Israeli Bureaucracy's New Rules Keep Diaspora Converts Out

“We want to safeguard the quality of the Judaism."

New rules have Diaspora converts waiting on Israel
By Dina Kraft

TEL AVIV (JTA) -- M., a 35-year-old American woman who has been living an Orthodox lifestyle for years, thought she was doing everything right.

She studied Judaism in Los Angeles, had her conversion approved there and moved to Israel to officially start her life as a Jew.

But then, she says, the Israeli Interior Ministry changed the rules on her.

Five months after arriving here, M. is still awaiting Israeli citizenship despite being eligible under the Law of Return, which guarantees Jews worldwide the right to Israeli citizenship.

“The Interior Ministry has so many rules, and they keep changing," said M., who asked not to be identified by name for fear it would jeopardize her bid for Israeli citizenship. "Everyone you speak to there gives a different story for what you need. "It seems people like me are kept deliberately in the dark.”

M., a professor of Chinese literature who is married to an Israeli, is one of a growing number of recent converts to Judaism from the Diaspora running into problems in Israel due to a new set of protocols at the Interior Ministry.

Critics say the new rules are too stringent and are disenfranchising Diaspora Jewish communities that approve the conversions, ultimately making it harder than ever for converts from the Diaspora to immigrate to Israel. Supporters say the new rules are meant to separate genuine converts from those interested in little more than a quick path to Israeli citizenship.

The new regulations are the latest chapter in the long-running battle over who is a Jew -- a question that repeatedly has strained Diaspora-Israel relations.

According to the new regulations -- they have not been approved officially but already are being employed, according to advocates who deal with converts -- converts to Judaism from the Diaspora must remain for at least nine months before and after their conversions in the community where they converted before they can immigrate to Israel.

The rules also mandate 350 hours of classes and hands-on practice for converts in the Diaspora (modeled on standards set in Israel for its official conversion institute) and bar any convert who has a non-Jewish relative living in Israel and anyone whose stay in Israel was previously deemed illegal for any period of time.

The rules, proposed by the previous interior minister, Meir Sheetrit, are awaiting approval by the attorney general’s office and are being reviewed by the Justice Ministry.

Rabbi Uri Maklev, a Knesset member from the United Torah Judaism party, said through an aide that the rules are meant to protect Israel from those who seek to wrongfully enter as inauthentic Jews.

“We want to safeguard the quality of the Judaism," Maklev said. "There may be many who would like to join, but there are certain standards that need to be maintained and that seems to be the intention of these criteria. Even if one person gets into the country under false pretenses that is a problem, as it can affect generations down the line.”

Critics say the regulations constitute an attempt to wrest control over conversions away from rabbinic authorities in the Diaspora.

“The state has always maintained at least a modicum of respect for the integrity of local Jewish communities. And now, for the first time, in order to protect their immigration policy, they are trying to impose arbitrary standards on the Jewish communities of the Diaspora,” said Shaul Farber, an Orthodox rabbi and founder of the Jerusalem office of the Jewish Life Information Center, which seeks to help Jews navigate the religious bureaucracy in Israel.

“Instead of welcoming converts, Israel seems to be scrutinizing them in a draconian way,” he said. “In my estimation this is something that ought to have the American Jewish community in an uproar.”

M. she said she could not stay in Los Angeles for another nine months after her conversion for financial and personal reasons. She said she had thought she was free to immigrate without any more conditions once a 2005 Israeli Supreme Court panel struck down a one-year waiting period for would-be immigrants following a conversion.

In response to questions from JTA, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Hadad said the new criteria are under review. Hadad did not elaborate on the reasoning behind the new guidelines.

Rabbi Andy Sachs, head of Israel’s Conservative movement, took specific issue with the 350-hour instruction requirement.

“It’s an abuse of power and it essentially creates a papacy headed by the chief rabbis who determine how rabbis abroad must act,” Sachs said. “It completely castrates the authority of the local rabbinic and Jewish communities to make a determination of when a person is ready to become Jewish.”

Israel does not recognize non-Orthodox conversions unless they are conducted abroad. Orthodox conversions are accepted only if they are performed by one of nine specific rabbinical courts in the United States.

This has raised the ire of some American Orthodox rabbis who are publicly questioning why such a narrow band of courts are considered legitimate.

Rabbi Barry Freundel, chairman of the conversion policies and standards committee of the Orthodox Rabbinical Council of America, called it “troubling” to have the Interior Ministry making decisions on conversions.

His colleagues have discussed the issue, Freundel said, but they were unsure with whom to speak because they generally deal with the Chief Rabbinate and these rules are coming from the Interior Ministry.

Among those waiting to become an Israeli is Rachel, a 22-year-old woman whose mother converted to Judaism when Rachel was a child. Rachel grew up in the Jewish community of Budapest and attended a Jewish high school.

She’s been waiting for three years since she moved to Israel after having a Conservative conversion in London.

“I’ve lived my whole life as a Jew,” said Rachel, who has a renewable visa to remain in Israel for now only because her husband is a Jewish American who made aliyah. “It’s very frustrating.”

(JTA staff writer Ben Harris contributed to this report from New York.)

Comments

[MisterApikoros]

When I first discovered this blog, I thought Shmarya was cherry-picking; the Hasidim and non-Hasidic ultra-Orthodox couldn't be this incredibly stupid.

Then, I started reading Vos iz Neias, and if anything, Shmarya underestimated the idiocy of the zillion "anonymous" posters who (1) totally defend even the most ridiculous of the ultra-Orthodox practice, and who curse other Jews who don't, and (2) make apologies for stupid and criminal behavior by Jews because (in their eyes) doing otherwise constitutes "treason" to the Jewish race.

