Express lane at the Jerusalem Rabbinut February 06, 2008 |
The other week Doron and I had to open our "marriage file" at the Jerusalem Rabbinut (essentially the government's religious council), an anachronistic, bureaucratic throwback well known to cause many a couple no end of misery.
The problem was, they had been on strike for weeks and there didn't seem to be any foreseeable end to it either. My first question (and perhaps yours as well) was, "what the heck were they striking about?" God??
Anyway, thanks to some good old fashioned Israeli protexia (inside help!) we were told that there was going to be a half day hiatus for the strike and that we should be at their offices at 9am the following morning.
And right on the dot of nine, there we were, with every bit of official paperwork I have ever been issued (bar perhaps my 5th grade school report) in the hope that I would have every document they could possibly ask for. On Doron's side, he had it easy. As a Jerusalem-native with parents who also registered their marriage at the same office some 40 years earlier, he was basically a shoe-in.
I, on the other hand, was expecting the worse. I was born in Hong Kong to a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father, which although according to Jewish law, makes me 100% Jewish, still might have caused problems with the Rabbinut.
Israel's Law of Return enables all Jews with at least one Jewish grandparent to make aliyah to Israel. The fact is, according to halacha (Jewish law) you can have three Jewish grandparents and STILL not be Jewish (which personally I think is insane). The only thing that counts is the mother.
I had with me two letters from Rabbis in Australia. The first had been prepared for me when I made aliyah as my "proof of Jewishness". It was signed by an Orthodox Melbourne rabbi who had been connected to my mother's family for many years. The second letter I got from my own Rabbi in Sydney as an extra precaution in case there were any problems with the first letter.
The Rabbinut here holds a list of "accepted" overseas Rabbis - that is, a very specific, very short list of the names of rabbis whose name is accepted as being reputable and therefore whose word can be trusted. Thankfully, Australia's Orthodox community is well-respected here in Israel and by some small miracle, BOTH my letters were signed by "approved" rabbis.
Once this had been established, the whole thing was really a very painless exercise. We were shuffled around a bit, from one room to another (but so is everyone else). Pay your fee here, meet with the Rabbi here, meet with the Rabbanit (Rebbetzin) here...
Less than an hour after we walked through the doors we were done, approved and officially stamped! The only things left to do to complete the process are for me to complete a minimum requirement of "Kallah (bride) lessons" - about 4 hours worth I think.
Doron can do "Chatan (Groom) lessons" but it is optional for men (I will say no more lest I start to jump on my feminist soapbox!). Doron also needed two (male) witnesses to testify that he is a) Jewish and b) single.
Finally, a day before the wedding I need to go to the mikveh (the ritual bath) and then take the receipt with me to give to the Rabbi at the wedding.
It really is quite a process and although I knew the basics of it before I found myself involved personally, it is still an incredible eye-opener (especially doing it all here in Jerusalem).
Anyway, with this whole Rabbinut thing behind us, we have really been able to relax and get on with things.
The most exciting thing to have happened in the last week or so is the arrival of my dress fabric from China. I was sent via international courier and arrived in less than three days. It is truly exquisite and I can't wait for the dress to start taking shape. I am going to be meeting with the dress designer in a couple of weeks to give her the material and take new measurements so she can get going with everything.
One of my oldest friends in the world is coming all the way from Atlanta, Georgia for our wedding which is just amazing. I wrote about Lisa when I was in New York last year when we had our first reunion in about 10 years. We grew up together in Hong Kong and we've been friends since we were about eight years old.
As many of you know, Jerusalem was covered in about 15cms of snow last week. Waking up to a white blanket of snow outside our window was just magical. Pictures can't fully capture it, but here are a couple of pics!
The view from our balcony
Me outside the front of our apartment building
I wanted to write this blog some time ago, but I found myself not being able to write anything once I received the tragic news of the death of my friend Dave Burnett, an incredible young man who died at just 22 years of age.
Dave and I worked together in the AUJS (Australasian Union of Jewish Students) office in Sydney for almost two years. Dave was just in Israel leading a 6 week Academy Birthright group of Aussie kids and then traveled on to Petra for a holiday. While standing on a lookout platform at the ancient historical site, the platform collapsed under him and he fell 20 metres below to an almost instant death.
When I found out what had happened (just hours after he died it turned out) I felt the breath literally leave my body. Shock turned to utter grief and even now, two weeks on, I find it hard to believe that he is no longer with us.
Dave was an inspiration to all those around him. He infected you with his larrikin sense of humour and his passion for Israel and the Jewish people was deeply touching and admirable.
