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From: hbb@houxt.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: Changing "Who is a Jew?" Law: Con & Holierness-than-the-other-guy
Message-ID: <467@houxt.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 30-Aug-84 09:04:12 EDT
Article-I.D.: houxt.467
Posted: Thu Aug 30 09:04:12 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 31-Aug-84 02:46:58 EDT
References: <206@mhuxm.UUCP>
Organization: ATT Information Systems, Holmdel NJ
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I have one comment to make about Joe Abeles's article and  it  is
regarding  the   conclusion   he   drew   from  the circumstances
surrounding the 'get' law of N.Y. State. Joe suggested that there
is  something  truly   wrong with a law (the 'Aguna' law, in this
case)  that  must  depend  upon  the secular authorities to bring
about  a  reasonable outcome for the parties involved.

I suggest that the fault does  not  rest  in  the  law,  but  the
circumstances  in  which  we  now  find ourselves. We live in the
United States and abide by its laws. But not to the exclusion  of
the  Jewish  Laws.  Unfortunately,  we  do  not have the judicial
authority that we  enjoyed  when   the   Sanhedrin   (the  Jewish
version of a 'Supreme  Court' that existed during the time of the
Temple in Israel) was in control.

This is  one  of  the  tragedies   of  the  exile  following  the
destruction  of  the Temple. The Jewish laws are forever, but our
ability to perform as a society has been significantly  curtailed
due to our predicament in the Diaspora.

Why do you think we consider the destruction  of  the  Temple  to
have  been  such  a  tragedy  and in every religious service make
some reference to  our  sorrow  and  our  hopes  for  its  speedy
rebuilding?
-- 
Harlan B. Braude
{most "backbone" sites}!houxt!hbb