[Dr. Dave]

Just toss out all the letters from these Israeli "gedolim" schnorring for money.

Cut them off.

[alternative childcare]

MrA: This is all true, but why are you so incensed? You have frequently stated that you and all your siblings intermarried and never even considered conversion for the spouses or children?

[pierre]

I know an older couple who were gerim and their kids who made aliyah recently, I should ask how it went for them.

[MisterApikoros]

This issue isn't just about conversion. It's about some idiot 85-year-old mamzer calling himself a rabbi setting himself up as Pope.

If I wanted a Pope, I've have converted to Catholicism long ago.

[Nigritude Ultramarine]

Too bad Ruth doesn't meet these requirements. I say revoke her conversion just to be sure.

What a bunch of asshats.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

well, isn't it what we have been saying for years now:
Bereishis 13:13
יג ואנשי סדם, רעים וחטאים, ליה-ה, מאד

[Itzik]

Rabbi Freuendel and others in the RCA made a very big mistake when they gave away *any* of their autonomy. The Chief Rabbinate itself will never honor its side of the agreement because its very structure doesn't allow it to do so. Plus other government structures like the Interior Ministry are not bound by it in the first place.

Never make a deal with the devil. That's what the Israeli Chief Rabbinate is.

[PulpitRabbi]

Rabbi Freuendel and others in the RCA made a very big mistake when they gave away *any* of their autonomy. The Chief Rabbinate itself will never honor its side of the agreement because its very structure doesn't allow it to do so. Plus other government structures like the Interior Ministry are not bound by it in the first place.

Read the quote, Rabbi Freundel said that the problem is that it is NOT the Chief Rabbinate that is involved here; it's the Interior Ministry.

[Hometown Postville]

Sounds like they are a step and a half away from being as "selective" as another madman in history, Hitler.

[MisterApikoros]

Be careful, Hometown. Don't even mention that name or the self-appointed Simon Wiesenthal of this blog, Alternative Childcare, will be calling you a Nazi.

BTW, I totally agree with you. And the comparison is spot on.

[justayid]

"Israel does not recognize non-Orthodox conversions unless they are conducted abroad. Orthodox conversions are accepted only if they are performed by one of nine specific rabbinical courts in the United States."

Wait, what? The above reads as if there are more restrictions on O rabbis than C. Is there perhaps some confusion?

[Shmarya]

The Rabbinute does not recognize non-Orthodox conversions no matter where they're done. So, whatever the State does doesn't matter.

[Alternative Childcare]

MrA, of course you agree whenever anyone uses the Nazi term. Its your life's fascination, attacking Jews, threatening them with violence, using very foul language, and quoting all sorts of Nazi documents on Jewish sites. There is not a single posting of yours on this site that doesn't fit this description.

On the other hand, Hometown Postville has always appeared as someone who wants to learn about the Jewish world, and I've not come across any violent or offensive statements from him.

[Yonah]

Justayid - it matters for aliyah. I believe Conservative and Reform gerim can make aliyah as Jews, but Orthodox ones have to be recognised by those specific batei din.

[MisterApikoros]

From now on, AC/DC, I'm gonna simply take the advice of those who are more level-headed than I and ignore your posts.

[ah-pee-chorus]

the article left out the most important fact. she has not passed her dirty diaper throwing class. only then will she know the joy of haredi life.

[kathiego]

Is that really correct? Conservative and Reform can make aliyah while the frumsters are stuck in a bad place waiting years in line for citizenship? And apc don't forget the class in spitting, rock throwing, trash burning and causing a "ruckus". So if a Conservative or a Reform wanted to make Aliyah, go to Israel and live they could be citizens or no? Someone clear up my confusion. Thanks. :)

[Yonah]

Kathiego, from my understanding you can live as a citizen, it's just that you're screwed if you need a marriage/divorce/membership in most shuls/etc. It's because Reform and Conservative movements are more or less centralised, so they internally approve everybody who converted under their auspices. But what central organisation will vouch for an Orthodox ger? So they need approval from the Rabbinut or some batei din approved by them.

I could be completely wrong. I've heard tha almost nobody knows the real law regarding this.

[ah-pee-chorus]

kathiego : the spitting, rock throwing, and trash burning classes are for the males. a woman's role is limited to the dirty diapers.

[kathiego]

Let's say if someone who was reform or conservative moves to Israel, right? and then, God forbid, their husband or wife dies and later on, they wish to marry someone else who is also the same milieu they are such as marrying another reform or conservative. Could they get married or no? Or do they have to convert to Orthodox but neither of them is Orthodox... ?? What if they want to marry someone that's not recognized by the Charedi such as Modern Orthodox? Thank you.

[Yonah]

Not that I'm an expert, and someone please correct me if I'm missing something, but...

If the person they want to marry is another non-Rabbinut-recognised convert, it's theoretically okay, because they're both "not Jewish" (sigh) and so fall out of the Rabbinut's jurisdiction. The new problem is, there is no civil marriage, so who's going to perform it? Jewish is out, because if you're "gentile" you can't have a Jewish marriage, which is controlled by the Rabbinut. Christian and Muslim are both obviously out also. So I guess you'd have to go outside the country anyway to get a marriage recognised.

If the person they want to marry was born Jewish, they can't unless the convert re-converts.

[kathiego]

Yonah thank you. At that point I guess it would be off to Cypress or somewhere.

[Yonah]

Yeah, I guess. :(