I'll miss you Dave. You were one hell of an amazing guy.
The problem was, they had been on strike for weeks and there didn't seem to be any foreseeable end to it either. My first question (and perhaps yours as well) was, "what the heck were they striking about?" God??
Anyway, thanks to some good old fashioned Israeli protexia (inside help!) we were told that there was going to be a half day hiatus for the strike and that we should be at their offices at 9am the following morning.
And right on the dot of nine, there we were, with every bit of official paperwork I have ever been issued (bar perhaps my 5th grade school report) in the hope that I would have every document they could possibly ask for. On Doron's side, he had it easy. As a Jerusalem-native with parents who also registered their marriage at the same office some 40 years earlier, he was basically a shoe-in.
I, on the other hand, was expecting the worse. I was born in Hong Kong to a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father, which although according to Jewish law, makes me 100% Jewish, still might have caused problems with the Rabbinut.
Israel's Law of Return enables all Jews with at least one Jewish grandparent to make aliyah to Israel. The fact is, according to halacha (Jewish law) you can have three Jewish grandparents and STILL not be Jewish (which personally I think is insane). The only thing that counts is the mother.
I had with me two letters from Rabbis in Australia. The first had been prepared for me when I made aliyah as my "proof of Jewishness". It was signed by an Orthodox Melbourne rabbi who had been connected to my mother's family for many years. The second letter I got from my own Rabbi in Sydney as an extra precaution in case there were any problems with the first letter.
The Rabbinut here holds a list of "accepted" overseas Rabbis - that is, a very specific, very short list of the names of rabbis whose name is accepted as being reputable and therefore whose word can be trusted. Thankfully, Australia's Orthodox community is well-respected here in Israel and by some small miracle, BOTH my letters were signed by "approved" rabbis.
Once this had been established, the whole thing was really a very painless exercise. We were shuffled around a bit, from one room to another (but so is everyone else). Pay your fee here, meet with the Rabbi here, meet with the Rabbanit (Rebbetzin) here...
Less than an hour after we walked through the doors we were done, approved and officially stamped! The only things left to do to complete the process are for me to complete a minimum requirement of "Kallah (bride) lessons" - about 4 hours worth I think.
Doron can do "Chatan (Groom) lessons" but it is optional for men (I will say no more lest I start to jump on my feminist soapbox!). Doron also needed two (male) witnesses to testify that he is a) Jewish and b) single.
Finally, a day before the wedding I need to go to the mikveh (the ritual bath) and then take the receipt with me to give to the Rabbi at the wedding.
It really is quite a process and although I knew the basics of it before I found myself involved personally, it is still an incredible eye-opener (especially doing it all here in Jerusalem).
Anyway, with this whole Rabbinut thing behind us, we have really been able to relax and get on with things.
The most exciting thing to have happened in the last week or so is the arrival of my dress fabric from China. I was sent via international courier and arrived in less than three days. It is truly exquisite and I can't wait for the dress to start taking shape. I am going to be meeting with the dress designer in a couple of weeks to give her the material and take new measurements so she can get going with everything.
One of my oldest friends in the world is coming all the way from Atlanta, Georgia for our wedding which is just amazing. I wrote about Lisa when I was in New York last year when we had our first reunion in about 10 years. We grew up together in Hong Kong and we've been friends since we were about eight years old.
As many of you know, Jerusalem was covered in about 15cms of snow last week. Waking up to a white blanket of snow outside our window was just magical. Pictures can't fully capture it, but here are a couple of pics!
The view from our balcony
Me outside the front of our apartment building***
Postscript:
Dave Burnett z'l
I wanted to write this blog some time ago, but I found myself not being able to write anything once I received the tragic news of the death of my friend Dave Burnett, an incredible young man who died at just 22 years of age.
Dave and I worked together in the AUJS (Australasian Union of Jewish Students) office in Sydney for almost two years. Dave was just in Israel leading a 6 week Academy Birthright group of Aussie kids and then traveled on to Petra for a holiday. While standing on a lookout platform at the ancient historical site, the platform collapsed under him and he fell 20 metres below to an almost instant death.
When I found out what had happened (just hours after he died it turned out) I felt the breath literally leave my body. Shock turned to utter grief and even now, two weeks on, I find it hard to believe that he is no longer with us.
Dave was an inspiration to all those around him. He infected you with his larrikin sense of humour and his passion for Israel and the Jewish people was deeply touching and admirable.
I'll miss you Dave. You were one hell of an amazing guy.