Of 300,000 to 350,000 non-Jewish immigrants presently in Israel, only 923 converted in 2003
Who's to blame for low conversion figures?

By Amiram Barkat

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/432019.html

(Infighting between various Israeli vested power-groups.)

With cheeks flushed with excitement, Natalia K., a new immigrant who lives in Bat Yam, presented herself at the special conversion court in Jerusalem. In a mixture of Russian and Hebrew, she tried to explain to the three dayanim (rabbinical judges) how she envisions God. "He's sort of a father to everyone, but especially to the people of Israel," she said. "Does he care, for instance, when a non-Jew steals?" asked one of the dayanim. "Yes, he cares," Natalia replied after some hesitation, "but not as much as he does when a Jew steals."

Natalia is 36, has a 4-year-old daughter, and came to Israel from Ukraine two years ago. Before the court interview, she had to study for at least 10 months in a conversion program. Throughout that period, she kept a strictly kosher kitchen, maintained weekly contact with an observant "adoptive family," sent her daughter to a religious school and paid regular visits to the neighborhood synagogue.

She did well in the court interview, answering dozens of questions about Jewish holidays, scriptural duties, scenarios in which Sabbath strictures are waived, and more. Her tasks did not end there: in order to win final recognition as a Jew, she will have to submerge in a ritual bath, along with her daughter.

Last Thursday, Justice Minister Yosef Lapid foiled a move intended to remove the conversion system in Israel from the control of the rabbinical establishment. In March, after the Religious Affairs Ministry was abolished, the courts were placed under the auspices of the Justice Ministry along with the Rabbinical Courts Authority. Cabinet Secretary Yisrael Maimon and Jewish Agency Chairman Salai Meridor, who met with Lapid on Thursday, told him that Ariel Sharon favors easing the conversion procedure in order to greatly increase the number of converts.

To that end, they asked him to sanction the removal of the conversion courts from the Rabbinical Courts Authority, and to make these subordinate to the conversion setup established several months ago in the Prime Minister's Office, headed by Rabbi Haim Druckman. Lapid turned them down, claiming that Druckman can't generate real change because he's incapable of confronting the rabbinical establishment. Neither was Lapid swayed by the argument that Reform and Conservative Jews support the move. Druckman himself refuses to weigh in on the matter.

Sources close to Druckman say Lapid ascribes great importance to the conversion system and intends to retain control over it. "The conversion procedure needs improvement, but we are planning to do it ourselves," explained MK Ronnie Brizon (Shinui). Brizon noted that these changes will be made "with the rabbis' consent and in cooperation with the head of the rabbinical courts, Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan." However, the division of authority between the Justice Minister and the rabbinical establishment is unclear, largely because of Ben-Dahan, who, prior to the reshuffle, published new regulations that grant complete control over conversion to the president of the Rabbinical High Court, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar.

There are an estimated 300,000-350,000 non-Jewish immigrants living in Israel. Only 923 of these were converted in 2003 in the special conversion courts - about the same rate as in each of the past seven years.

The failure to increase the number of converts can be pinned on Prime Minister Sharon, who declared the subject a "national objective" shortly after taking office. Another failure bears the name of attorney Yaakov Ne'eman, who headed a conversion commission in 1998 that was supposed to find a solution for mass conversion. The commission's recommendations led to joint conversion centers aimed at preparing converts by a pluralistic curriculum acceptable to all streams of Judaism. Despite a massive annual budget of NIS 20 million, the number of converts remained static. Conversion centers and the rabbinical courts are pointing accusatory fingers at each other.

- posted by Izak @ 11:49 PM