Israel Beiteinu gets NIS 82m. for aliya | Israel | Jerusalem Post: "The section on conversion, one of the heftiest in the document, stated that legislation would be enacted to make the matter of conversion considered as one area under Israeli law, noting that the government would work in conjunction with the Chief Rabbinate.
According to the new legislation, the conversion certification would qualify as 'proof of Jewishness' for all legal and religious purposes.
The deal also stipulated that conversion could only be annulled if evidence was found that it was granted due to concealed or mistaken information."
The meaning of this will escape most non jews but it may be revolutionary. Until now the most extreme religious authorities in Israel have copntroleld the definition of Yiddishkeit. This has meant big problems for many immigrants .. Ethiopean, Russian and American where standards for being Jewish have become more ethnic than simply observant.
I more open definition of being Jewish could become a lot more like the French defintion of being French .. that is a recognition of culture over religous belief or herdity.
Imagine what would happen if one opened Judaism world wide to thise whyio believe in our concepts of an ethical life based in a tradition that encompasses Alinsky, Spiniza, Gandhi (Jewish advisers), Marx, Medleson, Halevy, Maimonides, Hillel ???
Could there ven be Arabs who choose to be Jewish? Is it too hard to imagine that the Jews of Yathrib and Yemen, their ancestors might not see a common-ness between their own roots and the ethical principles that tie Judaims and Islam so closely together?
Just dreaming.
