Rabbis blast state on conversions
By Dan Izenberg
Thurs., November 18, 2004

The Reform and Conservative movements in Israel on Wednesday responded angrily to the state's position that it would only recognize conversions to Judaism that were performed by the special conversion courts made up of Orthodox rabbis subordinate to the Chief Rabbinate.

"Time after time the High Court of Justice gives the state the opportunity to change its illegal policy whereby the only conversion recognized in Israel is the Orthodox conversion, but it refuses to listen," said attorney Nichole Maor on behalf of the Reform movement's Israel Religious Action Center.

"Such an absurd declaration can only be understood as an insult to our movement, our rabbis, and our converts," added Rabbi Reuven Hammer, head of the Conservative (Masorti) Rabbinical Court for Conversion. "At this time, when Israel seeks the support of world Jewry for the difficult decisions it faces, the government of Israel should not discriminate against the majority of Diaspora Jews, its strongest supporters."

The movements were responding to the state's latest reply to a petition on behalf of 15 people living in Israel legally who were converted by Reform or Conservative rabbis after studying Judaism in Reform and Conservative conversion courses. They are demanding to receive Israeli citizenship in accordance with the Law of Return.

The state has always refused to register non-Orthodox converts as Jewish, thus preventing them from obtaining citizenship on those grounds according to the Law of Return.

Over the past 20 years, the High Court has whittled away at the state's position. It ordered the Interior Ministry to register as Jews new immigrants who had converted to Judaism in non-Orthodox ceremonies abroad, according to the Law of Return. In a decision handed down on February 20, 2002, the court ordered the Interior Ministry to register as Jewish Israeli residents already listed in the population registry, but who wanted to record their nationality as Jewish, even if they were converted by Reform or Conservative rabbis, whether in Israel or abroad.

In the current case, the court has already ruled that non-Jews who live in Israel legally, but do not have residential status, may be registered as Jews according to the Law of Return whether they are converted in Israel or abroad. All that is left to decide now is whether the state must recognize Reform and Conservative conversions on an equal footing with Orthodox ones.

In the response submitted to the High Court yesterday, the state's representative, attorney Yochi Gnessin, argued that because of the broader, civil implications involved in being recognized as a Jew according to the Law of Return, the state must be able to monitor the conversion process and not leave it to "private" conversion courts, be they Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform.

The only state-sponsored court that handles conversions is the Conversion Authority, run by Rabbi Haim Druckman. In July, the court was separated from the system of regular rabbinical courts and placed under the auspices of the Prime Minister's Office.

Nevertheless, although Prime Minister Ariel Sharon handpicked him for the job because of his relatively liberal approach to conversion, Druckman is still subordinate to Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, who is the president of the Rabbinical High Court.

The state's position in favor of Orthodox conversions did not come as a surprise. The Jerusalem Post reported on September 28 that the state would tell the court it would only accept Orthodox converts.

Nevertheless, Interior Minister Avraham Poraz has submitted his own response to the petitions, declaring he favored putting an end to the Orthodox monopoly and accepting Reform and Conservative conversions.

The issue of the status of non-Orthodox conversions is one of the most sensitive in the relations between Israel and the Diaspora. If the court rules in favor of recognizing Reform and Conservative conversions, it will cause a crisis of inestimable proportions in the local Orthodox community. If it rules against, however, the court will foment a severe crisis with Diaspora Jews, the majority of whom belong to the Reform and Conservative streams.

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