Every year, thousands of non-Jews make the fateful decision to convert to Judaism. Some are seeking spiritual fulfillment. Many are married to or planning to marry a Jewish spouse. Others have a Jewish father or grandparent and desire a full sense of belonging to the Jewish people. Some have discovered Jewish ancestry and wish to reconnect with their roots. Many are living in Israel and want acceptance as Jews in the Jewish state. Whatever their original motives, they are a remarkable — and growing — part of the Jewish people.
The conversion phenomenon should be a source of celebration for Jews. Each convert gives eloquent testimony to the ongoing attractiveness of Judaism and Jewish peoplehood.
At a time when thousands of people are considering conversion to Judaism, however, Israel’s Orthodox rabbinic establishment is raising ever-higher barriers to them. While Israel’s chief rabbinate accepts many candidates who are willing to become fully committed Orthodox Jews, it will not readily accept those who are not ready for total commitment. Thus, a would-be convert must usually spend years studying Torah and halacha, or Jewish law, and adopt an entirely Orthodox lifestyle in order to be considered for conversion.
Now, Israel’s increasingly ultra-Orthodox-dominated chief rabbinate is attempting to impose its views on the Jewish Diaspora. Here in the United States, it has already forced the Rabbinical Council of America — the Diaspora’s largest Orthodox rabbinical association — into line.
In the spring of 2006, Rabbi Shlomo Amar, Israel’s chief Sephardic rabbi, proclaimed that the chief rabbinate would no longer accept conversions performed by Orthodox rabbis in the Diaspora, except for those specifically approved by the chief rabbinate. The RCA had to decide how to respond to this affront to the integrity of its members. After all, the chief rabbi was basically saying that RCA members can’t be trusted to do proper halachic conversions.
Sadly, the RCA leadership capitulated to the demands of Rabbi Amar. The RCA agreed to establish regional rabbinic courts to handle conversions in line with the dictates of the chief rabbi. This means that individual RCA rabbis may no longer perform conversions and expect them to be sanctioned by the RCA — or by the chief rabbinate. Power is being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, and only into the hands of those who agree to adopt stringent and restrictive positions. The result is that many non-Jews who considered halachic conversion will turn to non-halachic means of conversion, or will give up on conversion altogether.
This is a tragedy — and an unnecessary one at that, since there is no halachic reason why the chief rabbinate’s view should carry the day. The Talmud and classic codes of Jewish law actually grant considerable leeway in the halachic acceptance of converts. While converts must “accept the mitzvot,” or commandments, there is wide latitude in understanding what this phrase means. The Talmud itself says that we must instruct the candidate for conversion in “some of the major and some of the minor commandments.” There is no requirement or expectation that the candidate must learn all the mitzvot in advance of conversion, nor that he or she will promise to keep all the mitzvot in every detail after conversion.
Yet many contemporary rabbinic authorities have taken a far narrower and more exclusionary view. Zvi Zohar and Avi Sagi (in their book “Giyyur ve-Zehut Yehudit”) found that the narrow view gained traction only as recently as 1876 when Rabbi Yitzchak Shmelkes ruled that conversion was to be equated with an absolute commitment to observe all mitzvot. Any candidate for conversion who was not committed to becoming fully Orthodox in observance was to be rejected. Later rabbis adopted this new position, until it became normative among right-wing (and much of the rest of) Orthodoxy.
Of course, great rabbinic voices opposed this radical change in approach. They favored maintaining the far more flexible and inclusive views of the Talmud, Maimonides and Shulchan Aruch. A great representative of the classic halachic view was Rabbi Benzion Uziel, who served as chief Sephardic rabbi, first in British Mandate Palestine and then in the State of Israel, from 1938 to 1953.
Rabbi Uziel argued that not only may rabbis do conversions in less than ideal circumstances, but they are obligated to do so — even when the would-be convert is not expected to become fully observant religiously. Since so many conversion cases involve intermarriage or potential intermarriage, Rabbi Uziel believed we should perform conversions in order to maintain whole Jewish families that can raise Jewish children within the Jewish community. He viewed himself as being “strict” in his opposition to intermarriage, not as being “lenient” in matters of conversion.
