The laws of bastardy are written in the Bible yet no one seems to have noticed its meaning and the fact that the Jews (the Haredim, because the rest of the so-called Jews dont practice those laws and therefore cannot be defined as Biblical Jews but something else, maybe Jewish-descendant) are living by them. Bastardy is a concept the Pagan, Christian, Muslim and even the Buddhists ignore. In Argentina it was legally abolished in 1810 and the concept is practically unknown. In Judaism, bastard is not someone born out of marriage, but someone who is forbidden to marry into the Jewish community. Bastards are born when the mother is married to someone else than the biological father, when marriages and divorces were done imperfectly (that is, not according to the halacha), when the father and the mother are related - say, brother and sister, etc. Since bastards cannot marry according to Jewish laws, they and their descendants are cut off the Jewish people (for several generations). Since paternity is defined according to the halacha and is extremely imprecise, many are suspected of being bastards, and they have difficulty to marry into the Jewish community. Orthodox rabbis (and in Israel most are) will not marry them, so they live in concubinage or marry in a Reform or non-religious ceremony, which has the same effect. Those suspected of bastardy are in much worse position than honest-to-God goyim (Christians) because Christians can convert to Judaism and then are fully accepted as Jews, but it is almost impossible to erase and clean a rumor or some unclear entrance in the register of marriages and divorces. Christians, therefore, cannot be bastards according to Jewish law and the concept is not applied to them.
By the way, the main (may be the only) problem Orthodox Jews have with Reform Judaism is not that they dont eat kasher or drive to the synagogue on Shabbat, but that dont follow the Jewish laws on mamzerut. If Reform Jews dont marry and dont divorce following halachic rules, and they are certainly suspected of that, they are not "marriable" and they are cut off the main core of Judaism. They can be excellent fellows and generous donors, they themselves and the antisemites may believe they are Jews, but a Haredi will hesitate to marry his son or daughter to them.
I'm reading a book on the Falasha (Ethiopian Jews). Chief Rabbi Herzog and others decided that the Falasha are not Jewish because they never followed the Jewish laws of marriage. Rabbi Eliyahu decided that the after they are converted (symbolic circumcision) they are, and they were brought to Israel. Many still doubt the decision and will not marry an Ethiopian. Since the Falasha, and Ethiopian Christians too, follow the original Biblical rules, I have no idea who is right.
Anyway, my point is that the State of Israel, the "Jewish" State, is combatting its Haredi (godfearing, faithful) minority with the same ideological fervor as Napoleon's French Republic and Czar Alexander's Holy Russia. It is a paradox, and I personally am unsure where I stand, being confused as always.
Reference: wiccancommunity.blogspot.com