Tel-Chai Nation

The suprme court ruled that Reform/Conservative Judaist conversions must be recognized by the state:

Israel’s High Court of Justice sparked controversy on Monday with a landmark ruling on non-Orthodox conversion, evoking outrage on the right and accolades from the left.

Right-wing parties panned the decision ordering the state to recognize Reform and Conservative conversions as a move that undermines Israel’s Jewish character, while their left-wing counterparts praised it as a move promoting equality among all the denominations in Judaism.

Likud condemned the ruling, saying that “the High Court made a decision that endangers the Law of Return, which is a cornerstone of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Only a vote for Likud will ensure a stable right-wing government that will return sovereignty to the people and the Knesset.”

I don't like it any more than most others, if only because the Reform sect, if anybody, is pro-Islam, anti-Zionist, and even condones LGBT ideology at the expense of societal cohesion. I think the most aggravating thing is how anybody seems to want to get fast-tracked citizenship here, in contrast to other countries where they'd presumably have no issue waiting a few years to qualify for citizenship. With that said, somebody's mentioned in this article who's unqualified to speak on the issue:

Yamina leader Naftali Bennett accused the High Court of “intervening in government decisions and forgetting its role.”

It should be noted that rabbi David Stav of Tzohar last year accused Yamina of ignoring issues like these, so I think Bennett's just full of hot air here, and I don't think his alleged defense a decade ago of a religious girl singing stemmed from genuine concern or altruism. Certainly not considering the way he's been acting lately.

And now, it brings us to the following: a rabbi named David Ben-Nissan commented on the subject:

Article 4B in the Law of Return clearly states that "for the purposes of this Law, 'Jew' means a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion."

This language is not incidental. In fact, for over 50 years the State of Israel recognizance Reform and Conservative conversions performed overseas, provided that they were performed within a recognized community, and those who chose this path are entitled to immigrate to Israel and become citizens.

What the High Court of Justice did was declare that such conversions stand when performed in Israel as well, thus undermining the ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate's exclusivity in the matter.

The danger here is that Reform and Conservative conversions would be abused; that they would become a system of fast-tracking the naturalization of refugees and foreign laborers currently living in Israel.

As someone who guides people through the conversion process, I receive such inquiries daily from foreign laborers who profess their "great love for Judaism." When I explain to them that private conversion will not grant them citizenship, I never hear from them again. Now, there may be a path to citizenship based on an imaginary process that requires nothing from them.

On this, there's definitely a valid concern. Obviously, it's not that the foreign workers, if possibly illegal immigrants, really care for Judaism save for using it as a shield for seeking refuge here they don't deserve. And if the anti-Zionists in the Reform sect were to aid them, that could be very bad.

Lawmakers and aspiring parliamentarians would be wise to replace their outcries with actions. The court has left the door open from legislative amendments, and if the state so desires it could find a way to counter the ruling.

It's also something voters can have their say upon. All that said, I don't think the Haredis should be overseeing anything regarding conversion, considering how much corruption is in their communities these days. What I do think is that folks like rabbi Stav should oversee them, certainly if they don't rely on overly stringent customs like the Haredis do. Of course, maybe that's why the Law of Return has to be overhauled considerably, so that it won't be too much different from other countries in the end. Then there could be an improvement.

Labels: haredi corruption, immigration, Israel, Judaism, Knesset, Moonbattery