The Conversion Crisis and Challenge
Great news.
Many thousands of people in
want to convert to Judaism. Most are from the former
and have Jewish ancestry or spouses. Many
others, of various national and religious backgrounds, have come to
to study Judaism and to become Jewish.
Thousands of people throughout the diaspora want to become Jews. They
are attracted to the teachings of Torah; or they’ve discovered Jewish roots; or
they want to marry a Jewish spouse. Judaism has a profound message for people
of all backgrounds. The Jewish people, with all its problems, is attractive.
The fact that so many wish to become Jewish should be a source of tremendous
pride and happiness to Jews.
Troubling news.
Not everyone is eager to help these would-be converts enter the Jewish
fold. Instead of offering a compassionate and inclusive approach, the Israeli
Chief Rabbinate has erected ever higher barriers to discourage conversion to
Judaism. Diaspora rabbinic groups have essentially fallen into line behind the
Chief Rabbinate’s stringent positions, fearing that their own rabbinic status
will be undermined if they do not conform to the Chief Rabbinate’s dictates.
In May 2008, the Israeli Rabbinic High Court under the leadership of
Rabbi Abraham Sherman issued a horrifying decision that actually rescinds the
conversion of a woman who had converted (under Orthodox auspices) fifteen years
ago. Since the Court felt the woman was not religiously observant enough, it
declared her and her children—born after her conversion-- to be non-Jewish. The
Chief Rabbinate and the Rabbinic High Court have equated conversion with total
acceptance to observe all the mitzvoth; those who are deficient in religious
observance are either not accepted in the first place, or now run the risk of
having their conversions invalidated retroactively. Thousands of individuals
have been thrown into spiritual turmoil, wondering about their Jewish
identities and the Jewish identities of their children.
This is precisely the time for a visionary Orthodox rabbinic leadership
to win the respect and admiration of the Jewish public by providing inspired,
meaningful leadership. Yet, the Orthodox rabbinic establishment in
and the diaspora has chosen the path of retreat, restriction, and exclusion.
Their policies have alienated thousands of potential converts, as well as thousands
of born Jews who find these rabbinic attitudes reprehensible, narrow-minded and
xenophobic.
Great news.
The classic sources in halakha—the Talmud, Maimonides, the Shulhan
Aruh—are actually far more “liberal” than the contemporary Orthodox rabbinic bureaucracy.
The Talmud (Yevamot 47a-b) records the procedure to be followed in accepting
converts: we tell them of the dangers inherent in being a member of a
persecuted community. If they are willing to accept these risks, we offer
instruction “in some of the minor and some of the major commandments”. We are
not to persuade or dissuade too much. The Shulhan Arukh (Yoreh Deah 268:2),
drawing on Maimonides’ formulation in the Mishneh Torah (Issurei Biah 14:2),
rules that we must also explain to the would-be convert the basic beliefs of
Judaism. The procedure for conversion is
sensible and straightforward.
The classic codes of Jewish law leave considerable latitude when it
comes to informing converts of the mitzvoth. Converts are expected to give a
general acceptance to observe mitzvoth—but there is no indication that they
first must study Judaism for years nor that they must answer very specific
questions relating to the observance of all mitzvoth--requirements that now have
become standard within the Orthodox rabbinic establishment. Some of my Orthodox
colleagues have retorted: we don’t need
to rely on those texts, since we follow the opinions of the great sages
(invariably of the hareidi ilk) of our generation. Or, they have disingenuously
argued that the Talmud, Rambam and Shulhan Arukh didn’t need to specify the
requirement for converts to accept all mitzvoth in detail, since they took it
for granted that converts would be required to observe every law of Shabbat,
kashruth, mikvah etc. In other words, these rabbis ignore, or read their own
views into, the classic sources of halakha, seriously changing the meaning of
what conversion has meant historically.
