jewish law, others insist the immigrants’ problems can be solved through civil marriage and liberalized immigration laws.

“The Law of Return needs to be changed,” said Anat Hoffman, director of the Israel Religious Action Center, which has filed many lawsuits on behalf of immigrants and non-Orthodox Jews seeking a non-Orthodox alternative to marriage, burial and conversion.

“We need a more modern immigration law that not only takes into account Israel's needs but also the humanitarian needs of immigrant families and foreign workers,” Hoffman said. “I'm not saying we should accept everyone by taking in the entire Third World, but we must have a more humane system.”

Ilya Adzhiashvili, director of the Association of Mixed Families in Israel, believes the law must protect all citizens and their spouses, regardless of their religion.

“I have a friend, a good, decent man, who moved to Israel with his wife, who is Jewish,” Adzhiashvili said. “They had a child in Israel. Recently, she told him she'd found another man and then filed for divorce. She informed Interior Minis-9try of the divorce proceedings, and he's received a deportation notice.”

His friend has not yet received citizenship and is therefore vulnerable, Adzhiashvili explained.

Father Shawki Baterian, chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, said the various churches are in a bit of a bind.

“This issue is very sensitive,” he said. “Immigrants come here because their own countries are very poor and they're seeking a better life. We are trying to help and give hope to everyone who asks for it.”

That being said, the local Catholic Church does not receive many pleas for help, Father Baterian said. For one thing, “if people say they're Christians they could lose their benefits.”

The government provides immigrants with a generous package that includes preferential mortgage terms and the right to buy appliances and furniture tax-free.

Although Adzhiashvili said the government has ultimately rescinded every deportation order once it was fought, he insists that “a permanent solution must be found to ensure that families aren't torn apart.”

The government official agrees. “The large influx of non-Jewish immigrants raises issues that the country has not adequately addressed. We've been dealing for so long with the existential issues of the country's survival, we have put all other problems on the back burner.”

But, he adds, “That doesn't mean it's not cooking.”

Michele Chabin writes from Jerusalem.