Gershon German, an Israeli family court judge, refuses to apply the law governing family matters to same-sex relationships because “these relations conflicting with the values of the state as a Jewish state”.

In an excellent article published in Haaretz, Tzvia Greenfeld writes:

Do non-Sabbath observers also not deserve to have their day in court because their behavior conflicts with the values of the Jewish state? After all, the Torah states: “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a Sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord; whosoever doeth any work therein shall be put to death” (Exodus 35:2).

The punishment for homosexual activity in the Torah is no more stringent than that meted out for doing work on the Sabbath. Are most of the secular residents of the country not fit to appear before German’s court because their values apparently conflict with those of the Jewish state? It’s impossible to keep from wondering where exactly the honorable judge is living.

The issue of what exactly a Jewish state means in our time and what its values are supposed to be is an open question that the Israeli populace, which is casting about for its Jewish identity, has yet to clarify seriously for itself. We need a lot of inspiration for this large task, which needs to be carried out for the first time out of a sense of political independence and moral responsibility. One thing is certain: If Judge German thinks that discrimination, insults and a revocation of rights can be part of the meaning of a Jewish state in our time, then maybe we would be better off without it.