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From: samet@sfmag.UUCP (A.I.Samet)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: Coercion or Democracy?
Message-ID: <515@sfmag.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 5-Mar-85 08:56:04 EST
Article-I.D.: sfmag.515
Posted: Tue Mar  5 08:56:04 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 6-Mar-85 05:57:23 EST
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> I would appreciate your public comments.  I am especially interested
> in the views of the orthodox netters.

An oft-cited, legitimate case of  coercion  in  Israel  would  be
throwing  rocks  at  cars  on  Shabbos. This is an irresponsible,
foolish, and forbidden act from the Torah viewpoint. Fortunately,
such  conduct  is  extremely  atypical  of  Orthodoxy. The Talmud
classifies a rock thrower as one attempting manslaughter. Despite
propaganda  stereotyping,  rock  throwing  is far more infrequent
than  murder  in  Israel,  and  it  is  fiction  to  characterize
orthodoxy  as  a  rock  throwers,  just as it would be fiction to
characterize Israelis as murderers.

Attempting to pass a law in the Knesset defining who is a Jew, or
similar  religious  matters,  is a far cry from the above. Such a
law would be unconstitutional in America but it's not in  Israel.
The  State  proclaims itself to be Jewish and thereby legitimizes
things like the "law of return", which could be  easily  attacked
as  racist  in  an American context.  It is hysteria mongering to
cry "coercion" whenever orthodoxy casts a vote for  a   religious
measures. The  law empowering  a draft  limits  personal freedom,
but few people  will seriously argue coercian to be an  issue  in
that case. All laws can be labeled coercive,  but  such  labeling
distracts attention and frustrates intelligent discuss of issues.

Similarly, the rabbinate in Israel is duly empowered  by  law  to
rule  halachically  on  issues  such  as  marriage,  divorce, and
conversion, and to advise individuals according to those rulings.
That  is  the law, just like taxes. You may not like it, but it's
sidestepping the issue to chant the  buzzword  "coercion"   every
time the rabbinate makes a halachic decision which upsets you.

If you don't like the laws, or the democratic process in  Israel,
I  understand  you.  But  avoid applying a double standard. Don't
rant incessantly about orthodox coercian unless you  are  talking
about "rocks".

                                        Yitzchok Samet