Historically, the halacha has allowed rabbis to draw on the full array of halachic sources; to consider the nuances of each individual conversion case; to use their own judgment on whether to accept or reject a candidate for conversion. Now, the halachic options have been sharply curtailed. A rabbinic bureaucracy is usurping the authority of individual rabbis.
Several important Orthodox voices in Israel and the United States have risen in protest of the vast injustice being committed in the realm of halachic conversions. In matters of conversion, we are not dealing with an abstract legal nicety: We are dealing with real human beings with real families. We have a responsibility to address issues of conversion with a full halachic toolbox. Indeed, our tradition demands this.
Rabbinic tradition teaches that one who oppresses a convert is violating 36 Torah laws. How many laws will be broken by the Orthodox rabbinic establishment in causing torment to halachically valid converts and their children? How many tears will be shed by victims of religious narrowness? How many would-be converts will be turned away from any possibility of a life of Torah and mitzvot due to the intransigence of certain rabbis?
This is precisely the time when we need a visionary, inclusive Orthodoxy that can convey the message of Torah Judaism in a spirit of love and compassion. I believe this kind of Orthodoxy will rise again. I believe every Jew can help make this happen.
Rabbi Marc D. Angel is rabbi emeritus of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York City, and founder and director of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals (www.jewishideas.org). A past president of the Rabbinical Council of America, he is the author of “Choosing to Be Jewish: The Orthodox Road to Conversion” (Ktav, 2005).
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Dear Rabbi Angel, I believe you were part of my beth din when I was converted by Rabbi Louis Bernstein. I cannot possibly express my gratitude for having been able to marry my husband, become part of his family and raise and educate a daughter who is as true and beautiful a Jew as possible. If when one saves a life ones saves a whole world, when one performs a conversion a whole world is created -- a world that grows and grows and reverberates in countless lives. Thank you.
I agree with the wise Rabbi. Although I prefer Orthodox Judaism because they actually believe in halachic absolutes unlike Conservative and Reform Judaism that are far more concerned with making people feel good, the extremely Orthodox can get carried away. Hopefully reason will prevail.
The key point is that we have forfeited all definitions of who is a Jew not only to the narrowest sliver of Orthodoxy but to a group of Jews who uniquely live in one place, not here. If the RCA is up for splitting Judaism into Diaspora Judaism and Israeli Judaism and settling the question of who gets to actually use the name "Jew" in court, then so am I. I am a conservadox convert and I have heard these borderline racist arguments for years about who is Jew. You don't want us, and frankly we don't want you too. So let's move on with our own Protestant Reformation; you go your way and we'll go ours. We can call each other heretics if you like. I would even tear up the law of ingathering if that would help settle the issue. Because Lord knows, we're not going to exist at your whimsy and we're not going to be the eternal Ger. This I think would preserve our own rates of conversion and it would of course keep the fundamentalist twits on the RCA holy and pure.
Does Stephen lenderman speaks for the rejectors or victims? Some of these tactics may be learnt from the dreadful camps of german occupation. http://www.counterpunch.org/lendman11142007.html
I don't see what the fuss is about. Conversions to 'seal the deal' are illigitimate. And if a Gentile really wants to become Jewish why wuold he/she not want to become a devout Jew? Who would want to change theri religion in order to become a non-devout member of another religion?
You, Rabbi Angel. are a great leader and I agree with your great words. Shalom
Rabbi Angel - thank you so much for acting as a voice of reason and thanks to the Forward for publishing this. The current atmosphere of distrust and occasionally, contempt, towards potential converts is emotionally devastating and has very long lasting effects; I speak from personal experience here. Sincere converts are a huge part of historical Judaism and it is halakhically indefensible to mistreat them as the Israeli rabbinate has done.
