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‘Who is a Jew’ issue flares
at Israel high court hearing
by David Landau
JERUSALEM (JTA)—The
fiercely controversial “Who is a
Jew” issue flared anew Monday
when it was disclosed at a Supreme
court hearing that the Orthodox-
controlled Interior Ministry re
quires that the word “converted,”
in parentheses, be printed next to
the designation “Jewish” on the
identity cards of all converts to
Judaism in Israel.
The new regulation triggered
angry responses from secular
spokesmen who charged that the
Interior Ministry was trying to
introduce the Orthodox-inspired
“Who is a Jew” amendment
“through the back door.” Even
some Orthodox rabbis regard the
designation as objectionable and
discriminatory against converts.
The Knesset was to hold a full-
scale debate on the issue Wednes
day. Knesset Speark Shlomo Hillel
placed it on the agenda over objec
tions by the Interior Ministry that
the matter was sub judice and
could not be discussed in parlia
mentary session. Hillel said Knesset
members would be warned to steer
clear of specific issues before the
Supreme Court.
The case before the court con
cerns a recent American immigrant,
Rabbi Goren
Shoshana Miller, who was con
verted to Judaism in Colorado
Springs, Colo., by a Reform rabbi
and refused to undergo Orthodox
conversion rites in Israel. The Inte
rior Ministry has refused to regis
ter her as Jewish until her conver
sion is validated by the Orthodox
rabbinate. Miller is supported by
the Reform movement in Israel.
The Interior Ministry told the
court that the identity card, though
not in itself proof of halachic sta
tus, is prima facie evidence and is
used as such by rabbis who register
marriages. Therefore, according to
the ministry, the designation “con
verted” on the identity cards serves
as a guide to the rabbis who would
then have to make sure the conver
sion was satisfactory for halachic
purposes.
Former Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi
Shlomo Goren termed the regula
tion a “spilling of the blood” of
converts. In an interview Tuesday,
he called attention to many biblical
and Talmudic prohibitions against
discrimination. “It is against the
Torah,” Goren said.
Goren, like most Orthodox rab
bis, supports the “Who is a Jew'”
amendment to the Law of Return.
The law, passed shortly after the
Israeli state was founded, entitles
any Jew to receive Israeli citizen
ship immediately upon arrival in
the country. It identifies a Jew as
anyone “born of a Jewish mother
or converted.” The amendment
would add the words “according to
Halacha.”
It would thus allow the Orthodox
rabbinate to declare invalid con
versions performed by non-Ortho-
dox rabbis. It has been fiercely
opposed by the Reform and Con
servative movements in the U.S.
and Israel. The amendment has
been introduced in the Knesset
many times over the years and to
date has always been defeated.
Soviet tourist agency hit by suit
by Joseph Polakoff
TSI’s Washington correspondent
WASHINGTON—The Soviet
Union’s travel agency lntourist is
accused in a court action in New
York of failure to disclose to
Americans that they “run a high
risk of being harassed by Soviet
agents” if they visit Soviet Jews,
particularly those Jews who wish
to leave the U.S.S.R.
Citing examples of harassment
“alleged to be officially sanctioned
and implemented by the Soviet
government,” the plaintiffs brought
suit in New York State Supreme
Court in Manhattan against ln
tourist for violating New York’s
Consumer Protection Law.
The suit was filed by the National
Conference on Soviet Jewry, 38 of
the Conference’s member agencies
and 14 individuals. The plaintiffs
demand injunctions requiring In-
tourist to disclose fully that certain
categories of Intourist are likely
to be subjected to being detained,
body searches, interrogation or
confiscation of personal property.
Claims are made for $10,000 in
compensatory damages and $25,000
in punitive damages for each indi
vidual plaintiff.
Robert Teitelbaum, counsel for
the plaintiffs, said, “Intourist’s
promotional activities -including
its literature and other promotional
material—are designed to, and
otherwise, create, a false and mis
leading impression that if tourists
to the U.S.S.R. obey Soviet law
they will not be subjected to var
ious forms of government harass
ment.
“This is absolutely not true for
those tourists who express an in
terest in the human rights of Soviet
Jews and who wish to visit with
Soviet Jewish families,” Teitelbaum
said.
The individual plaintiffs are
Americans who traveled to the
Soviet Union on tours booked
under Intourist auspices. Each
plaintiff was allegedly subjected to
detention, or body search, or fined,
or had possessions confiscated.
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PAGE 3 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE June 27, 1986