How good intentions turned into abhorrent legislation
July 15, 2010
By Rabbi Uri Regev, Advocate
President & CEO of Hiddush
1 Av 5770
July 12, 2010
"Jerusalem was only destroyed because they zealously applied the strict letter of the Law [Torah] and not going beyond the letter of the law." (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Metzia 30B)
1. The proposed conversion law [formally titled: The Chief Rabbinate bill (Amendment – Powers in Matters of Conversion), 5770-2010] in the formulation presented today to the Knesset Constitution & Law Committee is the worst and most damaging in the sequence of conversion bills that MK Rotem, who chairs the Committee, has proposed. It represents an unsavoury surrender to the rabbinical establishment and the ultra-Orthodox politicians. The proposal is designed to expand the authority of the Chief Rabbinate and undermine conversions done by the major religious movements within the Jewish people. It pretentiously claims to facilitate easier access to conversion for new immigrants and halt the increasing trend to nullify conversions after the fact on the grounds of non observance of commandments. This proposal does not solve the problems faced by new immigrants, and it puts at risk Israel’s strategic interests, by jeopardizing the cooperation and solidarity with Diaspora Jewry. It places Israel on an inevitable collision course with most Jews of the world today – and represents an unfortunate example for highly objectionable legislation. It may have started with good intentions, but after passing through the ultra religious political mill it has become an appalling bill which must be rejected outright.
2. In article 1 the authority of the chief rabbinate is expanded, by granting it “responsibility over conversion in Israel". This authority never been granted to the Chief Rabbinate, and it is in clear contradiction with consistent rulings of the Supreme Court, which negated the authority of the Chief Rabbinate over conversion matters that are not tied directly to issues of personal status. This expansion contradicts the principle of “Freedom of Religion and Conscience” promised in Israel’s Declaration of Independence, and the desire of the majority of Israeli Jews to see religious life here firmly based on pluralism and equality of all streams of Judaism.
3. The article’s language worsened in comparison to the draft that was presented to the Knesset Committee in March. It now states explicitly that the authority of the Chief Rabbinate "will not harm conversions that were done by the Special Rabbinical Courts that were appointed by virtue of government decisions and Rabbinical Courts that operate according to law". In his recent visit to the US and in meetings with heads of the Jewish federations and the non Orthodox Jewish streams, Rotem stated that the formulation of the Bill that was presented in March,[the language of which stated that the “Responsibility of the Chief Rabbinate over conversion would not diminish the rights of other authorities to conduct conversion in Israel according to any law"] provided for continuation of the recognition of Reform and Conservative conversions. We doubted his statements on this issue that were aimed at silencing criticism from the non-Orthodox movements against the proposed law. Now it is patently clear that this was never the intention, and that the new legislation attempts to undermine the continued recognition of these conversions, and is intended to enable the Ministry of Interior to argue before the Supreme Court that the legal situation has changed and that non-Orthodox conversions, which do not fall within the new language of the “exemptions” to the authority of the Chief Rabbinate, may no longer be recognized.
4. Article 2 aims in part to expand the ranks of converting rabbis, in hopes that among the “City Rabbis” and the “Local Council Rabbis” there will be some with a moderate approach. The present draft adds an explicit condition to the validity of their conversions; that they “will be recognized …only if the conversion was conducted according to the religious requirements … after acceptance of the yoke of Torah and commandments according to Halachah”. Beyond the ridiculous nature of this condition, which implies that the Chief Rabbinate and the ultra Orthodox politicians entertain doubts as to whether the “City Rabbis” and “Local Councils Rabbis” will act according to Jewish Law, there is here a severe set of conditions in the most sensitive area of converting new immigrants. Namely - the law states that even conversions conducted in these new Orthodox rabbinical courts will be invalid if they do not sufficiently comply with the requirement to accept the "yoke of commandments". So long as the Chief Rabbinate does not publicly clarify to what extent it is prepared to adopt lenient rulings regarding the demand to accept the “yoke of commandments” from new immigrants – the new legislative exercise is doomed to failure from the outset. Everyone who deals with conversion knows exactly the nature of the challenge, and if Rotem and the Chief Rabbinate are not prepared to recognize the reality and reconcile with it – it is best they do not delude the new immigrant population and not push the State of Israel into a collision course with the Jewish People unnecessarily.
5. The present draft also includes a threat and sanctions against rabbis who serve on the “Special Rabbinic Courts” if they do not satisfy the chief rabbis as to requiring acceptance of the “yoke of commandments” by the converts. The Bill authorizes the chief rabbis to forbid these rabbis from continuing to officiate in conversions.
6. The proposed law professes to block the growing trend of retroactive nullification of conversions, whether by “Regional Rabbinic Courts” when adjudicating matters of personal status, or by City Rabbis who refuse to recognize lenient Orthodox conversions and do not approve weddings for these converts. Instead of drawing the logical conclusion and removing from Rabbinic Courts and City Rabbis the State exclusive authority, and basing their function on voluntary choice of those who accept their authority as in every other democratic society. The present Bill tries "to eat its cake and have it too." The Bill attempts to bypass the extreme rabbinic courts by instructing that to rule on the validity of past conversions you first have to refer it to the original court that conducted the conversion, and that appeals against its decisions will require approval of the president of the High Rabbinic Court. Likewise the Bill creates an alternative channel for convert marriages, by a member of the converting rabbinic court, instead of the “recalcitrant" City Rabbis. The time has come to recognize the truth – the politicization of religion and creation of an Orthodox monopoly has brought about the growing extremism and Haredization. . The answer is to abolish the monopoly – not establish an apparatus of "rabbinate B" to bypass "rabbinate A."
7. The proposed Bill makes it possible to nullify conversions if the converting rabbinic court, or a Rabbinic Court of Appeal, decides that the conversion "was conducted on the basis of misleading information". As is known, the candidate for conversion is required to promise before the rabbinic court to observe the commandments and give religious education to his/her children. There is no doubt but that those who wish to may easily nullify conversions after the fact, holding that the promise given the rabbinical court was not sincere. This is how “nullifiers” acted in the past, and they can continue to do so in the future.
8. Requiring the approval of the president of the High Rabbinic Court as a condition for nullifying conversions is a dubious block against this phenomenon. Rumour as to Chief Rabbi Amar holding a lenient approach have not been proven, and nothing has been heard from him directly and unequivocally as to his position regarding the vexing question of accepting the yoke of Torah and commandments by converts. But what is no less important is that in the best case scenario – this is a patchwork remedy that does not provide a real solution. Rabbi Amar will conclude his term in office in a few years, and there is no doubt but that the path of the Chief Rabbinate is leading to even more religious extremism. Therefore, there is no point in placing the matter in the hands of the president of the High Rabbinic Court to close up the gaping hole in this dam, and it is clear that nullification of conversions will continue.
9. Article 3 of the Bill changes the Citizenship Law in a way that reduces recognition of converts according to the Law of Return and the Citizenship Law, and creates a distinction between Jews-by-choice and Jews-by-birth. . This is an outrageous initiative, which contradicts Jewish tradition and particularly harms converts from abroad whose attraction to Judaism was enhanced by a visit to Israel. This is a most grievous change of the legal situation, which will hurt many converts and make them into “second class” Jews. [MK Rotem has announced, during the Committee meeting on July 12th, that he would remove this article from the draft]
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