European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 7, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Orthodox jews who want to maintain adherence to religious Law As the Law of the land in Israel sprayed Black paint on a Bikini advertisement in Tel Aviv. Touches the daily lives of almost everyone. The religious Hierarchy has control Over birth marriages and divorces. It awards Kosher licenses to hotels and restaurants something orthodox jews and Many tourists look Lor. When an israeli Dies any religious relative can prevent Organ donations which Are seen in religious Law As violating he Sanctity of body. The tug of War leads to incongruities in modern Israel. At Judaism s holiest site the wailing Wall that remains from the second jewish Temple a jew wearing a full length Black coat and fur hat in keeping with religious tradition can be seen praying next to another in cutoff shorts sandals and baseball Cap you can t consider the role of religion in Israel with Liberal american eyes says David Hartman an american born orthodox rabbi who runs a prominent jewish study Center in Jerusalem. Religious issues assume More importance Here because the question we Are struggling with is whether Israel will be a Western democracy or a jewish state " if the answer to that question were to be determined simply by voice vote it would be easy. The religious minority holds 14 seats in the 120 member parliament but wields a powerful swing Vole capable of bringing Down any government since the founding of the state. Supported by the newly religious and by immigrants who often come to Israel seeking a jewish state instead of a Western democracy the religious parties have used their Power to implement legislation that merges the state s Law with religious Law in effect to create a theocracy. One Law Strong armed through parliament forbids the state owned Al Al airline from flying on the Sabbath a ban that the airline estimates costs it up to $30 million annually. Another allows military deferment for jewish Seminary students something that angers secular israeli men who must serve 30 or More Days in the Reserve each year until the age of 55. Orthodox of Pons Orad legislation currently before parliament would ban marketing and Breeding of pork which is prohibited by religious dietary Laws although israelis eat some 8,000 tons of it a year. I Don t fear Arab enemies around Israel they Are Many but they will not destroy us. What i am really afraid of now is that we could be destroyed from within Shlomo Goren for Mer chief rabbi of Israel. A new policy implemented by rabbi Yitzhak Peretz the minister of Interior Calls for converts to Judaism to be labelled As such on identity cards something that has a special Impact on american jews. American jewish Congress statistics show about one in three . Jews marry non jews Many of whom then convert. American jews View the policy As discriminatory and part of a trend that threatens to Divide the  jewish Community from the jewish state. The orthodox want Only those born jewish or converted by orthodox rabbis to be eligible for citizenship while american jews argue conversions performed by conservative and Reform rabbis should be considered just As valid. About two thirds of the 6 million . Jews Are Reform or conservative. The leaders who forged the state led by David Ben Gurion who became the first prime minister were primarily secular and socialist. They wanted to create a new jew in Israel one capable of being a Farmer and a Soldier and not associated with the ghettos of Eastern Europe. They urged israelis to demonstrate a commitment to Judaism by draining the swamps of Palestine instead of studying the torah and other jewish holy books. While his policy reinforced secularism Ben Gurion made concessions to the orthodox. His philosophy was that the Young state faced enough enemies from outside and needed to be United from within. As a result he rejected a Constitution drafted for the new state in order to avoid a clash with the religious who argued that the Bible should be Israel s fundamental Law and no Man made Law could take precedence. Bin Gurion also gave rabbinical courts wide jurisdiction Over All matters of marriage and divorce in 1949, he signed a far reaching document designed to preserve the secular religious status que and prevent erosion of religious rights. But the uneasy Alliance created by Ben Gurion hangs by a thread today. The dispute Between the religious and secular communities boiled Over this summer when secular jews decided to strike Back at the Ultra orthodox who had destroyed the bus Stop shelters secular israelis none of whom have been caught scrawled nazi swastikas on synagogue Walls and burned holy books in religious schools. They left notes threatening Israel s religious Community. The sight of nazi insignia on synagogues in a country formed from the ashes of the nazi holocaust frightened israeli leaders. Prime minister Shimon Peres called an emergency meeting and foreign minister Yitzhak Shamir warned Israel could be headed for civil War. There is a dangerous air in the country says the newly orthodox Kleinman. It s As if the religious and secular Are split into different countries waving different  Goren argues that secular israelis must acknowledge that Ultra orthodox jews hold a special place in israeli society. They lived Here hundreds of years before the zionist political movement came he says. They held on to the holy land and the jewish ways they have rights that cannot be  in addition most israelis still feel strongly linked to jewish culture even if they Don t want to live by jewish Law. They believe the country cannot simply toss out the Bible As the jewish claim to the land is based on biblical history. Even at socialist kibbutzim communal farms that Are the most secular of israeli communities candles Are lit for religious holidays and Mezuzah tiny enclosed prayer scrolls Are attached to door jams. The secular jew wants to preserve some elements of religious tradition. Thus modern attempts to separate state from synagogue Are bound to be ambivalent says israeli author Amos of a secular jew and leading spokesman for the kibbutzim said in an interview. But the question of says is whether the people believe the authority of the state comes from divine Law. In other countries it has taken civil War and Rivers of blood to resolve this  David a Chicago bom israeli is among the newly religious. Citing modesty rulings of the torah in refusing to give his last name he says his own decision to become an orthodox jew was much like the Choice Israel must make. Do we want to be a jewish state or do we want to simply be a country like any other David asks. If we Are to be a country like any other Why did i bother to immigrate Here 7.1986 the stars and stripes Page 15