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| Hundreds of rabbis protest conversion reform (Hamodia) |
One of the saddest results of the Communist revolution that created the Soviet Union back in the early twentieth century is that they were anti religion – with a particular emphasis against Judaism. (What else is new!)
There was almost no Jewish education in the FSU and observance was extremely rare although a few brave Jews did so secretly to the best of their ability. As such most Jews lost their Judaism. Many intermarried.
Those intermarriages produced a generation or two of non Jewish children in about half those cases. When a Jewish man marries a non Jewish woman, the children are not Jewish at all. Not even slightly. And yet in many cases were raised that way and believed they were Jewish. When the FSU collapsed they were freed up to immigrate to Israel. Which many of them did. They became fully integrated into Israeli society. Most of them were happy with their new lives as Jewish but secular citizens of Israel. Or so they thought.
That there were so many immigrants like this is why this entire controversy is happening. Fearing the danger that in relatively short order - the majority of Israeli citizens would not be Jewish, Religious Zionists decided to convert all of them. Their demographic fears of a majority non Jewish Israel moved them to argue for lenient conversions - since they all had one Jewish parent, thought of themselves as Jews, and were serving their country – sometimes risking their lives in the process. They chose Rav Chaim Druckman, a Religious Zionist rabbinic leader to oversee new conversion courts setup for precisely that reason.
Those courts were fought by Charedi politicians and were, I believe, eventually disbanded without having completed their mission
The lenient model they used for conversion has long ago been rejected by mainstream rabbis across the spectrum of Orthodoxy. But it is not made up. It is based on a Gemarah that actually discusses converts who completely ignored Halacha the moment they were converted. It states that once someone is converted he is considered a full fledged Jew even if he does not observe a single Halacha immediately after the conversion. Af Al Pi She'chotah, Yisroel Mumar Hu.
The requirements for conversion are pretty straight forward. One has to sincerely commit to full observance, if male – get circumcised, and then immerse in a Mikva. They do not even need to know all of the minutia of Halchic observance. They are taught some basics and then afterward learn what they are and observe them as they learn them.
If that’s the case, why are so many rabbinic leaders - both Charedi and Religious Zionist - fighting this so vehemently? Isn’t this a win/win for everybody?
The answer lies in one key word in the aforementioned requirements: Sincerely. If there was never any real intention to be observant, than any declaration to that effect is meaningless. How does anyone know how sincere a declaration is? Rav Moshe Feinstein answered that question with the following: If a convert goes out and celebrates his conversion by immediately eating a cheeseburger - there is no greater proof than that that his declaration is insincere and his conversion valid.
That is how conversion is treated today. Without a sincere commitment to Halacha that conversion is invalid. Which brings me to Hamodia. They report the following -
Hundreds of Rabbanim and Dayanim took part Tuesday evening in a conference and demonstration at the International Convention Center in Yerushalayim against the kashrus and conversion reforms of the government, spearheaded by Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana (Yamina).
In recent weeks, since the final version of the conversion reform was published, Kahana has been trying to recruit support for his reforms, but most Rabbanim have made it clear they oppose the reform…
“The municipal Rabbis are excellent, but they are not equipped to deal with giyur. Concerning the minority who want to convert, if they do this move and do make converts, we will consider them as Shabbos goyim. There is no validity to such a giyur. Every ger who converts without accepting the mitzvos is not a valid geirus. They are misleading the masses and are causing a great destruction.
Minister only consults with minor Rabbis, ‘Rabbis’ who just confuse him. I think he needs to wake up
“He needs to understand that all the leading Rabbanim in Israel do not trust him in anything he does, in kashrus and in conversions. He needs to leave these minor Rabbis behind,” Rav Yosef added. “The same Rabbi he consults with says that a convert need not observe all the mitzvos; it is enough to be traditional, make Kiddush [on Friday night] and then travel to the beach. This is the uprooting of the Torah.
“There are Rabbanim here from all circles, knitted kippot and black kippot, a wonderful unity, all announcing that they are following the Shulchan Aruch.
What those rabbis are referring to is allowing private conversions outside of the Chief Rabbinate’s jurisdiction. They fear that there will be wholesale conversions for the abovementioned reasons that that will be illegitimate!
Ordinarily I would agree with those objections. But that accusation true?
I honestly can’t answer that question. But it appears that Kahana’s reforms are getting support from at least one Religious Zionist rabbi, David Stav. He is not some fly by night rabbi that got his ordination online. He is a very knowledge Rav who ran (unsuccessfully) for Chief Rabbi – losing to the current Chief Rabbi, David Lau – son of former Chief Rabbi, Yisroel Meir Lau..
I have to wonder why these rabbis are protesting so vehemently against Minsiter Kahana's conversion reforms? The proposed reforms express say that all conversions must be done according to Halacha. And that the Chief rabbinate must approve every conversion before the state of Israel accepts it.
It is true that it will make life more difficult for the Rabbinate in that they will have to examine all conversions outside of their jurisdiction. But the bottom line is that nothing will change if they carry out their duty albeit with as additional burden.
So why the vehemence? Why the urgency? I can understand why both Charedi and Religious Zionist rabbis would protest making things harder on the Chief Rabbinate. That will surely increase the potential for error. But to smear these conversion the way they did seems to be way over the top.
That they are united about this, though, takes some of the wind out of sails of those who say its all about politics.
What am I missing?