Jerusalem – High Court Strikes Another Blow Against Chief Rabbinate Monopoly On Religious Life

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    Jerusalem – In what is yet another strike against the religious establishment in Israel, the High Court of Justice ruled on Thursday afternoon that private Orthodox conversions conducted in Israel should be recognized by the state for eligibility for citizenship under the Law of Return.

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    The decision will without doubt unleash a fresh political conflict, with the haredi leadership already declaring that it will seek to circumvent the ruling through legislation, a step which will itself further destabilize a government already rocking from disagreements on religion and state issues.

    Thursday’s ruling joins another recent High Court decision allowing non-Orthodox converts the use of public mikvas, along with the government’s agreement with the non-Orthodox movements to create a pluralist prayer section at the Western Wall, as another blow to the Orthodox establishment’s dominance over religious life in the country.

    The significance of the ruling is not so much in the implications for non-Israeli nationals who convert in Israel, but for the legitimacy of non-state Orthodox conversions performed in the country in general.

    It could also impact the eligibility of non-Orthodox converts in Israel to gain the right to Israeli citizenship, something they are currently not granted.

    The ITIM organization, which filed the petition with the court three years ago, hailed the ruling as a breakthrough for the recognition of private Orthodox converts as Jewish by the state, which has not been granted until now, and for possible future recognition by the chief rabbinate.

    The religious establishment however denounced the ruling as gross interference of the court into religious matters, and destructive to the chief rabbinate, with Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef condemning it as “outrageous,” and a step that would destroy the state’s conversion system.

    United Torah Judaism leaders Health Minister Yaakov Litzman and MK Moshe Gafni declared immediately that they would demand legislation to “preserve the Jewish people” and protect the status quo on religious issues.

    ITIM estimates that there were some 200 conversions a year through a small number of non-state Orthodox rabbinical courts in Israel before 2015, including haredi courts, which conversion applicants approach for a variety of reasons.

    Until now, anyone converting through these courts has not been afforded the the right to Israeli citizenship under the law of return by the Interior Ministry, but Thursday’s ruling will now change this situation.

    Additionally, it seems inevitable that, through the force of the ruling, the Interior Ministry will have to register private Orthodox converts as Jewish in the population registry, which it has not done until now, since the ruling recognizes them as Jewish for the purposes of obtaining citizenship.

    Its greatest and most significant impact is likely to be in the future however, and regarding the general legitimacy of Orthodox, non-state conversions, and the attitude of the chief rabbinate to such converts.

    National-religious activists have for many years campaigned to make the state conversion system more accessible and effective, so as to increase conversion rates among the 300,000 strong community of immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are not Jewish according to Jewish law, halacha, and thereby prevent the phenomenon of Jewish inter-marriage with people who would otherwise be halachically non-Jewish.

    Last year however, a group of senior rabbis from the sector gave up on this campaign and established a new, non-state Orthodox conversion system, Giyur Kahalacha, to increase conversion rates for amongst the 300,000 strong community of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who are not Jewish according to Jewish law, halacha.

    In the wake of Thursday’s ruling, these activists proclaimed that the decision represented a precedent which would pave the way for state recognition of Giyur Kahalacha converts, who already number more than 150 people.

    ITIM director Rabbi Seth Farber explained further that if these converts are registered as Jewish in the Interior Ministry, it will be increasingly difficult for the chief rabbinate to refuse to register them for marriage, since it will have to declare by what criteria it permits Jewish marriage.

    Since Giyur Kahalacha is run by Orthodox rabbis with rabbinical ordination from the chief rabbinate, including a senior and respected arbiter of Jewish law, it will be hard to create criteria that include state converts for marriage registration but not private Orthodox converts.

    “This is a game changer for conversion in Israel, because it says black and white that the chief rabbinate does not have a monopoly on conversion in the Jewish state,” said ITIM director Rabbi Seth Farber.

    “This paves the way for hundreds of converts who converted through Giyur Kahalacha to be registered as full Jews in Israel.Over the coming months we hope to engage both the government and the chief rabbinate to address how Giyur Kahlacha’s conversions can be recognized by it for the purposes of marriage.”

    The Ne’emanei Torah Va’Avodah welcome the ruling and called on the government to formalize the standing of private conversion courts.

