From Moabian Ruth to Norly the Filipino: Intermarriage in Israel.

Inter-religious marriages have become a significant phenomenon in Israeli society. While most of intermarriages are of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, some are composed of a native Israeli Jew and a Non-Jew immigrant. The couples of the latter kind embody in their everyday lives an inter-religious as well as inter-cultural and inter-national familial existence. This paper is based on 26 interviews conducted with 13 such couples and on a review of the legislation and rulings that deal with the legal mechanisms of joining the Israeli and the Jewish collectives. The legal framework and the personal experiences shaped in its shadow tell the story of the gap between the possibility to join the Jewish collective in the Biblical times and current constrains imposed on immigrants who come to Israel to join their spouse. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript