Israel's Supreme Court To Decide Legality Of Haredi Conversion Revocations

Can haredi judges sitting on Israel's state-funded rabbinic courts void conversions done by the state Conversion Authority?

Israel's High Court of Justice (Supreme Court) is about to make that decision, as…

…the Jerusalem Post reports:
Court to decide on rejected conversions
By DAN IZENBERG

Do the rabbinical courts have the right to reject conversions approved by independent religious courts recognized by the state and the chief rabbis of Israel? That question will now be decided by the High Court of Justice as a result of a petition filed Thursday by attorney Susan Weiss of the Center for Justice for Women, who represents 15 petitioners.

The High Court will have to decide whether to accept or reject decisions made by haredi-controlled rabbinical courts that nullified the Jewishness of a woman who converted 15 years ago and all conversions conducted by Rabbi Haim Druckman, the head of the Conversion Authority in the Prime Minister's Office, since 1999.

The rabbinical court rulings has triggered infuriated reactions by religious Zionist political and spiritual leaders who regard the special conversion courts headed by Druckman as more tolerant than the haredi-controlled rabbinical courts.

Druckman, a leading figure in Orthodox Zionism, is head of a system of special courts established by the government in 1995 to authorize conversions. They were established because government leaders were persuaded that the rabbinical courts, which also preside over conversion requests, were too strict in their demands and that as a result, many non-Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union were unwilling to convert.

The petitioners in the case brought by Weiss include the woman whose conversion was nullified and her three children, the Na'amat women's labor Zionist movement, the WIZO-Women's International Zionist Organization, the Emunah National Religious Women's Organization and several NGOs trying to improve the situation of women in the rabbinical courts.

The petition is aimed at Dayan (Religious Court Judge) Avraham Attia, a member of the Ashdod Rabbinical Court, and Dayanim Avraham Sherman, Hagai Eiserer and Avraham Scheinfeld of the Higher Rabbinical Court.

The case began when the Danish-born woman and her sabra husband filed for an uncontested divorce in the Ashdod Rabbinical Court. According to Weiss, the matter should have been a simple one since the couple had agreed in advance on the divorce terms. Instead, Attia asked the woman a question or two about her religious observance and then ruled on February 22, 2007, that the woman was not Jewish because her conversion had been invalid. Since she was not Jewish, she could not have been married in a religious court and therefore did not need a divorce.

"Attia devoted eight pages of the nine-page decision to a crass diatribe against the woman and Rabbi Haim Druckman," Weiss said. "He used language unfit for any person, let alone a dayan."

On April 22, 2007, the couple appealed the lower court decision to the Higher Rabbinical Court.

The woman's rabbinical court pleader argued that the Ashdod court had exceeded its authority by nullifying her conversion, that a single dayan had overruled a decision to convert the woman made by three dayanim, that nullifying the conversion violated religious law and that Attia could not disqualify Druckman's court without giving him a chance to defend himself.

But according to Weiss, the Higher Rabbinical Court "ignored all the arguments raised in the appeal and dealt only with the question of whether the woman was observant."

In an interim decision, the Higher Rabbinical Court granted the couple a divorce but added that this did not reflect on the question of whether the woman was Jewish. Then, in February, during a conference including dayanim and others, Sherman, the presiding dayan in the appeal hearing, distributed a draft of the court's final 49-page decision. The decision itself was handed down only two months later.

The court ruled that the Jewishness of the woman and her children was in doubt and needed to be re-examined, that the family should be added to the list of people who may not marry for the time being, that all Druckman's conversion decisions since 1999 should be canceled, and that marriage registrars not register a convert who does not look observant from his or her external appearance.

According to Weiss, the language used in the Higher Rabbinical Court decision was also insulting. She included several quotes such as, "These [special conversion] courts are responsible for the fact that nothing will be left of the Jewish people," and, "The rabbi whose name begins with sin," a play on words because the word "chet" means "sin" while the letter "chet" is the first letter in Druckman's first name, Haim.

Weiss told The Jerusalem Post that the woman whose conversion was nullified approached the the Center for Justice for Women in the wake of the Higher Rabbinical Court decision. However, because the rabbinical decisions went much farther than the case of the woman itself by delegitimizing a court system established by the state and endorsed by the two chief rabbis, she finds herself defending the special courts and, by extension, the religious Zionist movement itself.

According to Weiss, the case highlights many of the faults of the rabbinical courts. "They have no concept of due process or fairness, and they display no sensitivity to those who come before them," she said.

And you can see more proof of that here.

Comments

[rabbidw]

I had been told that the husband did not want to pay alimony and that prompted this outrageous ruling. No court rules outside of the case unless it wants to. This ruling was a declaration of war against the Laws of the State of Israel. Israel should be (it is not, but that is a rant for another time) a democracy and not compel religious beliefs, but if a judge cannot observe the Laws of the State that pays him he should resign or be fired.

Of course, if the Court rules against the revocations, it won't matter because "everyone knows" that the real reason the Court ruled against it is because the Israeli Supreme Court is "anti-religious" and "hates Judaism and religious Jews."

Really. That will be the excuse given to ignore the Supreme Court if they decide against.

Now, whether or not the SC will have the guts to rule against them, that we can only wait to find out.

I'll bet Judge Judy wouldn't be afraid of those "rabbis."

[Yochanan Lavie]

A seperation of shul and state will be better for religion and better for the State. Privatize now!

[steve]

Fugitive convicted child rapist nabbed in England.

http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m11s18&SecId=18&AId=60505&ATypeId=1

[Nigritude Ultramarine]

Amar Threatens to Resign Over Druckman

[Yochanan Lavie]

My respect for Amar is growing every day. (Not that he would care).

