High Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein, a member of Jerusalem’s Shomer Shabbat community, came out in support of a fellow justice, Salim Jubran, stating a non-Jewish person does not have to sing Hatikvah, the national anthem.
Rubinstein’s statement was prompted by the public storm after Jubran did not sing the national anthem at the swearing-in ceremony for the court’s new president, Justice Asher Gronis.
Rubinstein called critics’ remarks “unjustified”, explaining that one cannot expect a non-Jew to sing about the aspirations of the Jewish People regarding the homeland. Rubinstein feels it is sufficient for a non-Jew to stand, but s/he is not required to sing. He explained a non-Jew is not compelled to sing because it does not “speak to their hearts or connect to their roots”.
On Wednesday, 5 Adar, the Knesset rejected a bill sponsored by MK (Ichud Leumi) Dr. Michael Ben-Ari seeking to limit appointment to the high court to those who served in the IDF or national service, a move that is intended to keep Arabs off the bench.
Some critics now question why frum soldiers are compelled to listen to kol isha in the military while a non-Jewish high court justice is not compelled to sing the national anthem.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
Wouldn’t that logic extend to Jews who object to the song’s yearning to be an עם הופשי (secular people) — except that frum Jews usually avoid situations where this is an issue.
These people tink they’re in Chelm.
The correct analogy is that frum soldiers should not be expected to sing along. Rubinstein did not say that a non-Jew could walk out out or even remain sitting.
Why should a Jew, for that matter, sing lyrics written by an alcoholic zionist who said the Jews yearned for 2000 years to be a “free people”?
No, the correct analogy is that frum Jews should be able to walk out (beforehand, discreetly, out of respect) since being in that room is against their religion. Covering their ears is not even a partial solution, and is even more insulting than walking out.
But the specifics are besides the point. The point taken is that the Zionists want only two types of people in their State; Zionist post-Jews, and Zionist non-Jews; but not Jews.
Where is G-D name in the anthem of the state of ISRAEL?.Yisroel without Hashem?????????????????? Simple BG and company were aethiest not like G washington B,Ffranklin snd T.Jefferson who put H name into the Dec. of Ind. 4 times FOUR TIMES ,in the Dec. of Ind. of the Jewish sate NOT ONCE Thats why we dont sing it, it dosnt rep us .