Israel – Ultra-Orthodox conversion officials clarified Sunday evening that the 7,846 members of the Falash Mura slated to immigrate to Israel from Ethiopia will have to undergo a strict conversion to Judaism. Those who fail to do so, the officials warned, would not be recognized as Jews and will have trouble marrying in Israel.
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Rabbi Nachum Eisenstein, chairman of the International Rabbinical Committee on Conversions, who is considered an associate of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, leader of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community, told Ynet that the conversion must include the acceptance of a religious lifestyle as a condition for approving the immigrants’ Judaism.
According to Eisenstein, this process is referred to as “strict conversion” but it is similar to regular conversion according to Jewish Law.
No one can rule that the Falah Mura members are Jews according to the Halacha, Eisenstein explained, as hundred and maybe even thousands of years have passed since this was a known fact in the families of origin.
He added that he and his fellow rabbis had many reasons to oppose this immigration, which could cause “many genealogy problems among the people of Israel”, but that they were not objecting because of the issue’s current political aspect.
Other rabbis, who have been working to bring the Falash Mura to Israel, confirmed that the immigrants would have to undergo “strict conversion.” However, they said they were convinced that the process would be much easier than the conversion of immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
Rabbi Menachem Waldman, director of the Shvut Am institute and an expert on Ethiopian Jewry, explained to Ynet that many of the community members converted to Christianity starting in the late 19th century for about 50 years. From a halachic point of view a Jew cannot convert, so they are still considered Jewish, but their offspring must not convert for fear that some of them had married Christian women.
According to Waldman, who was sent the Chief Rabbinate to probe the issue in the past, the Falah Mura are direct descendants of Ethiopia’s Jews and so their status must be similar. “I don’t call it conversion but rather ‘a return to Judaism,’ he said, “even if it’s basically the same thing.”
Waldman added that the need to convert would not pose a problem for the Ethiopians, as they come from a religious country and have been holding a halachic lifestyle.
“The Falash Mura members prayed three times a day, maintained the sanctity of their family and lived a Jewish life back there, and when they immigrate to Israel they send their children to study in religious educational institutions,” he said.
According to Waldman, the situation is more complicated among immigrants from the former Soviet Union, as the Halacha forces them to observe mitzvot in order to be recognized as Jews but this is not a lifestyle they are accustomed to.
I wonder if Rabbi Eisenstein knows any of the facts first hand or he gets them from the Yated. It doesn’t seem like he read any books on the subject or even spoke to the Ethopian Jews themselves. While their may be issues with their lineage, recent intermarriage is definetely not the issue. There was very very little intermarriage and who ever did was thrown out of the community and shunned forever.
Why is it that whenever one of the “Lithuanian” Rabbis gives a Psak, it’s as if there never was, is or will be other opinions. It’s my way or..
I can’t think of a better place to convert than E.Y.
Reb Moshe ruled the same way
Why are they letting the Mura into Israel? It will only cause problems.
Great Idea. Why don’t we all convert? I mean there is nothing wrong with forcing a born Jew to convert. But letting a non Jew from Europe practically orthodoxy in Europe without conversion. Great job Israel. And Moshe made that ruling long before he had information on the genetics of Ethiopians anon #3.
I wonder if the attitute towards Ethiopians in the Charedi world would be the same if they were Blonds with blue eyes…..
There has been no quality control with halacha for any of the Beta Yisrael for 2000 years. There is no point playing games. Whatever their origins from the Jewish People 2000 or more years ago, the lack of quality control of yichus would require any Orthodox Jew marrying them to require conversion to ensure their commitment to Shulchan Aruch. Plain and simple.
Something was lost in the translation of this article. What the rabbis (Probably) said was that they have to go through Giyur “l’Chumra”. Which is just the opposite of what the article implies. “l’Chumra”, means that someone does something (or goes through a process) even though he does not really have to do it. Which is the opposite of “Strict”.
Number 1: I could write something very insulting but I won’t I am very very sure you do not know Rav Eisenstein or you would have never never made such a comment. First of all he is from AMerica and is a big big talmud Chochum. Why don’t you go to Mier
Yeshiva and see how the Gadol learns and after that maybe ask him personally for an appology. A Gadol make a name for himself through he learning not by somebody else saying he should be a Gadol. He is the address on conversions. I have speak to him many time with people who have problem conversion and he is the one to answer for all klal Yisrael. It is a big big weight to carry to pasken whether somebody needs to convert or not. He does not take any case lightly. If you tell a person to convert and has children the problem get bigger. The reform and conservative have
only make the problem more complex and worst. I know of children who grew up thinking they were Jewish and only learned in Eretz Yisrael Yeshivas and only when they went to get married discover they were not Jewish; for some it was easy and some it was devasting. This Gadol knows the weight of his discussions
My point was that there was almost 0% intermarriage in the Falasha community, this article seems to imply there was. The Israeli Rabbis seem to be making it much much easier for Russians then for Falashas. How many Ashkenazim have proof of their Yichus? very few. 90% of European Jewry pre-war was NOT orthodox. the most orthodox Historian, Berel Wein states only 10% of the Jews who died in the camps were orthodox. How many of them are descendents of intermarriage or out of marriage and faith, probably more then a few. Yet, no one will ever say these things out loud.
It is known that the Crusades raped everyone they came across and their is plenty of Teshuvot of the Rishonim discussing these children who were for the most part abondaned by their families but many eventually stayed within the community and can be our ancestors.
There shoudl eb no double standard for Halacha, if a Jew has a chazakah of staying kosher, it should apply across the board.
Ain hachi nami, they should convert, and so should everyone else. We’ve been in galus for a very long time and there is more than a reyasa that there are non-Jews living as Jews in the religious world….they’re called Hungarians!
What proof do most of the Cohanim today have?
With all of the pograms anywhere Jews lived, including Sephardic Jews, who knows how many Jews walking around today with beards and peyos are really Jews.
Let me see know, wasn’t there someone in a European country, about 70-80 years ago who had hang-ups about Jewish yichus? And didn’t that person have an obsession about people with blond hair and blue eyes?
Funny how history might just be repeating itself!
Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef says they are Jews, period. And he has the mesorah in his side: First, he follows Radvaz on the status of Ethiopians who claim to be Jewish. Second, conversos who escaped from Spain and Portugal to the Netherlands were never required to convert. We used to call people who pasken against rishonim without any other rishon to rely on and ignore hundreds of years of practice Conservative Rabbis.