Nigritude: You da man (woman?)

[Charedi - not!]

It would be ironic and fitting if the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that not only had the Rabbinic Court overstepped its bounds, but that the State must recognize any conversion performed by any of the movements (Orthodox, Masorti and Progressive). Maybe then they would learn to keep their mouths shut

[Dave]

Kol Hakavod Rabbi Amar !
As they say "where there are no men, strive to be a man."
Finally he stepped up to the plate.

[Shmarya]

Don't get too excited.

Read the article carefully. No real direct quotes and no real sources.

Plus that, all Amar "said" is that, if Rabbi Druckman is fired, Amar would CONSIDER resigning.

[Waiting for the verdict]

It would be ironic and fitting if the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that not only had the Rabbinic Court overstepped its bounds, but that the State must recognize any conversion performed by any of the movements (Orthodox, Masorti and Progressive). Maybe then they would learn to keep their mouths shut

Oh, yes. They should do this.

The SC should have done this years ago, but now would be the perfect opportunity.

The could say that they had to review the standards for a conversion, and according to their findings, not only were Druckman's okay, but so also were those of the other movements.

[Isa]

Israel should have parallel religious court systems
Cheredi
Sephardi
Normative
M.O
Conservative
and the Cheredi can chumrot themselves to death

[Dave]

The problem is with this bizarre symbiosis Ultra-Orthodox Judaism and the rest of Judaism have with each other. Most sofrim are at least Orthodox, if not Ultra-Orthodox. All Jews who belong to a congregation want to have a Sefer Torah. Who are the scribes? Orthodox or Ultra-Orthodox?
Same thing goes for talitot, tefillin, etc. Same thing goes for kashrut.
However, when it comes to money for their causes, the Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox have no hesitation asking the most Reform, even atheist Jews for money. Suddenly people whom they would never mix with socially become kosher.
The solution to all this is that
1) All factions of Judaism (including Reform) train scribes, tefillin and talit and tzit makers, mohelim, etc.
2) the Ultra-Orthodox should follow the modern Orthodox and get regular jobs.
Problem solved. End of bizarre symbiosis.

[Rabbi Michael Samuel]

Israel's Supreme Court To Decide Legality Of Haredi Conversion Revocations

Can haredi judges sitting on Israel's state-funded rabbinic courts void conversions done by the state Conversion Authority?>>
…
I am convinced the Israeli Supreme Court will rule in favor of the innocent here. This court does not strike me as a court that can be bought with political favors.

Voiding conversions is against the Shulchan Aruch and the Halacha and has been since Late Antiquity. The rule of law must triumph over the rule of chaos.

[Ariel Sokolovsky www.Moshiach.ws]

B"H

It would be ironic and fitting if the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that not only had the Rabbinic Court overstepped its bounds, but that the State must recognize any conversion performed by any of the movements (Orthodox, Masorti and Progressive). Maybe then they would learn to keep their mouths shut

Oh, yes. They should do this.

The SC should have done this years ago, but now would be the perfect opportunity.

The could say that they had to review the standards for a conversion, and according to their findings, not only were Druckman's okay, but so also were those of the other movements.

Posted by: Waiting for the verdict | June 06, 2008 at 12:46 PM

Israel should have parallel religious court systems
Cheredi
Sephardi
Normative
M.O
Conservative
and the Cheredi can chumrot themselves to death

Posted by: Isa | June 06, 2008 at 05:15 PM

I hope they are not stupid enough to recognize
reform conversions.
I'm sure they still remember the Mubarak Awad scandal:
A. The present 'Law of Return' as a SECURITY-RISK for the State of Israel: The Mubarak Awad Scandal
As far as this case itself I think they will recognize each rabbis right to recognize or not recognize any convert as a Jew same way rabbi Amar ruled regarding that case of Chabad Mashichist bochur who was refused giur le'chumra by religioua Zionist judges on a Jerusalem Beis Din (and allowed by the Chareidi judges)and same way as rabbanut ruled on shmita leaving the authority in the hands of the rebbi of each city etc.

[rebitzman]

++I hope they are not stupid enough to recognize
reform conversions.++

Ariel - the State of Israel DOES recognize them. It's the Cheredi that don't.

Frankly - my hope is that they reject the idea that Messianics of ANY ilk have any business being in the country.

[Ariel Sokolovsky www.Moshiach.ws]

B"H

++I hope they are not stupid enough to recognize
reform conversions.++

Ariel - the State of Israel DOES recognize them. It's the Cheredi that don't.

Frankly - my hope is that they reject the idea that Messianics of ANY ilk have any business being in the country.

Posted by: rebitzman | June 08, 2008 at 12:23 PM

Unfortunately it does recognize those performed outside the country for the purposes of law of return but not as far as personal status goes.

Frankly - my hope is that they reject the idea that Messianics of ANY ilk have any business being in the country.
Do you include in that people who believe that the state of Israel itself and it's government is an embodiment of "Moshiach ben Yosef"?
That would include of R. Druckman and the like.
PS. by the way your last comment shows how strong your commitment to freedom of religion and democracy in Israel ...:-)

[rebitzman]

++Do you include in that people who believe that the state of Israel itself and it's government is an embodiment of "Moshiach ben Yosef"?++

No - just those morons who think a dead guy qualifies.

++Unfortunately it does recognize those performed outside the country for the purposes of law of return but not as far as personal status goes.++

Only in certain neighborhoods - I assure you our converts are living full lives as citizens and Jews in the State of Israel.