I hope you had a great winter break and a chance to relax and prepare for another semester. I know I enjoyed the heat wave, although I spent two weeks of it in a desert almost 6,000 miles away: Israel.
Israel is an essentially Western nation in the Middle East. Most of its citizens have family from the West and grew up with Western customs, and its government gets massive funding from the West. Many of its immigrants are from the West, and one of the purposes of the “Birthright trip” I went on was to convince me, a Westerner, to move to Israel.
Israel also is a Jewish state and was created as a place for Jews (both persecuted and not) from around the world to move in order have a more pronounced say in the laws of their nation. Despite being Western and despite the massive persecution Jews have felt throughout the millennia, Israeli laws follow the orthodox tradition, which are many times as oppressive as they come.
Case in point: On my trip, we visited a movie-production school and were shown a fictional movie in which a couple gets a divorce. This movie went on to international film festivals, as it was the first time the outside world got a glimpse of what happens inside the room the proceedings take place.
In there, the wife must stand before her husband with her hands outstretched to accept a document from him as he says, “I divorce you” in front of three rabbis, who then affirm the couple is divorced. This is, under Jewish law, the only way a divorce can become legal. The wife cannot divorce her husband, even if he abuses her, unless he agrees to do so.
Here’s another example: The Western Wall in Jerusalem is one of the holiest sites for religious Jews, as it is the closest one can get to the ruins of the Second Temple. Many devout worshipers and tourists from around the world come to see the wall and pray.
Unfortunately, there exists a divider along the wall so that men and women have separate sections because of specific rules in orthodox law. Not only is it sad that this division exists, but the women’s section is much, much smaller than the men’s, implying that women are less worthy of praying at the wall.
To the best of my understanding, having the state laws follow orthodox laws stems from the birth of the nation. The day after the state of Israel was declared, the British removed their troops from the area, and Arab nations attacked the fledgling nation. The new government wanted the nation to be Jewish and decided that the laws should follow orthodox teachings until peace came to the nation and the Knesset (Israeli parliament) could figure out what being a “Jewish state” means.
This hasn’t yet happened, and so deciding what orthodoxy to follow hasn’t yet happened either.
I understand that United States policy toward Israel is tough. I just propose that in addition to considering our moral, economic and military support, you — and the politicians you elect — consider pushing Israel towards adopting more open and tolerant laws.
Reach Todd at todd.phillips@asu.edu.