    MK Elazar Stern, who battled fiercely for conversion reforms in the last government, called the decision “a day of celebration for the Jewish people,” and a strike against “extremism”

    “The High Court ruling recognizing conversions done through private courts is great news for the State of Israel, the fight against assimilation, and for those choosing not to convert through the alienating conversion courts of the chief rabbinate,” said the MK

    “It is important to emphasize that the High Court ruling is a direct result of the repeal of the conversion law that I passed in the previous Knesset, which was canceled in the blink of an eye, when the coalition agreements were signed.”

    In their, ruling the High Court justices wrote that the state’s refusal to recognize private conversions for the purposes of Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return discriminated agains those converting outside of Israel, which are also clearly not state conversions, and those converting inside Israel.

    They also argued against the state’s central contention that the state conversion authority alone can prevent the exploitation of the Law of Return, should someone with ulterior motives wish to convert in order to gain citizenship.

    “Exploitation of the conversion process should be prevented,” wrote Supreme Court Chief Justice Miriam Naor. “But I do not think that this [the state conversion authority] is the only way to guarantee to the sincerity of a convert,” she continued, arguing that it is unreasonable for a convert, after an exhaustive conversion process through an Orthodox court and now living a religious life, to be denied the right to live in the Jewish state.

    Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef condemned the ruling as “outrageous,” and said that “pirate conversions,” in reference to private conversions, have no state inspection and therefore cannot be recognized by the state in any way.

    “The State of Israel operates a state conversion system which works with appropriate standards and in a welcoming manner that is designed to provide a solution for the general population of the state. This [court] recognition will to all intents and purposes lead to the collapse of the state conversion authority.

    Religious Services Minister David Azoulai also condemned the ruling saying that “the High Court is trying to underline the Jewish foundations of and is harming the state conversion system and the chief rabbinate.”

    Litzman and Gafni said that the court had overstepped its boundaries and was destroy the Jewish character of the state.

    “The High Court of Justice has recorded for itself in history the destruction of Judaism in the state,” the two said in a joint statement.
    “The Israeli public from the all sectors and communities, sees the devious iniquities of the High Court justices as part of destructive course of the destruction of religion in Israel. We will demand an amendment of the law through legislation to preserve the Jewish people the protect the status quo which has been customary for many years, in the sensitive field of conversions.”

    And Deputy Defense Minister and Bayit Yehudi MK Eli Ben-Dahan also criticized the ruling, saying that the court would not agree to the privatisation of a state authority in any other realm other than the religious one.

    “We returned to our land in order to build a state with state institutions, as opposed to the situation in our exile where every rabbi stood by himself,” said Ben Dahan.

    “It is strange that when it comes to halachic issues, it is possible to establish private rabbinical courts whose conversions the state will recognize. This is a severe ruling which undermines the foundations of the state.”


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    4 Comments
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    happypappy
    happypappy
    7 years ago

    Next the high court will decide if certain days we say tachnun

    asmy01
    asmy01
    7 years ago

    Israeli Aryan Supreme Court Chief Justice Rabbi Miriam Naor declared ,that other elements in the society be given the ability to perform conversions, in accordance with their agendas, But this would open the opportunity for Arabs to perform mass conversions, under the auspices of Rabbi Machmood Abbas, and take over the land,

    7 years ago

    This ruling, as I understand it from the report, has impact in seemingly opposite ways. Let’s examine the circus of a conversion process in US that was run by ostensibly “orthodox” rabbis, with blind haskamos from other known rabbis. It turned out to be a major hoax, with the director being basically ostracized for being a full fledged menuval, and completely untrustworthy. He is gone now. But there are other rogue batei din who conduct geirus, gittin, and other matters, who are totally corrupt, dishonest, and conniving. Many readers here know who they are. But they bear the orthodox label, despite being liars and cheats. If I read correctly, this ruling would have an effect on “orthodox” batei din. I’m no big fan of the Israeli rabbinate, but there needs to be a system that disqualifies those who use the label but do not “walk the walk”.

    Reuvan_Nuchem
    Reuvan_Nuchem
    7 years ago

    Anything the government does to separate itself from the Jewish identity is good!