For some countries it might seem strange. An entire country stopping in its tracks to applaud one of it citizens because they won an Olympic medal.
Dolgopyat received all the respect one could imagine: Prime Minister Naftali Bennett interrupted a cabinet meeting, called him, and had the entire cabinet applaud the new national hero.
“Thank you, Artem! You’ve made Blue and White history,” Bennett said, adding that the victory caused “great pride and excitement for all Israelis.”
And indeed, the appreciation came from the entire political spectrum. Even Ra’am’s Sai’d al-Kharoumi, an Arab MK, opened the meeting of the Knesset Interior Committee with “Mabrouk,” congratulations in Arabic.
But Dolgopyat’s historic achievement, unfortunately, also has a bitter side. As The Jerusalem Post’s Jeremy Sharon noted in Monday’s paper, despite being a national hero, Dolgopyat cannot marry in Israel, because he is not Jewish according to Halacha.
His mother, Angela, told 103FM radio station on Sunday that she is not Jewish, which means her children are also not Jewish according to the Orthodox version of Jewish law.
Artem’s father is Jewish, however, which made him eligible to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return.
It is no secret that a large group of people who lived in the former Soviet Union and assimilated there, moved to Israel in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s under the Law of Return. Many of them have one or two or even three Jewish grandparents but are not considered Jews according to Halacha. Some estimates claim there are about 350,000 Israelis with this “religious-less” status.
These people are good enough to serve in the IDF and even die for this country, but are not good enough to get married in Israel – or to be buried next to their brothers in arms in an IDF cemetery.
An interesting response to Dolgopyat’s victory was that of Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich, who wrote on Twitter: “A first Olympic medal that did not come out of chilul Shabbat [desecration of the Sabbath]. Finally I can join the celebration and the greetings,” he wrote, referring to the fact that previous medals won by Israelis in the Tokyo Games were in competitions that took place on Saturdays.
After criticism on social networks, he wrote: “The Shabbat is more important to the people of Israel [than winning an Olympic medal]. I am waiting for the day that our national pride will include the big values that we gave to the world before our achievements in sports.”
While this might appear like a separate issue, this arrogant and condescending comment is directly linked to the fact that a large percentage of the population in Israel do not receive full rights – but they are asked to sacrifice their lives, or be called upon when achieving international success.
Israel, the Jewish state, has created a political sect that sees religion as a political tool.
What those who won’t separate religion and state refuse to understand is that Judaism is not about degrading and humiliating our brothers and sisters.
For years, Judaism was a religion of question marks. The entire Talmud – the oral Torah – is a codex of discussions of questions. Judaism managed to survive thanks to our people’s ability to cast doubt and ask questions.
Only in the modern Jewish state did we create a sect that believes in exclamation marks. This group thinks it knows what to do, as well as what others should do.
An example of that was when Bennett established the coalition. Leaders of ultra-Orthodox parties called on him to “remove his kippah.”
Why did they refer to his Judaism? Why do they think they are more Jewish than him?
For years, Orthodox Judaism has held religion hostage in the Jewish state, ignoring other streams such as the Reform or Conservative movements.
Some Jews go to synagogue on Shabbat; others go to the beach. Some have a Jewish mother; others just have a Jewish father.
Israel needs to know how to accept everyone and treat them equally. Dolgopyat and everyone else with similar status need to be allowed to marry. Bennett – this is your moment to make an Olympic-size change.