WHO IS A JEW?

THE CASE FOR BETA ISRAEL I think Israel has an obligation to prove that it is not a racist state If everyone was blond-haired and had blue eyes, they would bring them. MazorBahaina. This statement is in response to a recent decision by the Israeli government to delay the immigration of a large number of Ethiopian Jews. The obvious allusion to Nazi Aryanism may seem extreme, but the position of the Israeli chief Rabbinate in regards to Beta Israel has been intolerant at best. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that a recent bill, proposed by MK David Rotem, threatens to "tear apart the Jewish people. "The bill would restrict which diaspora communities qualify as Jews under the Law of Return. The Law entitles those of Jewish decent to citizenship and protection from persecution. However, Israeli law is moving to establish the Ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate as the sole Jewish conversion authority. Conversion will be recognized only if the convert accepts the Torah and agrees to live by the Ultra-Orthodox interpretation of the Talmud. This unprecedented stipulation would effectively exclude the Conservative and Reform communities of the diaspora. The Rotem bill raises the age-old question of Who is a Jew? In 1984, the Jews of Ethiopia were faced with a similar threat to their Jewish identity. The Ashkenazi Rabbinate placed a Halakhicsafek (doubt) over the Jewishness (wtf is Jewishness) of Beta Israel. The Rabbinate justified its skepticism by appealing to Beta Israels lack of Talmudic knowledge, and doubt as to their ancient Jewish origin. Christian elements in their religious practice have lead certain scholars to conclude that Beta Israel are the decedents of 15th century Christian converts to Judaism (Quirin 1988,89-104; Shelemay 1986, 372-404; Kaplan 1987, 107-24).Due to extreme international pressure, the chief Rabbinate ruled that Beta Israel were Jews, descended from the tribe of Dann. Though this classification could be considered discriminatory in itself, it was considered as preferable to leaving Beta Israel to the hands of an ant-Semitic Ethiopian political regime. On arrival in Haeretz Yisrael , members of the Beta Israel community were forced to undergo a conversion process before being considered Jewish by the state. Beta Israel couples were made to remarry under Ashkenazi guidelines to prevent Mamzera(bastardization) and other genealogical threats to Israel(Kaplan 1988, vol.27, 357-70).The recent Rotem bill is evidence that the Ultra-Orthodox Rabbinate consider themselves to have the only legitimate claim to Judaism.