Israel's charter states that every Jew has the right to
return home. Fleeing from horrors of hatred, the passport control at Ben Gurion airport turns no Jew away . Hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands have
arrived in the holy land with little else but the clothes on their back.
Simply stated, the Law of Return stipulates and provides a home for any and
every Jew. But the law recognizes that an “oleh” is not merely someone who has
made a decision to settle in Israel, it has a higher value for it is about someone returning home. After centuries of wandering, several restricted or expelled at the whim of warlords and kings there was finally a resting
place established in 1948 where all Jews could find a place from which they could never be thrown out.
The historic connection between the diaspora and the Land is like that
of a parent and an estranged child. The
offspring has moved away. They have long
forgotten their roots. Yet, once in while
they have a pang of conscience and send a card.
The parent hopes that one day the child will make the long journey
home. Those days of yearning are over. The family of Israel can
be whole once more.
For many years Orthodox groups have been trying to amend the
Law of Return to include on people whose identity can be proven (it used to be
just a person’s word that they were Jewish was enough) or converted according
by an Orthodox rabbi. Needless to say
this amendment would exclude all non-Orthodox conversions in addition to calling into
question marriages as well as many Orthodox (as the latter vie for control)
conversions and marriages.
The pivotal question that lies at the heart of broad
acceptance of evert professing Jews is the validity of rabbinic authority outside the sphere of
the political machinations of Israeli religious politics. Imagine if Israel became a de jure religious
state under the thumb of Orthodoxy. As
Jews, we are inextricably connected with the land. While the Orthodox community
would largely embrace such a change in the Law of Return, Conservative and
Reform communities would recoil in horror and begin to feel distance from
Israel. It is a real danger is when the
non-Orthodox community begins to feel threatened and withdraw not only their
support from Israel but develop an antagonistic attitude toward Orthodoxy, out brothers and sisters.
Presently, we are held together in a precarious balance;
each side vying for domination. The consensus uniting Israel is fragile.
Many times in our history our people have been divided over
the interpretation of law. One example with which we are all familiar is when the
Maccabees brought about an end to Greek rule. The Maccabean rebellion was
essentially against the Greeks and the Jews who sided with the Greek overlords. It was a terrible war. Another time was when Jews split
which during the revolt against Rome a few centuries later. This time the rift produced Christianity. At first they called themselves Jews and were accepted as such until the gulf
between them became bridgeable.
In the diaspora, our differences are kept in check, as no
one group has power over another. In the Jewish land, the sword of Damocles
hangs over our heads as it did long ago with the Pharisees and the Sadducees
and, before them, with the Maccabees and the Hellenizers. Sinat
hinam, baseless antagonism, enmity between Jew and Jew, brought about the destruction
of the Second Temple. Could such hatred
bring about more destruction?
