Artem Dolgopyat
Posted on 08/02/2021 2:26:12 PM PDT by sockmonkey
Artem Dolgopyat, Israeli Olympic gold medalist, is not Jewish according to Jewish law and would therefore not be allowed to legally marry in Israel.
Artem Dolgopyat, Israel’s second-ever Olympic gold medalist, cannot get married in the State of Israel, his mother said Sunday.
Dolgopyat, who won an Olympic gold medal in the finals of the men’s floor exercise at the 2020 Tokyo Games on Sunday, is not Jewish according to Jewish law.
His mother, Angela, is not Jewish, she told Radio 103FM on Sunday, meaning her children are not Jewish according to Orthodox law. Artem’s father is Jewish, she said.
Israel has no provision for civil marriage, and citizens can only marry through established religious institutions, such as the Chief Rabbinate, which will only marry members of the same religion. Israelis like Dolgopyat who are not considered Jewish according to Orthodox halacha do not have a way to get married in the State of Israel.
The Dolgopyat family made aliyah from the Ukraine to give Artem better opportunities to progress in his discipline.
Asked by the radio interviewers when Artem might give her a grandchild, Angela said he has a girlfriend from Belarus with whom he has been living for three years. But “the state won’t let him get married,” she said, referring to the lack of civil marriage in the country.
Some 9,000 couples every year register civil marriages performed abroad with the Population and Immigration Authority. However, such couples have not been able to travel abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving many without recourse.
Angela said it was difficult for Artem to travel because of the demanding requirements of his training.
Her comments sparked a debate on social media over the issue.
Labor MK Gilad Kariv, a former director of the Reform Movement in Israel, tweeted: “The right to get married in your country or in accordance with your conscience is not connected to Olympic medals or any other achievement,” but rather something that every country should enable for all its citizens.
“It is a basic right, or in short, Artem, you, a champion, will continue to bring medals, and we will continue to fight strongly to bring you free choice in marriage and divorce,” Kariv wrote.
Although the Labor Party and the Meretz Party, both members of the governing coalition, are both in favor of civil marriage, their coalition agreements with Yesh Atid merely stipulate that the sides work to advance “a solution for partnership status for couples who cannot get married.”
The coalition agreement between Yesh Atid and Yamina, which takes precedence over all the other agreements, does not include any clauses about advancing civil marriage. In addition, it says no reforms will be enacted to the current status quo on religion-and-state issues unless there is agreement within the coalition to make such changes.
Being named Dolgopyat pretty much excludes you from marriage.
Jewishness is passed on through the mother, because you are not always certain of the father’s identity.
It’s like a modern day Romeo and Juliet. Hopefully the ending is nicer in real life.
Israel is on the whole a great country, but in some respects it’s a mess, and marriage laws is one of those respects.
Oh my, humblegunner actually made a funny!
Is it true that a couple — non-practicing Jews, even atheists — can be married?
Just go to Las Vegas
A quarter of the Israeli population are Arabs or other ethnicities. How do they legally marry? Sounds more like Muzzie law than Jewish law.
Aren’t they the ones who promote gay marriage or marrying your dog?
*** Is it true that a couple — non-practicing Jews, even atheists — can be married? ***
Israeli law does not accommodate civil marriages, and the state only accepts marriages performed through the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate or existing institutions of Islam, Christianity and other recognized religions. This essentially excludes matrimony of those with no religious affiliation and mixed couples.
Article is a bit disingenuous it seems.
No one can get a state marriage it seems.
Interesting.
Maybe the U.S. should do this.
"Israel has no provision for civil marriage, and citizens can only marry through established religious institutions, such as the Chief Rabbinate," -- so Muslims would get married by Muslim clerics, and Christians would get married by their won clerics.
In Israel, only Orthodox rabbis are allowed to conduct weddings among Jews
The US? Under fraud pedojoe green gobbler bidet, Artem will be awarded a gold star sewn into his jacket.
I wonder if a Christian minister could marry them? Or if they both have to be Christians for this to be allowed?
Difficult to have a mom named Rahab, Tamar or Ruth, and still be Jewish, I guess….
What a stupid example of rabbinic Judaism… non Biblical.
I guess, he could officially covert to Judaism. Then he would be allowed to marry by rabbi. Apparently that’s a long process, but anybody can convert to Judaism eventually.
But you understood the Rahab, Tamar and Ruth comment, right?
All non-Jewish women who gave the line of King David and of course King Jesus.
A friend’s wife converted so they could immigrate to Israel. He was already an Israeli citizen and had returned to perform his military services, then moved back to the US. His wife’s conversion was a huge deal. Then, when they got there Israel refused to recognize the conversion because the rabbi had an out of wedlock affair. So the rabinate wanted it redone. She had to learn Hebrew and a the tenants of Jewdaism. The Chicago Rabi had to do something, i can’t recall what...but the process is extensive. America should do something similar with the people flooding in.
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