Former Meretz Chairman Prof. Amnon Rubinstein will head the
Advisory Committee for the assessment of the State of
Israel's policy on immigration. The committee was appointed
by Interior Minister Ophir Pines to propose an immigration
policy and to assess the relevant legislation, including the
Law of Return, the Citizenship Law and the Entry to Israel
Law.
In reaction, Rabbi Moshe Gafni told Yated Ne'eman that
Rubinstein's appointment poses a major threat since his
stances are well known and he would not hesitate to present
proposals damaging to Kerem Beis Yisroel. However,
Rabbi Gafni noted, clearly the coalition agreement between
Ariel Sharon and his government and United Torah Jewry
representatives does not leave room for the committee's
decisions to harm the status quo in the State of Israel.
A recent report in Ha'aretz reveals that in his past
articles Rubinstein did not spare the Population
Administration from his criticism of its policy against
immigrants who are not Jewish according to halochoh but who
serve in the IDF and speak Hebrew. But that is just a drop in
the bucket.
When Rubinstein was named Education Minister in the Rabin-
Meretz government, the Hebrew edition of Yated Ne'eman
printed a "reminder" of the stuff he is made of, things worth
repeating now following his recent appointment as committee
chairman.
Rubinstein headed the original Shinui party that formed after
the Yom Kippur War. In his book Nisayon Politi Mesuyam
("A Political Experiment of Sorts") he explained that, in the
eyes of the party founders, even the Labor Party was
considered too moderate in the struggle against the religious
parties and was suspected of "capitulating" to their
demands.
"Shinui was started as a challenge to the ruling party, the
Maarach. We saw with growing concern how the Maarach
government was surrendering to political violence," he
recounts. "We considered it `sinful' to hurriedly surrender
to religious coercion!"
Based on this approach, negotiations were held regarding a
union between Shinui and Meretz, based on the two parties'
common agendas.
Over the years, Shinui's ranks have been filled with
notorious anti-religious combatants such as Avraham Poraz,
Mordechai Wirshovsky, Avraham Paritzy, Yehoshua Porat and
today's successor, Tomi Lapid. Rubinstein was the party
leader and the one who set the party line and fighting
spirit.
"The organizational solidarity that focused around
Rubinstein's personality was what guaranteed the
organization's continued existence and made it indispensable
to this day," writes Prof. Yonatan Shapiro in The Shinui
Movement — From Protest to Party. The book includes
the party's first platform speech, which calls for a struggle
against "religious coercion" and gives legitimacy to
heretical "streams" of Judaism.
"The right of various religious streams in each of the
religions—such as the Conservative and Reform streams
in Judaism—to organize should be recognized. Today
these streams are discriminated against in matters related to
providing religious services and representation on the
religious councils." The platform also calls for
"guaranteeing the right to marry" for pesulei chitun
and recognition of marriage among various religions.
In his books, Rubinstein reveals himself to be a man with
dangerous, heretical views. The only thing separating him
from his left-wing, anti-religious colleagues is his relaxed
appearance. His academic, cultured approach to uprooting
religion stands in contrast to the vociferous style employed
by Lapid & Co. This deceptive conduct merely makes him all
the more dangerous, because Rubinstein's innocent appearance
belies his schemes, which are liable to ensnare unknowing
Jews.
Rubinstein's numerous books and articles provide insights
into his conceptual thinking and his aspirations in the
public sphere.
In his book Lihiyot Am Chofshi ("To be a Free Nation")
Rubinstein devotes an entire chapter to the claim "Judaism is
filled with pronouncements against non-Jews," which
contradicts his aim toward universal humanism. He decries
fulfilling all of the halochos intended to separate Am
Yisroel from the nations, saying "he who tries to
transfer these elements to the fabric of life in the Jewish
State disavows its goal."
Rubinstein tries to formulate a distorted thesis that holds,
"the overwhelming majority of halachos against non-Jews were
devised in the Diaspora" due to persecution by goyim
while "the State of Israel was founded in order to eliminate
this abnormal state" of persecution, thus there is no need to
observe these halochos.
"He who wants to import and preserve halochos created under
ghetto conditions of the persecuted Jew, intends to create a
new ghetto here," writes Rubinstein. "The power of coercion
placed in the hands of the Jewish State destroyed the basis
for the worldview created in the ghetto."
Yet Rubinstein could not rest until he had written that under
the new set of circumstances in the State of Israel, "the
traditional halochos of Judaism take on a grave and frightful
meaning."
In his opinion, he continues, in the new reality, marriage
between Jews and non-Jews should not be prohibited(!) He
demands that religious Judaism permit intermarriage and if
not, "then we are authorized to at least demand that in the
legal system of the State of Israel and its laws there will
be no place for any halochoh that differentiates between
people based on origin or race. We too have principles and we
too have beliefs and we too have the right to have them
honored."
In another chapter of the book, Rubinstein provides an
explanation for his approach of preserving "tradition" in
certain areas even among Jews who totally deny the Torah and
Jewish faith. The Jew who is severed from all mitzvas can
hold a Passover Seder and spend Yom Kippur fasting and
praying without lying to himself, explains Rubinstein, for
"the religious folklore [sic] has meaning that goes beyond
religion" and helps to promote "culture" and "national
preservation."
In The Constitutional Law of the State of Israel,
Rubinstein discusses marriage law in depth, calling for
recognition of civil marriage and divorce. He tried every
possible way to implement his conceptual approach. Two
decades ago in the party organ Leshem Shinui,
Rubinstein recounts his "achievements" as Communications
Minister and reports how he expressed his worldview even in
the Philatelic Service, saying that he then planned to issue
the first stamps in Israel's history that honor Christmas and
the Reform and Conservative communities.
In 5747 (1987) he was at the vanguard of the battle against a
bill designed to block Reform conversions by vesting the head
of the religious authority with the power to approve
conversions. Rubinstein said the bill was acceptable to him
for the Muslims, the Druse and the Christians, but not for
Am Yisroel, where there are "varying interpretations
of Judaism." He called for the withdrawal of "the shameful
proposal," adding, "I cannot imagine a greater blow to the
declaration of independence, freedom of conscience and
freedom of religion."
A glance at these alarming quotes makes one immediately rise
up in opposition against the decision to have Rubinstein
involved in an issue as sensitive as immigration policy, but
to Interior Minister Pines this is the very reason why
Rubinstein was chosen.