The most important converts to Judaism were the Khazars. Many Jews still have their surnames.http://khazarheritage.blogspot.com/
Wow - totally wonderful. Thank you for the voice of reason!
Once again Rabbi Angel distinguishes himself as a voice of reason, sanity, and ethics in the Orthodox world. I know of several instances in which genuine ohevey yisroel were willing and eager to convert to Judaism but were turned away by overly stringent rabbis. These people are then lost to Judaism--and in the case of spouses contemplating conversion in the context of marriage, their children are subsequently lost as well. It is a hypocritical double-standard to expect converts to observe halakhot that people born into Judaism routinely reject or ignore; it is equally divisive and destructive to hold an impossible standard for orthodox conversion while rejecting the legitimacy of conversions performed by other denominations. The ultimate losers in all this are orthodox Jews themselves, who paint themselves into a corner by interpreting halakha so strictly that eventually everyone but a self-punishing sub-culture is driven away. Judaism will always be a small religion and Judaism always mandates halakhic standards, but Judaism is also an open and welcoming religion--our patriarch Abraham distinguished himself by his hospitality, and is credited in the midrash with attracting numerous souls to Judaism--and we should take pride in the fact that Jewish values do not come into conflict with ethical, human values.
Fantastic article. What a great start!
Chazak U'Barukh Rabbi Angel. We need to return to the traditions of Rav Ben Zion Uziel!
I fully agree with your point of view.
Rabbi Dr Marc Angel is a great and courageous leader. It is of utmost importance that circumstances which changed criteria and made them stricter in recent years will be reconsidered in the light of the current crisis. Lead by Rabbi Angel World Jewry can be assured that there are wise rabbis who will strive to achieve unity, cooperation, and mutual respect. "Kumi ori ki va orech uchevod Hashem alayich zarach" = "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and God's glory has risen upon you." Indeed, the dark days shall end soon!
Rabbi Dr Marc Angel is a great and courageous leader. It is of utmost importance that circumstances which changed criteria and made them stricter in recent years will be reconsidered in the light of the current crisis. Lead by Rabbi Angel World Jewry can be assured that there are wise rabbis who will strive to achieve unity, cooperation, and mutual respect. "Kumi ori ki va orech uchevod Hashem alayich zarach" = "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and God's glory has risen upon you." Indeed, the dark days shall end soon!
Dear Rabbi It is really grateful to read your words, specially for us, anussim, because we suffered for, at least, 300 hundred years all the pain that nobody else could suffer. All the tortures, all the humiliations, all the despair, all the torments, all the shame, we suffer, but many of us never forgot our love for G'd and Israel. Thak you Rabbi for your courage and help. I will spread this article for Mallorca and Portugal. Baruch HaShem.
A few weeks ago there was an interesting article by Zev Chafetz in the NY Times about Bklyn's Syrian Jewish community and their norms. Interesting that they are a few miles away from Rabbi Angel, but miles away on the conversion ideas.
חזק וברוך Of course, what Rabbi Angel is advocating is the ideal approach that the Conservative movement takes. Unfortunately, too many Conservative rabbis don't live up to the halakhic ideal that the movement was created so a halakhic community still lacks (as Rabbi Angel notes, the Rabbinate is violating numerous halahot. I don't consider the rabbinate to be a halakhically-observant community as a result)
Yes. I agree. "Slamming the Door on Converts" is the title of this entry.
Go away Rodney and Wilbur, your not adding anything useful here.
You are most interesting me thinks.
Does Stephen lenderman speaks for the rejectors or victims? Some of these tactics may be learnt from the dreadful camps of german occupation. http://www.counterpunch.org/lendman11142007.html
Rabbi Angel is absolutely right to treat this as a matter of justice and halakhah, as well as a sensible response to the practicalities of life today. It is so important that these things be debated openly, and converts not be expected to bear the burden of secret or corrupt understandings, nor to pay bribes. The more restrictive policy on giur is one of the key sources of power for the political party led by Rav Eliashiv, Degel HaTorah. The RCA has reluctantly acknowledged this power in its decision, as well as the threat of condemnation by anti-modernist American rabbis. Shame to bend to this latter source of pressure, which has previously been willing to call the RCA's leaders heretical on the flimsiest of grounds. Rabbi Angel is right to call for leadership on this most invidious of compromises.
