by Dina Kraft
JTA

May 15, 2008

TEL AVIV — A ruling by a fervently Orthodox rabbinic court in Israel is challenging the state-sanctioned conversion process, prompting thousands here to worry if their conversions to Judaism are at risk of being revoked.

The ruling also prompted objections by Diaspora organizations, including the (Orthodox) Rabbinical Council of America and the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, who feel the ruling stymies attempts to make the conversion process more tolerant and open — especially for immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

UJC MetroWest helped pay for an advertisement that was to appear in Israeli newspapers, declaring, “It is impossible to cut out an entire community from the Jewish People.”

The ruling by Jerusalem’s supreme rabbinic court cast doubt on the validity of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of conversions overseen by Rabbi Haim Druckman. Druckman is the state-appointed rabbi who oversees a system, instituted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, meant to reform a conversion process once seen as sluggish and dominated by Israeli Orthodoxy’s right wing.

The rabbinic court raised the possibility that conversions performed under the process could be annulled.

The ruling reflects the views of right-wing rabbis who want to block the conversions of anyone who does not comply with strict Jewish religious observance. It again has laid bare the politically charged ideological struggle between the “moderate” and more stringent branches of Orthodoxy within Israel’s state-sanctioned religious establishment.

The ruling prompted an emergency Knesset hearing on May 6, and public outrage and confusion both in Israel and the Diaspora.

“Our phone has been ringing off the hook with people who have gone through conversions who are deeply concerned about their status and potential converts who are trying to figure out if this whole process is worth the effort,” said Rabbi Seth Farber, who runs the Jewish Life Information Center, or ITIM, which runs a 24-hour hotline for those seeking assistance on Jewish issues in Israel.

UJC MetroWest, which has its own Religious Pluralism Subcommittee, supports the work of ITIM, at one point helping fund a conversion manual for immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

“We believe that the State of Israel needs to find an agreed-upon way to convert the mass number of halachically non-Jewish [immigrants], mainly from the FSU, who wish to become full Jews,” said Amir Shacham, who heads UJC MetroWest’s Israel office in Jerusalem. “We were hoping that the special conversion courts headed by Rabbi Druckman would provide the proper response and therefore were highly disappointed by the recent decision of the high rabbinical court. We were happy to see many tolerant Orthodox organizations and leaders in Israel and in the U.S. who spoke out against this decision.

“We think that the Knesset and the Government will have to intervene in order to avoid a rift within the Israeli society and Diaspora Jewry.”

Farber emphasized the need to bring Israelis who are not Jewish according to Jewish law, or Halacha, into the Jewish fold —especially immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

“The ultra-Orthodox, who don’t see conversion as a possible solution, are willing to sacrifice on the altar of Jewish history not only those non-halachic Jews but even legitimate converts who would be accepted by any standard,” said Farber, a Modern Orthodox rabbi. “They are essentially engaging in an anti-traditional and, in my opinion, an anti-halachic battle.”

In New York, the RCA, an organization representing Modern Orthodox rabbis in North America, issued a stinging rebuke to the court decision.

A statement from the group said the Israeli rabbinic court ruling — and its language and tone — “are entirely beyond the pale of acceptable halachic practice, violate numerous Torah laws regarding converts and their families, create a massive desecration of God’s name, insult outstanding rabbinic leaders and halachic scholars in Israel, and are a reprehensible cause of widespread conflict and animosity within the Jewish people in Israel and beyond.”

Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the chief Sephardic rabbi who has jurisdiction over Israel’s religious courts, reportedly has tried to quell the fears of the decision’s opponents. His office issued a statement that the ruling would not signify a new precedent in religious law.

Rabbi Nahum Eisenstein, a fervently Orthodox former rabbinical court judge aligned with those in favor of the stricter interpretation of conversion law, said the matter was not one of invalidating so-called “valid” conversions but of nullifying those that were granted erroneously — when prospective converts tricked rabbinical court judges into thinking they would live an Orthodox lifestyle.

“If this commitment never took place, the whole process was never valid,” he said.

Eisenstein takes issue with the notion that conversion to Judaism should be a tool for nation building.

“Conversion is a halachic issue,” he said. “It cannot be used to solve a demographic problem in the country. That’s a big mistake.”

Critics said the court ruling was part of a trend at some marriage registry offices — overseen by the fervently Orthodox-dominated Chief Rabbinate — to cast doubt on the validity of conversions done under the auspices of the Conversion Authority.

Some marriage registry offices, including those in the cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon, Petach Tikva, and Rehovot, reportedly question one-time converts about their observance levels when dealing with marriage or divorce proceedings, according to Farber.

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The un-converted?

What’s new: The Supreme Rabbinic Court in Jerusalem threatened to revoke conversions to Judaism performed under a state-sanctioned process meant to streamline the process and wrest control from Israeli Orthodoxy’s right wing.

Who’s complaining: Thousands of people, including immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who were converted under the recent process, and their supporters in Israel and the Diaspora.

Quote: “Even years after living as a Jew people are now being told they are not Jewish. It’s a terrible thing.” — Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein, chairman of Tzohar, a Modern Orthodox rabbinical group

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