Thursday, December 09, 2010

A Jewish-Democratic State

Israel is defined by law as

the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state

On the background of the recent controversy whereby

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein on Thursday stated that his office would check if the behavior of state-employed rabbis, who signed a letter against renting to non-Jews, was "criminal."

...Forty-seven state-employed rabbis signed a statement, made public Tuesday, which quotes the halachic stance against renting or selling a house or plot of land to a non- Jew in Israel.

“In response to many people’s questions, we hereby reply that it is prohibited by the Torah to sell a house or a field in the Land of Israel to a gentile,” the letter begins before proceeding to quote Maimonides, the Shulhan Aruch and other sources. The letter notes the danger of intermarriage, the potential damage to the religious beliefs of Jewish neighbors who might be influenced by non-Jews, and the damage to the value of real estate in the area.

I wonder:

if the Rabbis' appeal is essentially a voluntary one, that is, no one is legislating a law of discrimination, and people are being requested to use their democratic choice and indeed, this is a Jewish issue, would this not be considered the epitome of a Jewish-democratic state?

Of course, there is also this:

Just in time for Christmas, religious leaders in the Holy Land want landlords to tell non-Jews there's no room at the inn


^

No comments: