“Be Free” Urges Secular Weddings in Israel

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Israel’s anti-Orthodox “Be Free Israel” organization aired a radio commercial urging people to boycott the rabbinate and have egalitarian weddings. The ad targeted older Jews who are more likely to discourage such a measure. Last year, Be Free Israel opened a special ceremonies department to conduct secular ceremonies. It also collaborates with the Reform and Conservative movements.

“Our recommendation is that they sign a legal agreement here in Israel providing them with almost all the same rights as married couples, and such agreements exist,” Be Free executive director Mickey Gitzin said regarding Israel’s non-recognition of such marriages.

“If that’s not good enough for them, then as a last resort, we recommend they go abroad.”

Israel accepts any marriage ceremony done overseas.

Be Free Israel claims that one in five Israelis marry outside the rabbinate, including five hundred who used their secular ceremonies department this year. Conservative rabbis claim to perform two to three hundred ceremonies yearly and Reform rabbis another thousand. Many such weddings involve couples whom the rabbinate would not marry due to problems in their conversion or lineage.

David Steger – Matzav.com Israel


4 COMMENTS

  1. Can you imagine this happening in Chutz La’aretz: The Chasan and Kallah being told who will officiate at the Chasunah?

  2. Could the “Be Free” Movement realize that G-d is not a war statue looking for the married canopy to be the wager on the world that has no fate?

    G-d is a soul we must know in our sanity and hope. Being with a proper rabbi is the holy of human value for a marriage.

    The sadness is never the hurt fate being the scared hope of just the bad hope of a bad thinking process for human freedom. Be Free is more like Being Fraudulent. this is a scary eager hate of the value of keeping Israel Strong.

    Terrible ease for the toeivah to put more harm forward.

  3. They are not being told who will officiate. They are given certain criteria for who is qualified – just like in Chutz La’aretz.

    • The problem is that the decision on “who is qualified” is made, for the most part, by Haredim. The vast majority of Jews, including those from the CHARDAL and National Religious communities, are not interested in having those decisions made for them by Haredim.

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