The principles of the law of succession of the State of Israel are assembled in the Succession Law, 1965. This statute, consisting of eight chapters and 161 sections, constitutes a first attempt at codification of Israeli civil law. The statute was intended to end the recourse to the conglomeration of laws previously applied to a person's succession. We would emphasize in this context the provision of sec. 150 of the statute, which states: “In matters of succession, Article 46 of the Palestine Order-in-Council, 1922–47, shall not apply”.

The process of conversion to Judaism is paralleled to the acceptance of the Torah by the Jewish people at Sinai. In Jewish sources, the Sinaitic experience is viewed as a mass conversion of the Jewish people. The essence of this conversion was the acceptance of the commandments as binding upon the Jewish people. Similarly, the essence of a Gentile's conversion to Judaism in later generations, is his acceptance of the yoke of the commandments as binding upon him. In fact, the Talmudic sources go so far as to state that the Jewish people at Sinai underwent the same process as a proselyte: circumcision, immersion in a mikve and the bringing of a burnt-offering. In short, traditionally, the essence of conversion was the acceptance of the mitzvot.

As our subject is the secularization of Greek Family Law, we may presume that this part of our legal system is not as yet secular or at least not exclusively so. Indeed, the strong influence of religious conceptions, particularly those of the Greek Orthodox Christian Church is an historical feature of Greek Family Law. This tradition is explained by the close relations in general between Church and State in Greece, relations which are rooted in the Byzantine era. The determinant importance of the Church in Greek society reached its peak during the period of the Ottoman occupation (1453-1821), when there was no Greek State and the Orthodox Church was its substitute. I think that we may find a parallel here between the Greek people and their religion and the Jewish people and their religion. After the national revolution of 1821, and with the regaining of their independence, the Greek people were organized in a secular state, retaining, however, important features of a religious character, in accordance with the nation's historical tradition.

The following is a survey of major judgments of the Supreme Court of Israel published in (1986) 40 Piskei Din, vols. (i) and (ii), directly following upon our last digest, which appeared in (1987) 22 Is.L.R. 219.

One central decision published in the volumes presently reviewed, that of Zeitsov v. Katz (1986) 40(ii) P.D. 85, has not been included in this survey. The decision concerns the suit of a child born with a genetic disease, against a doctor whose allegedly negligent diagnosis led to the child's conception. This case has been discussed at length in an article which appeared previously in the Israel Law Review, and to which our readers are referred.