Ben-Gurion, the Law of Return, and the Question of Jewish Status in 1958

Jerusalem

27 October 1958

Dear ...

I am writing in the wake of a decision taken by the Government of Israel on 15 July 1958 which provides for the establishment of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, and Minister of the Interior, to examine the regulations regarding the registration of children of mixed marriages both of whose parents wish to have them registered as Jews. In its decision, the Government directed the committee to “consult with Jewish sages in Israel and abroad,” and formulate registration guidelines “that accord with the tradition accepted by all circles of Judaism, the Orthodox and liberals of all trends, and with the special circumstances of Israel as a sovereign Jewish nation ensuring freedom of conscience and religion and as the center for the ingathering of the exiles.” [ . . . ]

The laws of Israel forbid any form of discrimination between individuals on the basis of differences of race, color, nationality, religion, or sex. However, Jews alone enjoy a special extra privilege afforded by the Law of Return. A non-Jew wishing to immigrate to the country must receive permission, and the country is entitled to withhold this permission. Such a person does not become a citizen of Israel by settling in the country, but only in response to a formal request for citizenship that can be submitted after residence in the country for two years. Jews, on the other hand, may immigrate under the Law of Return by virtue of being Jewish (so long as they are not potential criminals who may endanger public safety or suffer from a disease that might endanger public health). Immediately upon arrival in Israel, and after expressing a desire to settle here, they automatically and instantly become Israeli citizens. For this reason, determining the religion of Israeli citizens is also essential: existing law places matters of marriage and divorce within the jurisdiction of the religious courts—the shari'a court for Muslims, the religious courts of the various denominations for Christians, and the rabbinical courts for Jews. By law, marriage and divorce in Israel are conducted solely according to religious norms and in religious ceremonies; Jewish weddings and divorces are conducted in Israel only according to religious law. The question has arisen of how to register the “religion” and “nationhood” of the children of mixed marriages when the father is Jewish and the mother is not Jewish and has not converted, but both agree to have the child registered as a Jew. Some contend that as it is a civil registry that does not serve for religious purposes (religious authorities are not required, and as a rule are reluctant, to accept it or rely on it alone), there is no cause to adopt religious criteria for the registry. Others maintain that since “religion” and “nationhood” cannot be separated, and since religious affiliation is by its very nature a religious issue, religious criteria should indeed be used for registering both nationhood and religion.

The Government has determined that the religion or nationality of adults will be listed as “Jewish” if they declare themselves in good faith to be Jewish and not a member of another religion. [ . . . ] However, the registration of the children of mixed marriages in the population registry has given rise to a question in the case of a mother who is not Jewish and has not converted, but both she and the father agree to register the child as a Jew. Should the child be registered as a Jew on the basis of the parents’ wishes and their good faith declaration that he or she is not a member of another religion, or in addition to the wishes and declaration of the parents, should a ceremony be required for the child to be registered as a Jew? [ . . . ]

In order to ensure a thorough understanding of the problem, four considerations must be noted:

1. In the State of Israel, the principle of freedom of conscience and religion is ensured both in the Declaration of Independence and in the guidelines of all of its governments, which have included representatives of both “religious” and “liberal” parties. All forms of religious or anti-religious coercion are banned, and a Jew may live either an observant or secular life.

2. Israel serves today as the center of the ingathering of the exiles. Immigrants are arriving from East and West, from developed and developing countries, and the merging of the different diasporas and the creation of a single national model is one of the most vital and difficult tasks in the country. Efforts must be made to increase shared and unifying properties and eliminate as far as possible those that separate and divide.

3. The Jewish community in Israel is unlike the Jewish community in the Diaspora. Here we are not a minority subject to the pressure of a foreign culture, and there is no fear that the Jews will become assimilated among the non-Jews as there is in several prosperous free states. On the contrary, here there exists the possibility and trend for a certain assimilation of non-Jews into the Jewish people, particularly in families in which the children of mixed marriages have immigrated to Israel. [ . . . ]

4. On the other hand, the Israeli nation does not see itself as separate from Diaspora Jewry; on the contrary, no Jewish community in the world exhibits such a profound feeling of unity and identity with Jews the world over as the Jewish community in Israel. [ . . . ]

In view of the above, I would be most grateful for your opinion as to how we should act in the matter of registering the children of mixed marriages both of whose parents, the Jewish father and the non-Jewish mother, wish them to be registered as Jews.

Sincerely,

D. Ben-Gurion