Religious Zionist Rabbis Move To Break Haredi Monopoly Over Conversion

45 Religious Zionist rabbis affiliated with Tzohar have agreed to set up conversion courts independent of the Chief Rabbinate in an attempt to break the haredi monopoly – and haredi stonewalling – over conversion. More than that, at least one of these rabbis is a chief rabbi of a city and can order the city's religious council to register the marriages of these converts and  their future children – and this he promises to do. If Tzohar can pull this off it will destroy the Chief Rabbinate. Why? Without a monopoly on all areas of Jewish life, the Chief Rabbinate is rendered impotent. Choice and competition will effectively destroy it.

The Rabbinut is coercive rather than instructive. Its years of bad behavior under often corrupt haredi leadership has distanced it from the people it is meant to serve.

So what happens if the Rabbinut falls? If you're Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the so-called leader of all non-hasidic haredim, you win, just as you win if the Tzohar attempt fails.

Why?

Because Rabbi Elyashiv wants either a compliant Rabbinut under his complete control or an irrelevant Rabbinut stripped of its power and meaning.

No matter how this Tzohar gambit plays out, Rabbi Elyashiv wins – with one difference. An irrelevant Rabbinut weakens Rabbi Elyashiv's power and loosens his corrosive grip on Israeli society. And that, despite its potential drawbacks, is a worthwhile and necessary goal.

May we see it soon and in ours days.

Comments

[Garnel Ironheart]

I put something like this on my blog a while ago when the "elections" to the Rabbanut were fixed by Rav Ovadiah Yosef.

To wit: The Chareidim don't recognize the Rabbanut's authority (when was the last time someone Chareidi ate in a place where the hashgacha was just "rabbanut"?). They don't follow any p'sak the so-called Chief Rabbi might come out with. As many (including FM) have noted, the Rabbanut has evolved into an authority that the Chareidi community uses to control the religious lives of other Israelis.

It would make far more sense for Tzohar to establish a new Rabbanut controlled exclusively by Mizrachi to avoid any Chareidi influence. There may be a divide between Mizrachi and Chiloni cultures but the two are a lot closer than Chareidim and Chilonim. Maybe this is a first step in that direction.

[The Monsey Tzadik]

This is definitely a positive development. Something to stop beheima Leib Tropper of Monsey (400 pounds and growing!).

Tropper is known to void conversions of converts whe refused to move to Ultra-Orthodox community they wanted to stay in Modern Orthodox community, converts who refused to drop out of college and converts who got caught not covering their one hair once.

[The Monsey Tzadik]

This is from Haaretz where even Rav Ovadia Yoseph had enough of Lom-Lom Elyashiv and his thugs and grew some balls.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/913196.html

Hot Tip The Heilige UOJ

[justayid]

sounds like good news all around.

[splisner]

Unfortunately,they can not legally do it. Under Israeli law all jurisdiction, that is ALL jurisdiction concerning personal status including giyur is in the hands of the Chief Rabbinate through their standing batei din. That is the law. The Chief Rabbinate or the official government appointed Batei Din can agree to honor actions by other third party Batei Din if they wish (subcontractors? but do not have to. That is why the Chareidim can go to their own batei din. The Chief Rabbinute has since the founding of the state looked the other way and recognized their maasei Beit Din as official. But the Chief Rabbinate must agree.

No local city Rabbi in Israel can perform giyur which the government must acknowledge even if the Rabbi is recognized to do weddings or issue hechsherei kashrut. That is also why the same Tzohar attempt to set up an alternate hechsher for shemitah will have no official effect either.

True if the people of Israel rise up and demand change, change may happen through the Knesset or through back door agreements with the Rabbanut but no unilateral action by Tzelem will have official effect.

It is good that they are doing it though to raise the public profile of the issues and to show that there still are some somewhat normal Orthodox Rabbis.

Things can change but I doubt it.

[Mordecai]

Who is a Jew and who is not a Jew? There is much power in writing the rules of the game. The Karaites for example make a rather persuasive argument for patrilineal descent. This is based primarily on the fact that all descent in the Bible goes according to the male line and that the matrilineal concept of descent was a creation of Rabbinite Judaism. Therefore an Israeli soldier dies in a fire-fight. His mother was not Jewish but his father was. So he could not be buried in a Jewish cemetery. SHONDER!!!!! I suppose according to the Karaite view he could be but then could not be according to the Karaites if his father was a non-Jew. While we Jews alienate each other over bubameisers like whether there should be a blue thread in Tzit-Tzit many in the world want to destroy us. When I think of manly Jews who put down the Talmud to pick up a gun in the protection of Israel in 1948 and other Arab-Israeli wars I am humbled and embarassed by out religious partisan bickering.

[Yochanan Lavie]

The Karaites for example make a rather persuasive argument for patrilineal descent. This is based primarily on the fact that all descent in the Bible goes according to the male line and that the matrilineal concept of descent was a creation of Rabbinite Judaism.

However, in Shemot there is a matriarchal Jews with an Egyptian father who is stoned for being mechalel shabbat. So both patriarchal and matriarchal descent is accepted. I would accept either p or m Jews if they affiliated Jewishly, but not if they didn't. This is one of the few issues I actually agree with Reform on. However, the Reform decision is very divisive and threatens to break apart what's left of the Jewish people. So as a purely practical matter I support the MO position.

[Mordecai]

In response to my brother Yochanan Lavie I provide the following tragi-comical joke:

A Jew is ship wrecked on a dessert island. He is the only person on this island. He builds two shuls. When the search parties find him 10 years later they are amazed that he built two shuls and asked why he had done that. He responded that the shul on the north side of the island is the one he prays in and the shul on the south side of the island is the one he will never step foot into.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Mordecai: Thanks. (LOL).

[HAREDI JEW]

THEY SHOULD BURN AT STAKE ALL HAREDI JEWES
(THAT IS YOUR REAL WISH)
WITH G-D'S HELP THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN

[HAREDI JEW]

THEY SHOULD BURN AT STAKE ALL HAREDI JEWES
(THAT IS YOUR REAL WISH)
WITH G-D'S HELP THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN

[Lev]

Monsey Tzaddik, thanks for reminding about Tropppers.