January 12, 2009 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1)
Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
Rabbinical Court Rules Emil Fackenheim’s Son is not a Jew
Click here for original Hebrew article (www.nrg.co.il)
By Shai Doron www.nrg.co.il January 8, 2009
[Please note that the English translation below is only a summary and is not a direct translation of the original Hebrew article, jk]
HAT TIP Shmarya Rosenberg www.failedmessiah.com
The Jerusalem Rabbinical Court has retroactively annulled the conversion of Yossi Fackenheim, son of noted philospher Emil Fackenheim.
Fackenheim was converted in an Orthodox conversion in Canada 29 years ago as an infant. He lived his entire life as a Jew in all respects and at one stage immigrated to Israel and later was married by the Rabbinate.
Recently, Fackenheim and his wife’s relationship began to deteriorate and they decided - by mutual consent - to divorce.
The couple turned to the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court in order to process their divorce and arrange a ‘get’.
Thereafter, the Rabbinical Court President (Av Beit Din Rabbi Yissachar Dov Hagar) discovered that Fackenheim was converted as an infant and began to ask Fackenheim about his observance of Shabbat, kashrut and mitzvot.
Upon realizing that Fackenheim is not an Orthodox Jew and does not keep Shabbat, the judge decided that there is no need for a ‘get’ since the husband is not Jewish.
Fackenheim's conversion was retroactively annulled and it was declared that his marriage was never a valid marriage.
The couple insisted on receiving an official document of divorce from the court in order to register it with the Interior Ministry.
It was only after the demands of the wife’s attorney and formal complaints to the Ombudsman of the Israeli Judiciary that Rabbi Hagar agreed to arrange a ‘get’, but left unchanged his determination that the husband is not Jewish and Fackenheim's name was added to the list of individuals prevented from marrying Jews by the Rabbinate.
"I am shocked and angered by the actions of Rabbi Hagar," says Fackenheim.
"I am a full Jew, I grew up as a Jew in a Jewish home instilled with Jewish values for my entire life.
My father, Prof. Emil Fackenheim, of blessed memory, was a concentration camp survivor who devoted his entire life to healing the wounds caused by the Holocaust and underscoring the continued presence of the Jewish People and preventing assimilation.
"I felt humiliated; I felt that my father's teachings were trampled on. My case testifies to arbitrary, unprecedented strictness, and injustice cries out."
Fackenheim is considering what steps to take in order to fight the court decision.
January 12, 2009 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1)
Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
