Former Israeli Supreme Court Chief Justice emphasizes that the country’s marriage laws constitute an infringement of basic constitutional rights, as published today by Hiddush.
Hiddush- Freedom of Religion for Israel has published selected highlights from Professor Aaron Barak’s forthcoming book, “Human Dignity: The Constitutional Right and its Derivatives” on its Freedom of Marriage World Map website. In these excerpts, Barak addresses Israel’s marriage policies, which are governed by religious law and deny Israelis the right to marry. He stresses that the laws infringe on the constitutional derived rights to human dignity, religious freedom, and equality.
In the book’s analysis of the right to family life and marriage in Israel, Barak writes, “Anyone who is unable to marry according to religious law, and anyone who does not want to marry according to religious law for their own reasons, cannot marry in Israel. Civil marriage is not recognized in Israel. This state of affairs violates the constitutional right to marry…The present law does not only violate the constitutional derived right to marriage, but it also often violates the derived right to freedom of conscience and freedom from religion.” Barak also explicitly relates to same-gender marriages, saying: “A law that prevents two members of the same gender from entering a relationship of couplehood is a violation of the human dignity of each partner.”
Barak, an internationally-revered jurist, was described by US Supreme Court Justice Elana Kagan as her “judicial hero.” His statements on marriage in this important forthcoming book bolster the international call across denominational and political lines for civil marriage in Israel.
Hiddush President, Rabbi Uri Regev, Esq. expressed his gratification that Hiddush has been permitted to publish Professor Aaron Barak’s strong endorsement of marriage freedom. Regev expressed the hope that Barak’s statements on marriage will be heard by Israeli policymakers, the public, and among Jewish leadership around the globe to encourage them to raise their voices in support of freedom of marriage for all of Israel’s citizens.
Regev noted that “Hiddush’s unique Freedom of Marriage World Map boldly illustrates that Israel is the only western democracy in the world that denies its citizens freedom of marriage and unfortunately is in the unenvious company of many of the world’s Islamic fundamentalist countries. The majority of the Israeli public and world Jewry are completely opposed to these policies, which deny hundreds of thousands the right to marry and refuse millions more the ability to marry in a ceremony congruent with their beliefs. Professor Barak clearly demonstrates the constitutional illegitimacy of religious monopoly on all marriages in Israel and its clear violation of human dignity and basic human rights. Israeli policymakers and world Jewry must take heed to Barak’s clear message and work towards allowing freedom of marriage in Israel, in keeping with Israel’s founding promise for “freedom of religion and conscience”.”
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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8 Responses
From Ehud Barak to Aaron Barak there never arose a moron like Barak.
go ahead but please, then, stop calling israel a Jewish state – don’t even call it Israel anymore – i am all for freedom.of.religion, but you can’t have it both ways. Here in the US it is not a Christian State – even though it is mostly christians and closes the post offices etc on December 25 and every sunday- so too Israel can have mostly Jews & close post offices on Yom.Kippur and every Saturday but dont shame the Torah and the Jewish People by calling it a Jewish State
another nail in the coffin for the religious zionists who naively believed that the zionist state would turn into a Jewish state — and vindication for the true hareidim (meaning they tremble out of fear of Ha-Shem, not fear of the government) who always arugued that frum Jews should ignore the government in conducting their business.
Two reshoim!
justice Barak is known as an enemy to Jewish tradition and to those who believe in G-d.
He is a painful reminder of the harm that the foolish lefties have cause the Israeli society with their drivel of equality between Jews, Arabs and Animals.
To akuperman:
You only focus on your anti-Zionist agenda. Here a prominent secular Jew is making an argument that, if adopted, will weaken yiiddiskeit and harm yidden. That is the point. Your thinking is so warped – it appears to me that you really don’t care about non frum yidden at all.
I am wondering where I’m coming from, but as a right to exercise my personal right and freedom to private liberty why should someone prevent me from choosing how I want to enter in couplehood for my own needs every word he wrote I agree with. If Jews want in their own community to only allow nisuin kidas moshe then that’s fine. Most communities define themselves this way much like geirus that do their own community screening process. There should be free choice for people to choose between going to shul and lehavdil going to theater. The problem I have in Israel is that Jewish identity is not educated enough in israel to afford people a fully educated decision to their adult right to make personal choices of what’s best for them and we have only ourselves to blame.
This child-like logic, that having a law about something infringes on the general rights, can also be applied to stopping at a traffic light. Isn’t there a right to move about and to pursue happiness.
Actually, as far as I know, israel doesn’t actually have a constitution.