Israel no longer nation for Jewish people

Memo to the board members of the Jewish Agency

Re: Israel is no longer a nation for the Jewish people

The Jewish Agency has fought hard during the last fifteen years to make conversion to Judaism a reality in Israel. You have invested tens of millions of dollars in the conversion authority, and thousands of hours of dialogue and discussion to be inclusive - all in an effort to stem intermarriage and assimilation in Israel. 

But conversions are down more than 27% in the past year. And while projections for conversion in the Former Soviet Union (FSU) community in 2008 stood at 5000, 933 immigrants from the FSU converted in that year in the civil conversion authority. If this was a business, the board would shut it down immediately. Especially given the fact that 300,000 Israelis can't get married in their own country.

In the past year, commitments were made to you by the (then) prime ,minister, by the (now) justice minister, by the director of the conversion authority, and by MKs and governmental officials. All of them insisted that Israel's Chief Rabbis were a critical hinge in establishing a meaningful halachic conversion system.

But in the past weeks, the chief Rabbis had made it clear where they stand. One of them intimated that every conversion in Israel ought be scrutinized for punctilious mitzvot observance, even years after the conversion. He expressed support for rabbis who have annulled conversions, and stood behind marriage registrars who refuse to register converts.

And the other chief Rabbi, who was lauded at the Jewish Agency meetings last year as "the solution to the conversion issue?" He has maintained his silence, letting chaos reign.

As you were meeting, ten new conversion judges began serving on conversion courts. It probably didn't surprise you to find out that nine of them were from the ultra-Orthodox camp - handpicked by the Chief Rabbi and the Justice Minister.

I call upon you - as individuals and as representatives of the Jewish world - to divest yourselves of the festering sore that is the present conversion authority. The solution to our issues does not lie with a group of ultra-Orthodox rabbis who are holding half a million immigrants at bay. Once and for all, stand up and say "No more!"

Let me state clearly that divestment comes with responsibility. Unlike many issues which are discussed at the Jewish Agency, the conversion issue is one that you can influence in Israel. We need to reinvent conversion in Israel as part of a dialogue between the modern Orthodox and the Reform and Conservative communities. We should insist that the State of Israel sign on to a modus operandi that will not keep us beholden to the views of a select few.

As an Orthodox rabbi, I believe that we can create a conversion system that does not compromise halacha [Jewish Law] in any way, but maximizes transparency, integrity and commitment. We need to set goals and develop a program that will take us there. We cannot afford to wait another six months or a year.

In the immediate sense, I believe you can insist that Israeli marriage registrars register converts. In fact, I have proposed a bill in the Knesset that would sanction marriage registrars who refuse to register converts (incredibly, registrars in at least 8 major cities refuse to register converts!) I also believe that we can immediately insist on judicial review within the present authority. In your meetings with conversion authorities, ask to see real statistics, and demand explanations as to why rabbinical court judges who have annulled conversions continue to sit on rabbinical court benches. 

But over the long term, we need to seek a broader solution. It is possible.