Government: Haredi Conversion Annulments Illegal

State cites lack of due processes as key factor against conversion annulments.

State: Conversions' annulment illegal
Attorney General's Office files brief pertaining to regional rabbinical courts' decision to retroactively annul conversions; says original ruling fundamentally flawed
Aviad Glickman • Ynet

The Attorney General's Office filed its High Court rebuttal on the matter of conversion annulment Monday, stating that the rabbinical courts' decision to retroactively annul conversions should be made null and void.

The State alleges that "fundamental faults" can be found in the regional rabbinical courts' ruling, as well as in the Great Rabbinical Court's decision to deny several appeals on the conversions' annulment.

The State's brief named lack of due process as one of the main reasons the decision must be overturned.

"No evidence (to support the claim of an ill conversion) was presented and no proper hearing was scheduled… the regional rabbinical court based its decision on various correspondence, despite the fact that the parties were not made privy to them and were not given the chance to refute the allegations."

The lack of due process and failed discovery, said the State, "infringed on the plaintiff's fundamental rights of rebuttal."

The State also claimed that rulings by regional rabbinical courts on conversions have no real standing: "The statements made in these rulings, including those pertaining to conversions preformed by Rabbi Haim Drukman, are general and cannot be applied to people who were not part of the proceedings.

"Furthermore, they cannot be considered binding, neither legally or halachically." 

Comments

[Ben]

"Lack of due process" - but this is the essense of Rabbinic "justice" system. If this handicap annules rabbinic decisions, then EVERY rabbinic court decision is null and void, which is the fact that many Israeli Jews have already discovered.

Rabbinic court system is fundamentally secretive and unfair.

[Dr. Dave]

They are like children playing firemen, cops and robbers or in this case beit din / sanhedrin.

They go through motions in such a childish and petulent manner that any observer realizes that rulings such as those invalidating conversions hold the same import and halachic tenability as a child sentencing his friend to a billion, trillion years in jail.

[BringMoshiachNowWithDaveningAndDonations]

Don't they understand that daas torah precludes the need for due process.

[Ben]

Rabbinic court system is based on trust in the Rabbis (undeserved and unreserved), not trust in due process.

Therefore, as soon as the trust in Rabbis disappear, the Rabbinic system has not a leg to stand on.

[Bill]

"Fundamentally, they cannot be considered binding ... halachically."

I'm not sure how they expect a secular court to rule on matters of halacha.

Forget about due process. There is a huge separation of powers problem here.

[friend]

"Fundamentally, they cannot be considered binding ... halachically."

I'm not sure how they expect a secular court to rule on matters of halacha.

Forget about due process. There is a huge separation of powers problem here.

Posted by: Bill | February 03, 2010 at 07:37 AM

In a state where Communists and Arabs voted about the question of "who is a Jew" everything is possible...

[Ben]

Bill, if you are for separation of powers you have to abolish entire Rabbinate. As long as the Rabbinate exists there is no true separation of powers.

friend, the only comparison that you can make is between the rabbinic and the communist systems. Both systems secretive, ruled by self selected body of elders, corrupt and dont have any respect to due process.

[danny]

So this is an annulment annulment.

[friend]

Bill, if you are for separation of powers you have to abolish entire Rabbinate. As long as the Rabbinate exists there is no true separation of powers.

friend, the only comparison that you can make is between the rabbinic and the communist systems. Both systems secretive, ruled by self selected body of elders, corrupt and dont have any respect to due process.

Posted by: Ben | February 03, 2010 at 09:06 AM

You misunderstand my comparison. I was comparing this situation to a situation when the knesset including the Arab and Communist members of the knesset voted on "who is a Jew" law see www.whoisajew.com
PS. The rumor ia that soon a woman declared a niddah will have the recourse to petition the Israeli supreme court to reverse the rabbis decision and order civil demages for emotional distress of having to be appart from he husband due to the rabbis being too machmir on the laws of taharat hamishpacha.:-)

[confused]

[quote: Ben | February 03, 2010 at 09:06 AM]”Bill, if you are for separation of powers you have to abolish entire Rabbinate. As long as the Rabbinate exists there is no true separation of powers.”[/quote]

Not necessarily, the Knesset decides on secular matters, like who is a citizen of the “State of Israel”, what defines a couple for government benefits, etc. The clergy decides on religious issues, what defines a couple for religious purposes, who is a member of a religion for religious purposes, etc.

The high court can rule all it wants, honest rabbi’s will still follow their conscience, and halcha following jews will go with their personal rabbis interpretation of halacha not the high courts. Or do you think someone will wake up one morning and say “well I wasn’t going to date this woman because my rabbi says she isn’t jewish, but now that the high court said she is maybe I will”.

I’m curios to see how the rabbis in general (on either side of the issue) respond to the high court involving itself in a halachic decision.