Patrilineality Bullet Points

A PROPOSAL FOR PURIFYING ALL JEWS

(AND INCIDENTALLY, IF THERE HAPPEN TO BE ANY

PATRILINEALS, WE WILL INCLUDE THEM AS A MATTER OF COURSE)

אָמַר רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא, אַשְׁרֵיכֶם יִשְׂרָאֵל, לִפְנֵי מִי אַתֶּם מִטַּהֲרִין, וּמִי מְטַהֵר אֶתְכֶם, אֲבִיכֶם שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר, (יחזקאל לו) וְזָרַקְתִּי עֲלֵיכֶם מַיִם טְהוֹרִים וּטְהַרְתֶּם. וְאוֹמֵר, (ירמיה יז) מִקְוֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל יְיָ, מַה מִּקְוֶה מְטַהֵר אֶת הַטְּמֵאִים, אַף הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מְטַהֵר אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל:

Rabbi Akiva said: Fortunate are you, O Israel! Before whom do you purify
yourselves? And who purifies you? Your Father in heaven, as it says, “I shall
sprinkle pure water upon you, and you shall be pure.” (Ezekiel 36) And it says:
“The Lord is the mikveh of Israel” (Jeremiah 17)—just as a mikveh purifies the
impure, so does the Holy Blessed One purify Israel. (Mishnah Yoma 8:9)

(For source texts, see http://reblen.blogspot.com/2012/03/patrilineality-texts-hebrew-english.html)

(For full version of paper, see http://reblen.blogspot.com/2012/03/purification-of-all-jews-and.html)

PRINCIPLES

1. Pluralistic reciprocity.

· Though Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel differed on the laws of marriage, they married each other. [Text 1]

2. The irrevocability, past a reasonable point, of change of status to Jewish identity.

· Once there are children, even a dubious change of status cannot be challenged. [Texts 5,6,7]

3. The presumption of legitimacy of those conforming to Jewish practice.

· “Didn’t she immerse for her impurity? That counts, too!” [Texts 4, 7]

4. The coincidence of the requirements for conversion with the requirements for living a Jewish life.

· Circumcision — we assume

· Reception of mitzvot — we do Bar/Bat Mitzvah, don’t we?

· Immersion — the one we’re missing — let’s do it!

5. Jewish sub-groups with different outlooks on matters concerning both of them should find ways of acting that does not violate the principles or self-understanding of either.

· How this proposal can promote harmony among Jews of different persuasions