Now that we’re approaching Purim, I thought I might pull my own ונהפוך הוא. Rather than explain why eliminating the Orthodox marriage monopoly would be a good thing, even for the Orthodox, I will lay out some arguments in favor of maintaining the monopoly without further comment (keep in mind that these arguments are from an Orthodox POV). After Purim, I will discuss them one by one and see whether they stand up to scrutiny.
Readers are invited to add their own arguments or debate these ones in the comments section.
Argument #1: Most people make use of the Rabbanut through inertia; the number of people actively interested in civil marriage is quite small. Break up the monopoly and the number of people getting a non-Orthodox wedding will skyrocket.
Argument #2: It prevents encroachment of the Conservative and Reform Movements into the country by denying them the ability to perform a critical religious service.
Argument #3: Cancellation of the monopoly will lead to an increase in halachically forbidden marriages among Jews (e.g., Kohen w/grusha, mamzerim)
Argument #4: Cancellation of the marriage monopoly will necessarily break the divorce monopoly and lead to an explosion of halachic mamzerim vadai.
Argument #5: Intermarriage will increase exponentially, either by Israelis bringing non-Jews from abroad or among the non-Jewish Russians
Purim Sameach, AIWAC
AIWAC
they all sound good to me. anyway, its part of the culture of israel, like a seder or yom kippur. its almost not religious. and seems like most everyone turns a little religious at lifecycle events.