As a NEWLY CONVERTED JEW I FOUND THAT ORTHODOXY AND FOR THAT MATTER [MOST] NOT ALL OTHER FORMS OF JUDAISM ARE KNOW BETTER THEN ALL THE OTHER WAYS FOR THEY ONLY FOLLOW MAN NOT XXXX SO GET REAL THAT IS WHY XXXX HAS HIDDEN HIS FACE [DEUT 4:2,] THEN YOU CAN TALK
I LIVE NEAR A LARGE YESHIVA HERE IN STATEN ISLAND. MANY OF MY NEIGHBORS, INCLUDING MYSELF, ARE GENTILE. I HAVE OFTEN WONDERED THAT MY NEIGHBORS HAVE NO IDEA OR LITTLE UNDERSTANDING CONCERNING THE HEBREW PROPHETS AND THE BACKGROUND OF THE JEWISH HOLIDAYS. MANY OF GENTILE BACKGROUND DON'T EVEN READ THEIR OWN BIBLES AND DON'T OBSERVE A DAY OF REST. FOLLOWING A STRICT MORAL CODE IS FOREIGN TO MANY; AS A RESULT, THE YOUNGER GENERATION HAVE NO HIGHER GOALS TO LIVE FOR.
Let's try those links again: Justice Ministry uncovers rabbinical ordination fraud http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3426982,00.html Rabbinate fraud trail leads to prominent religious seminaries. Institutions linked to sons of Ovadia Yosef and Mordechai Eliahu are among those under investigation http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/1309636021.html?dids=1309636021:1309636021&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jul+20%2C+2007&author=ETGAR+LEFKOVITS
I agree that the conversion process should be less burdensome and less exclusive. Having conversion courts sanctioned by the Israeli government is a step in that direction. The law of return grants automatic asylum to Jews. Therefore, a converion affects citizenship status as well as religious status. Imagine if the US Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services gave one branch of a religion the authority to say who is a sincere believer but ignored opinions from other branches. It is much better for a government to authorize individuals to review applications. The 2006 decision takes the authority for a state function (applying the law of return) away from the RCA and brings it back to the Israeli government. Ideally, Israel will also authorize non-Orthodox people to conduct conversions. The Israeli supreme court can override the chief rabbinate, so a future Israel that views all branches equally is possible.
Although I was Jewish as far as my friends and I were concerned, and Jewish when I went worked in Israel as a civil defense volunteer in 1967, I was not Jewish enough for some folks because my mother wasn't Jewish. I converted. I still was Jewish as far as my friends and I were concerned, and I still was not Jewish enough for many others, and I don't suppose I every will be- because of the rejectiono of genetic diversity, and because of differing understandings of what makes a Jewish life- and not only Orthodox Jews break those 36 laws, either. I almost regret that I went through the conversion experience at all, although I did get to read a lot of great books.
It is hardly news that many of the Orthodox, particularly Orthodox rabbis, are intolerant in the extreme: unwilling to even acknowledge the validity of different kinds of practice of Judaism and wherever possible (as in Israel) attempting to impose their views and practices on others. For Jews who are not Orthodox or who are Orthodox but nonetheless tolerant, the solution is simply to cease any support for the Rabbinical Council of America, to refuse to acknowledge any authority of "Chief Rabbi" and to make sure that contributions to Jewish organizations do not include or provide funds for those which support intolerance. Meanwhile, conversions to Judaism by Reform rabbis and others should simply proceed --ignoring completely any objections from the Orthodox.
