Civil Marriages ? YES, but …

B"H

The main goal of Avigdor Lieberman (Israel Beitenu) is introducing civil marriages in Israel. Before joining the coalition, Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) had to promise Lieberman that those kind of marriages would be allowed according to the law. And as the Sephardi haredi SHASS party may be joining the coalition as well and therefore a compromise had to be found.

Until now, Israeli Jews who want to get married have to ask for permission from the Rabbanut (Chief Rabbinate). Only then they are allowed to marry. Non - Jewish (except for Muslims who are allowed to marry among each other) couples have to go abroad in order to get married.

Lieberman doesn't show any Yiddishkeit and wants ALL couples to get married in a civil way and without any Rabbanut.
Such a law introduction is still impossible in Israel and even if our country is anything but officially religious, Judaism totally rejects mixed marriages. Unfortunately, in the States or in England, more and more Jews are going astray as soon as they marry a Gentile. This is a tragedy for the Jewish people as a whole and Jews should, before getting married to a Gentile, think about the severe consequences such as having non - Jewish kids (in case the mother is not Jewish). Think about your identity, people's history and soul uniqueness first instead of running after sexual desires.

In Judaism there is nothing like being a Jew by only having a Jewish father but not a Jewish mother. Those having a Gentile mother and a Jewish father are Gentiles themselves. As well as those where the Gentile mother underwent a Jewish Reform or Conservative conversion. Conservative or Reform conversions don't make anyone Jewish but those "converts" are still Gentiles. Children are only Jewish if the mother is a halachically born Jew or converted to Judaism in an Orthodox way !

Jews marrying a non - Jew are causing another Holocaust and having a part in the destruction of the Jewish people. A Holocaust as the one carried out by the Nazis or when a Jew is converting to Christianity.

In Israel, mixed couples have to take negative remarks from their surrounding into consideration. Even the secular don't stop whispering that one partner is not Jewish. Israelis may be open but there also is a limit and then society reacts against something. Let alone the kabbalistic explanation that Jews and Gentiles have different souls (Neshamot) and that these two different soul don't fit together in a marriage. Gentiles have to marry one of them and Jews have to marry a Jew. The only exception is when the Gentile partner honestly converts to Judaism in an orthodox manner.

The Russian Lieberman wants all the non - Jewish Russians in our country (and the majority of Russian immigrants is NOT JEWISH) to have a chance of getting married without traveling abroad. Furthermore, Lieberman also supports marriages between Jews and Gentiles. Netanyahu, on the other hand, would never get such a law through the Knesset and even if, the religious would hate him for the rest of his life.
Now, the following compromise was made:
The spiritual leader of the litvishe Haredim, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliyashiv, as well as the Gerrer Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter, stated that Israel can have civil marriages but ONLY FOR GENTILES GETTING MARRIED AMONG EACH OTHER. However, JEWS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO MARRY GENTILES IN ISRAEL !

No one is being bothered by Gentiles marrying each other but we are not willing to allow marriages between Jews and Gentiles and thus, face or own Jewish destruction.