One in Israel

Part of Israel's charter states that every Jew has the right to be at home there. Fleeing from the horrors of hatred, passport control Ben Gurion airport has never turned a Jew back. Hundreds of thousands have arrived to the holy land with a little less than the clothes on their back.

The Law of Return, LOR, provides a home to any Jewish person. But the law recognizes that an oleh is not merely someone who is made the decision to settle in Israel, it is someone who is returning home.

The connection between the diaspora an the land is akin to that of a parent and an estranged child. The offspring has moved away. Once in a while he sends a card. One day, hopes the parent, I will make a decision to return home. And when he does come with the family will be whole again.

There have been attempts made by Orthodox groups to amend the LOR to include a caveat that the person coming to Israel be born to a Jewish mother or converted according to Jewish law, halacha. The argument of amending the LOR is generated much heat over the past decades especially since the word halacha is not trade-marked yet often seems to be possessed by the right wing.   Those who try to amend it want to invalidate Reform and Conservative conversions.

That Israel is a Jewish state is not debatable and non-negotiable. But imagine that Israel becomes a de jure Orthodox state. That would disenfranchise anyone non-orthodox.  That would be a catastrophe.

I am buoyed by the fact that Israel has been in existence now for 70 years and a careful balance has been maintained to ensure that every Jewish person has a place in the Jewish homeland.   Proof that we are one people..