Rabbi Angel, an educated voice of reason in our generation, once again shows his courage in taking this enlighten stand. I find myself wondering, however, why the good rabbi continues to associate himself with "Orthodoxy" - a relatively new movement in Judaism, and one that most certainly did not exist when Shearith Israel was founded. On one occasion when I visited his congregation, some of the old timers at Shearith Israel delighted in correcting me when I called them Orthodox. In their own words, they consider themselves "Traditional". Perhaps the words matter in this case, because Rabbi Angel's position on conversion is certainly more traditional - and, therefore, authentic - than the increasingly strict views held by Orthodoxy.
for jeffery blustein: R. Angel is a Sefard but the Syrian community in NYC is not a Sefardi communit; correctly they are Mizrachim, a Mizrachi (or Eastern) community. The appellation of 'Sefard' or 'Sefardi' pertains to their LANGUAGE group; just as 'ashkenaz' refers to (medieval) German which became Yiddish, 'sefard' refers to (medieval) Spain which used the langauge Ladino, True sefardi communities come from a Ladino speaking heritage long ago. It has become a usage (altho' not a correct one)to refer to all non-ashkenazi communities as sefardi, just as it became a usage to refer to all secret Spanish Jews as 'marranos' (pigs) even though, again it wasn't correct. The correct term for the "hidden" Jews and/or for those who were forced to convert is anusim. Traditionally, sefardim have been less rigid in their rabbinic opinions, more flexible and human (and humane) with their judgements. It is unfortunate that the current fad toward making every more difficult chumrot has affected these rabbis.
Rabbi Yossi ben Elisha says in Tractate Shabbat (139a): “If you see a generation that is beset by many troubles, go and examine the Judges of the Jewish People. For all the retribution that is visited upon the world is only on account of the sins of Jewish Judges, as it stated in Mikhah (3:9): Listen now, to this, O leader of the House of Jacob, and officers of the House of Yisra’el, who detest justice and twist all that is straight…”
Response to Haaretz article http://www.forward.com/articles/11985/ "Slamming the Door on converts" To fully appreciate the significance of this move, have a look at: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/914386.html "45 rabbis from the national-religious movement have agreed to serve in proposed independent conversion courts that would operate without the recognition of the Chief Rabbinate...." What we are seeing here is the beginning of the end of the State of Israel, as splits emerge between different Orthodox authorities who decide who a Jew is. The tension between religious and secular, combined with the tensions that will emerge from this latest split will only cause more sinat chinam. Differences in halachic opinion on this and other issues are valuable and contribute to the spirit of Pharisaic discourse (which is, in my opinon, what has allowed Judaism to survive for so long), but these differences have to exist in the context of respect between the disagreeing parties. No one party should usurp total control or disparage or undermine the others; otherwise, as history has shown, we're in for real trouble. It may be simplistic to say that the current deterioration is one group's fault. This is the culmination of centuries of morphing away from Pharisaic discourse to more and more halachic codification and "settled law". You can't have eilu v'eilu in an environment where more and more issues are off-the-table because the law is "settled". A possible remedy may be to rebuild the Sanhedrin, populating it with representatives from different perspectives and communities, in order to provide a venue for respectful multiparty halachic discourse, which would ideally have the greater authority that naturally stems from collective decision-making. Israel is in a similar situation to the one that led Yitro to propose the Sanhedrin in the first place, so it may indeed be time for this. There exists at least one "experimental Sanhedrin", for lack of a better term, emerging right now, but I haven't researched what degree authority they may have, or how they have been populated. See: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/70349 http://www.thesanhedrin.org/en/legal/psak5765Elul21.html In short, a Sanhedrin, if wisely constructed, could relieve the conflict in authority that is emerging, and redirect conflicts about difficult issues to a more civilised forum, made up of the wisest among us. It could provide a positive example to the rest of us regarding how to debate in a manner that manifests true Ahavat Yisroel, with an eye towards peace and unity. The great irony of Jewish Unity is that true unity can only be found, not in homogeneity, but in the respectful airing of difference: a debate for the sake of heaven.