The notion that conversion entails 100% commitment to observe all
mitzvoth seems to have first emerged in the late 19th century among
Eastern European rabbis. According to Dr.
and Dr. Avi Sagi, Israeli scholars who have thoroughly researched the
conversion issue in halakhic literature, Rabbi Yitzchak Shmelkes (Beit Yitzchak
2:100) introduced this idea in 1876. (See their book, “Transforming Identity”,
Continuum,
was a reaction to the growing number of Jews who were defecting from mitzvah
observance. Rabbi Shmelkes and others apparently believed that by equating Judaism
with mitzvah observance, they were defending the Torah from its spiritual
enemies. This equation, though an understandable strategy, was of course not
literally true. Even the most extreme right-wing rabbis admitted that a born
Jew is Jewish, even if he/she repudiates Judaism and violates every law in the
Torah. But when it came to accepting converts, they upheld the most rigorous
policy—a policy not dictated by classical halakha, but by their own reading of
the circumstances of their times.
We are living in different times. We are not in 19th century
Europe
and apply them honestly, compassionately and intelligently to our new
circumstances. The rabbinate in
exists within a vibrant, modern Jewish sovereign State. If rabbis in the
shtetls dealt with conversions stringently in light of their historical
circumstances, the Rabbinate in
must recognize a broader responsibility; it must have the vision to create
national policies that will serve the needs and interests of the Jewish State
and the Jewish people at large. Instead of locking itself into the most extreme
and narrow positions of halakha, it needs to draw on the broad wellsprings of
Jewish legal and ethical traditions, demonstrating the halakha’s ability to
address contemporary issues in a spiritually, morally and intellectually sound
manner. The rabbis of the diaspora must not fall into the trap of creating
their own rabbinic bureaucracies; rather they must also have the vision and
sense of responsibility to help converts enter the Jewish fold in a proper,
non-intimidating manner.
As an Orthodox rabbi myself, I believe that those who wish to enter the
Jewish fold should do so in a halakhically valid manner. The halakha provides a
meaningful and accessible way for non-Jews to become Jewish. Instead of
erecting higher barriers to discourage conversion, the Orthodox rabbinate
should be expanding opportunities for those who sincerely wish to become full
members of the Jewish people.
The great Sephardic Chief Rabbi of
Rabbi Benzion Uziel (1880-1953) argued for an inclusive approach to conversion.
In one of his responsa, he urged rabbis to perform conversions, even under less
than ideal circumstances, in order to maintain Jewish families and keep
children in the Jewish fold. Those rabbis who adopted restrictive policies were
doing a tremendous disservice to the would-be converts, to their families, and
to the Jewish people. Rabbi Uziel wrote: “And I fear that if we push them [the
children] away completely by not accepting their parents for conversion, we
shall be brought to judgment, and they shall say to us: ‘You did not bring back
those who were driven away, and those who were lost you did not seek’ (Ezekiel
34:4).” Rabbi Uziel was not alone among modern sages who allowed conversions
even in non-ideal situations. (See Professor Shmuel Shilo’s article in the
Israel Law Review, 22:3, 1988, where he discusses the lenient views of various
halakhic authorities including Rabbis Benzion Uziel, Shlomo Kluger, David Zvi Hoffman, Haim Ozer
Grodzinski, Yehiel Weinberg and Ovadia Yosef.)
Important news.
Rabbi Avi Weiss of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale and President of
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah has joined me in founding the International Rabbinic
Fellowship to bring together like-minded Orthodox rabbis who will promote an
intellectually vibrant, compassionate and inclusive Orthodoxy—an Orthodoxy that
will address the issues of our time in an open, non-authoritarian, and
halakhically proper manner. We have been working with Rabbi Shlomo Riskin,
Chief Rabbi of Efrat, and other rabbis here and in
to establish a beth din for the International Rabbinic Fellowship—with offices
in
that will deal with conversion, agunah questions and other serious problems. We
are heartened by the many Orthodox rabbis (the
already has about 150 members and is growing day by day) who have joined with
us in this historic effort to create an engaged and engaging Orthodoxy that can
provide leadership for the entire Jewish people. We are grateful to lay
leadership for their financial and moral support.
Every one of us, Orthodox or not, can play a role in creating a better
future for converts and for the entire Jewish people. We can support those
individuals and groups within Orthodoxy that are working to change the rabbinic
status quo. We can voice our opinion to policy makers here and in
We can work in our own communities to foster a positive, inclusive approach to
converts and their children. We can remind ourselves that we will one day be
standing before the Almighty and will have to explain what we did—or did not
do—to address one of the most dramatic challenges of our time. Let us be very sure
that we can honestly say that we did seek to bring back those who were driven
away, and that we did seek those who might otherwise have been lost.
