Israel’s Supreme Court of Five Judges, sitting as the High Court of Justice, ruled that a Jew who becomes a convert to Christianity cannot claim to be regarded as a Jew by nationality. Four out of the five judges concurred, one dissenting.
They were rejecting the claim of a monk known as Brother Daniel, who was born and bred a Jew, but who became a convert to Christianity and a Carmelite Monk, to Israeli Citizenship as an immigrant under “The Law of the Return”, 1950, and to Registration in the Popular Register as a Jew by nationality.
The man, Oswald Rufeisen, had been in Israel since 1958 and had been offered naturalisation, but demanded recognition as a Jew under the 1950 law, which states, “Every Jew has a right to immigrate to Israel” . His second claim was refused on the ground that he did not meet the criterion laid down by Cabinet on July 20, 1958, namely, “A person who in good faith declares himself to be a Jew, and does not belong to another religion, shall be registered as a Jew”.
Mr. Justice Silberg, when delivering judgment, paid warm tribute to Rufeisen for having risked his life many times saving Jews from the Nazis, but said that gratitude could not be taken as a reason for profaning the meaning of the designation, “Jew”. After quoting various legal authorities, the Justice asked,
“What is the ordinary meaning of the term, “Jew” and does it include a Jew who has become a Christian?”
He answered as follows:
“The answer to this question, is, in my opinion, clear and categorical. A Jew who has become a Christian is not called ‘A Jew’.”
Current events illustrating the role of India as the Eastern Tarshish (1988)