Here’s an opinion piece about the recent Israeli rabbinical ruling declaring possibly thousands of Orthodox (Hebrew: Dati; Yiddish: Frum) conversions invalid. (Thanks to Steg for the link).
Harry Maryles warns, “Are you a convert to Judaism? Think again!"
Steg also links to Marc Shapiro’s New York Jewish Week article asking whether there’s going to be a schism in the Orthodox community—and indicating that it might be necessary.
Rabbis Marc Angel and Avi Weiss must be clairvoyant—they founded the new International Rabbinic Fellowship just last week. Actually, they seem to have been headed in that direction already, as this quote from the linked article indicates: "“Avi and Marc have come to feel increasingly disenfranchised,” one rabbi said, “and the conversion issue put them over the top."
ADDeRabbi, a former American now living in Modiin, said of the Israeli rabbinate, “I haven't discussed the current giyur [conversion] issue because I've been trying to get a copy of R' Sherman's psak din [roughly, ruling on a question of halachah/Jewish religious law]. In the meantime, I can't help but think that maybe THIS will be the crisis that finally precipitates a Religious-Zionist austritt." Methinks we'll be hearing more from the Israeli outreach rabbinical organization Tzohar as well--I can't remember where I read this, but I think there's been previous talk of Tzohar acting independently of the official state rabbinate.
This rabbinical ruling is frightening. As I said in my comments to a post of my own that’s almost two years old (sorry about the no-longer-functioning link in that post):
". . . if, as the ADDeRabbi asserts, the real issue is that a significant group of chareidi [fervently Orthodox] rabbis consider only chareidi rabbis to be real rabbis, then . . . it stands to reason that, if non-chareidi *rabbis* aren't consider to be real *rabbis,* then non-chareidi *Jews* aren't considered to be real *Jews.*
. . . Unless a reasonably solution is devised, a) non-chareidi conversions will not be recognized, b) non-chareidi "born" Jews will not be recognized, and c) non-Orthodox Jews, having no Orthodox, much less chareidi, rabbis to vouch for our Jewishness, will not be recognized. In the blink of an eye, the chareidi rabbinate of Israel will have written off as non-Jewish roughly 95% of American Jews."
Now, even those converted by
Israeli Orthodox rabbis aren't "safe."
Don't say I didn't warn you that the rightward turn of Orthodox Judaism would affect all of us, Orthodox and non-Orthodox. At this point, I'm frankly hoping that there will, indeed, be a schism within the Orthodox community, both in Israel and elsewhere.
In case you think it's unmitigated chutzpah (gall) for a non-Orthodox Jew to hope for a schism within Orthodox Judaism, please remember that I have a personal stake in the outcome of the conversion crisis, as I said in a comment to that two-year-post of mine:
"Please excuse me for taking this personally, but the last person in my family to live and die Orthodox was my greatgrandmother, so our son has no Orthodox rabbi to vouch for his Jewishness. In addition, my Israeli nieces and nephew are the children of a Jew by choice. Her conversion was under the auspices of an American Orthodox rabbi. I fear that the fact that said [rabbi] was approved by the Israeli rabbinate *at that time* might not suffice to protect her children from being declared non-practicing Protestants.
My nightmare scenario #1: Within the next 15 years, my nieces and nephew are each, in turn, rejected for marriage by the Israeli rabbinate (their parents having made aliyah only weeks after the wedding). Each chooses to raise her/his kids as totally secular Israelis.
[Said Marc Shapiro in
the aforementioned New York Jewish Week article, "I was struck by how, in his lengthy ruling attacking Rabbi Druckman’s conversions, the haredi [fervently Orthodox] dayan [judge] relies on the halachic [Jewish law] decisions of a well-known posek [decisor on matters of halachah/Jewish law] who serves the anti-Zionist Edah Haredit. In other words, the writings of one who believes that the creation of the State of Israel was a terrible sin — and who clearly has no sympathy with the goal of helping ease the conversion of sincere non-Jewish immigrants — is helping guide the decisions of a dayan who works for the Israeli government and is supposed to have the best interests of the State at heart."]
My nightmare scenario #2: My son's fiancee having decided, after very serious deliberation, to chose Judaism, they go to an Israeli-rabbinate-approved Orthodox rabbi to begin the process. Instead of addressing my son's fiancee, the rabbi grills my son about his Jewish identity, rejecting our ketubah [Jewish wedding contract] as proof. My son storms out, enraged, and our only grandchildren are raised Roman Catholic.
Result: In 20 years, there won't be a practicing Jew left in the family, and all of my parents' descendants will be (considered) Christian."
The most right-wing and anti-Zionist of the chareidim have rejected the rest of the Jewish People. Maybe it's time for the rest of the Jewish People to reject the most right-wing and anti-Zionist of the chareidim.