it's pretty funny to cite the fact that such stringent rulings on converts needing to capitualte totally to halacha only came about in the late 1800's. surely a scholar such as rabbi angel, when pressed, would recall that there simply was no need to state such an obvious thing before publicly - because the idea of a convert who wasn't committed to becoming subservient to jewish law was not even a theoretcal possibility. this is an outgrowth of the reform movement, which simply didn't exist much before that. what's more, the circular reasoning presented in this piece - that turning down would-be converts who have no intention of actually keeping halacha is a transgression of the mitzvah to love a convert - is a curious thing to find in an essay we would hope to be logical. judaism is not a "good housekeeping" magazine, where all that matters is feeling good about what you are doing and keeping everything in synch with political correctness and the mores of the time. there are absolutes in judaism, and they aren't always the ones rabbi angel or anyone else has to agree with - like it or not.
As a Gentile undergoing a conversion process, not because I´m married to or want to marry a Jewish woman (no one at sight), not because I live in Israel (I don´t) and want to be accepted as a Jew, not because I might have Jewish ancestry (I might), but because I believe that HaShem gave His Torah to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai and because I feel called, too, to accept His Torah: I agree with "Dave" - why should one want to convert if not to become "fully observant", i.e. to live as a Jew should ? There is no reason. I don´t say it´s easy to live a life dedicated to this - but it´s my way and the way of literally thousands of Gerim who literally left their connections to become part of the Jewish people. Don´t make things too easy - not too difficult either - keep the balance.
An excellent article. Let's hope the visionary, inclusive orthodoxy Rabbi Angel promotes will rise again.
Conversion is a process and I really do not think that process ends with the rituals of mikveh, hatafot dam brit, and questioning before a beit din. It occurs to me that any major life change should, if at all possible, be gradual. Jumping in, taking on all the rigors of an orthodox lifestyle, leaving everything behind for a community you might not really fully know, sounds like a recipe for disaster and a fairly quick turn-around to me. Teshuvah is a kind of process too, and one oftens hears of ba'alot teshuvot who have left orthodoxy for other expressions of Judaism after becoming quickly very religious but then not finding the support and personal will to keep at it.
From reading this, I can see the eventual possibility of all authority being controlled by a single being; i.e, maybe one of these days we'll have our own pope!
I think it is unfortunate that some orthodox Jews are narrow minded. My mother was converted by an orthodox Rabbi about 30 years ago when she married my father. It was not an instant conversion, she had to show and prove to the Rabbi that she was committed to the religion. However if she was shunned away like they are doing presently to many converts I would not be a jew today. I personally have a girl in my life who is a non jew and it is extremeley important to me that she be converted by an orthodox Rabbi. These Orthodox Rabbi's who sit at the throne and decide who can be Jewish and who can't be are acting like tyrants who are partaking, slowly but surely, destroying and minimizing the Jewish population.
As a Jew by choice I appreciate your article and hope to see more like-minded, vocal viewpoints in the near future!
This is a very important opinion and great statement given the Rebbe of a wonderful congregation , given that many believers from the crypto jewish community are afraid to deal with the attitude of the ashkenazi or sephardic orthodox leaders and members of their communities. They continue to live in silence in latin america , and elsewhere.
I an looking to get married to my fiance who is jewish i love him so much and i want to get the perfect weddding in a temple be married under a huppa and forfill the jewish life
I an looking to get married to my fiance who is jewish i love him so much and i want to get the perfect weddding in a temple be married under a huppa and forfill the jewish life
if somebody knows of a rabbi who would do a conversion please reply back im located in staten island its very importantt for me to marry my fiance the right way
I believe that Rabbi Angel's point is that the Halachah, in spite of being heavenly, is humane as well. Meaning, that the chachamim of the Talmud were both realistic and loving. Of course they wanted converts to be faithful practicing Jews but they knew that a life of Torah takes time and study and a sense of belonging. How can one feel they belong if they don't actually and are constantly reminded of their conditon? It's oppressing and frustrating and unfair. Having a leader as Rabbi Angel in our people is a proof that Abraham Avinu has indeed left descendants in this world.