Sorting out Conversion Chaos in Israel
Chief Rabbinate prepares bill to remove converts from Law of Return
By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/790448.html
Thu., November 23, 2006 Kislev 2, 5767

Converts will no longer be recognized as Jews under the Law of Return, according to a bill formulated by the Chief Rabbinate and presented to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert a few days ago. The revolutionary bill is now awaiting a decision by the prime minister whether to make it a government-sponsored bill.

The bill was initiated by Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar in an effort to block the possibility that the High Court of Justice could recognize Reform conversions carried out in Israel. Amar expects the government to adopt the initiative after other solutions proposed by the state to the High Court, such as a recent suggestion to establish a second Ne'eman Committee to discuss conversions, seemed no more than stall attempts.

The Chief Rabbinate said Monday the proposal was an egalitarian one that would withstand the scrutiny of the High Court. It argued the bill would "close the loophole" in the Law of Return that allowed foreign workers to convert in order to receive Israeli citizenship.

However if the law passes, it is likely to lead to a major crisis between Israel and the Diaspora.

The bill would give rabbinic courts and the Chief Rabbinate sole authority over conversions, as another bill, which did not pass, had also stated. The main element in the bill is a change in the clause defining a Jew for the purposes of the Law of Return. At present the clause defines a Jew as a person born to a Jewish mother or who converted to Judaism. The bill proposes that an the only individuals recognized as Jewish by the Law of return will be those born to a Jewish mother.

In the past, the Orthodox political parties had attempted to change this clause to include only Orthodox converts in accordance with halakha (Jewish law). This demand was rejected by successive Israeli governments due to concern over relations with Jewish communities outside of Israel, especially the Jewish establishment in the United States, where non-Orthodox Jews predominate.

The Chief Rabbinate argued Monday that Interior Minister Roni Bar-On supports the initiative. However an Interior Ministry spokeswoman said Bar-On was not familiar with it.

The Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), the legal advocate of the Reform Movement in Israel, called Monday on Olmert to reject the Amar initiative, which it said would "bring about a rupture between Israel and most of the Jews in the world."

IRAC's Rabbi Gilad Kariv said Monday, "It turns out that Rabbi Amar's hatred for non-Orthodox streams is so great that it leads him to harm the basic principle that there is no difference between a convert and an individual who is born Jewish."

MK Zevulun Orlev, the chairman of the National Union-National Religious Party, expressed his support Monday for Amar's bill, which he said would "protect the unity of the Jewish people and prevent a rift that would be caused by recognizing Reform conversions." Orlev added that the passing of the bill would be a test of the ability of Shas as a member of cabinet to impact the Jewish character of the state.

The Conservative Masorati Movement in Israel said it opposed Amar's bill, which it called an attempt to detour around the High Court of Justice.

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Simshalom responds:

False claims by Reform rabbis

The claim by a Reform rabbi is false and a provocation: "IRAC`s Rabbi Gilad Kariv said.. `.. Rabbi Amar`s hatred for non-Orthodox streams is so great that it leads him to harm the basic principle that there is no difference between a convert and an individual who is born Jewish`." To frame the discussions as "love-hate" misses the point entirely. Rabbi Amar is a recognized Torah scholar and published serious works on Halachah. What Rabbi Amar and the Chief Rabbinate propose is basic Judaism 101 (not just "Orthodox Judaism") and is necessary to stop the chaos of establishing who is really Jewish, because for instance, the Reform changed the rules of "Who is a Jew" about 30 years ago by accepting PATRILINEAL DESCENT (having a Jewish father ONLY) makes one Jewish, which neither the Orthodox nor the Conservatives accept, which this article does not mention. Would Reform appreciate it if they were accused of "hating" their fellow Jews by accepting gentile women as fake "Jewish mamas"?

"Frank" replies:

Title: To Sim - patrilineal descent
Name: Frank
City: Tel Aviv

Jewish ancestry in the Bible is by patrilineal descent only - later on, Rabbis changed it to matrilineal. The questions I have are 1) did they have the right (hutspa?) to do this? 2) Are the reasons they did it still relevant, now that the diaspora is ending?

Simshalom's response to Frank:

See FAQ: What is the origin of Matrilineal Descent?: www.scjfaq.org/faq/10-11.html The Torah does not always state every law explicitly. In the case of Matrilineal Descent, the practice is derived from Deuteronomy 7: 4, "Because he will lead astray your son from before Me" To understand this verse, look at the preceding verse, which states: "And you shall not intermarry with them, your daughter you shall not give to his son and his daughter you shall not take for your son". Verse 4 should have stated "Because SHE will lead astray your son", for the non-Jewish girl that your son married (`your` meaning Jewish) should be the one that would lead your son astray. So who is the `HE`? It might be the girl`s father, but in general, women leave their father`s house and live in their husband`s house; they would then not be living with her father. Hence, it would not make sense for the girl`s father to lead "your son" astray if your son doesn`t live with him.

The Rabbis concluded that `HE` is the man that your daughter married, and `your son` mentioned in verse 4 is your grandchild, meaning Jewish grandchild. Thus, v 4 is referring back to the middle section of v 3. It reads like this, "your daughter you shall not give to his son because he will lead astray your son" This shows that the child of a Jewish girl and a non-Jewish boy will be Jewish. It is not uncommon for the Torah to refer to a grandchild as an actual child. For instance, Kings I 15: 11 states, " And Asa did that which was correct in the eyes of God just like David his father". David was not Asa`s father. He was his great-great-grandfather. Leviticus 24:10 speaks of the son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian man as being "among the community of Israel" (ie, a Jew). But in Ezra 10:2-3, the Jews returning to Israel vowed to put aside their non-Jewish wives and the children born to those wives. They could not have put aside those children children if those children were Jews.
- posted by Izak @ 12:42 AM