Letter from Jerusalem: The Secret Code Of Repealed Conversions

The secret code haredi rabbis use to mark converts for conversion annulment.

The secret code of repealed conversions
If you converted to Judaism and also got divorced, check the divorce documents that you received from the rabbinic courts. If it says 'the son of our forefather Abraham'? You're not in bad shape. If it says 'convert'? You're on your way to a repealed conversion. Rivkah Lubitch studied the opinion paper submitted by the Rabbinic Court to the High Court of Justice and discloses how converts are being marked
Rivkah Lubitch • Ynet

The legal advisor to the rabbinic courts, rabbi and attorney Shimon Yaakobi, has stated that it is his unequivocal legal opinion that conversions are never final—that is what we can surmise from 122 pages that he recently submitted as an opinion paper of the Rabbinic Court in response to CWJ's petition against repealed conversion.

In effect, Yaakobi is of the opinion that all converts are 'on probation' and it does not matter if the conversion were arranged in the rabbinic courts of Israel, in the special conversion courts of the state, or in a private ultra-Orthodox ceremony. He claims that while exercising their jurisdiction over marriage and divorce, the rabbinic courts of Israel,can question the validity of a conversion and determine that is was a mistake. Here's what we think: Yaakobi's take on the matter of repealed conversions is immoral, inhuman, and anti-halachic. And we hope the High Court will also determine that it's against the law.

And this isn't all. From the document submitted by Yaakobi it seems that the rabbinic judges have a secret code by which they mark the converts who get divorced, distinguishing those who obey the commandments from those who don't.

Years ago I was witness to an incident in which a rabbinic judge asked a woman questions regarding her religious observance while he was overseeing the get. I innocently assumed that we were dealing with a nosy rabbi. What's more, this included a reprimand to me that I tell a particular unnamed rabbi that he should stop converting people who do not obey the commandments. My objections that this rabbi has nothing to do with the particular woman at hand went on deaf ears. Ditto, regarding my objections that the rabbi in question had nothing to do with conversions. I swallowed my pride and kept quiet. I did not imagine in my wildest dreams that there was a secret code.

The second time I was witness to a similar interrogation of a woman convert at the time of her divorce– many years later—I understood that these were deliberate and systematic questions, and that the rabbis were looking for cracks in the conversions (in this case the woman was stringent in her religious observance). But, again, I could not have dreamed that all this had some connection to a secret code.

Interrogation and categorization
According to Yaakobi, the rabbinic courts have for many years routinely examined converts at the time of their divorce regarding their religious observance. As a rule, in all divorce procedures, it is customary to be very exact when referring to the names of the parties, as well as to their fathers' names. Since the convert has separated herself from her biological family, her father's name is not written. Instead, it is written: “The daughter/son of Avraham our Forefather.” However, Yaakobi claims that precedents exist that hold that if a convert has reverted to her old ways, it is an insult to refer to her as “the daughter of Avraham our Forefather.” So it has become the custom to ask the convert if she obeys the commandments. If she testifies that she obeys the commandments, the rabbis will write “the daughter of Avraham our Forefather”; but if she testifies that she does not obey the commandments, the rabbis will add the accolade “convert” after her name. So far, with respect to the divorce proceeding.

After the divorce is arranged, the rabbinic court sent the couple a document called “Act of Court.” This document is proof that a person has gotten divorced in accordance with Jewish Law and is free to marry whomever she pleases. This “Act of Court” also designates any limitations on future marriages, like a Cohen and a divorcee. It can also serve as documentary proof of the fact that a person is a Jew.

Yaakobi explains that when drafting the “Act of Court,” like the get, the rabbis are very careful how they write the names. According to Yaakobi, in certain circumstances, the court “cannot at this point ignore the doubts that have arisen, or even the conclusions that they have reached, regarding the validity of the conversion.” And they must give this expression in the “Act of Court.”

In other words, converts who get divorced are in the following position: From bad to worse. If the “Act of Court” says specifically “this document can not serve as proof of validity of the conversion,” the situation is worse. The holder of this document is more or less already recognized as a non-Jew (and in the case of the female holder of such a document, so are her children). If the “Act of Court” states that the holder is a “convert,” the situation is not much better. The holder of the document probably will not be able to register to marry without undergoing further examination by the rabbinic court as to the validity of her conversion. If in the “Act of Court” it is written that the holder is the “daughter/son of Avraham our Forefather,” the situation is bad enough. Perhaps the marriage registrar won't “inspect her ritual fringes” to see if she is adhering to the strict letter of the commandments. Or perhaps he will.

Yaakobi brings statistics to claim that of the 1,313 converts who were divorced between the years 1996-2008, 1,276 are referred to as “converts” in the Act of Court and all the rest are referred to as “daughters/sons of Avraham our Forefather.” These people might not know it, but they already have one foot out the door. These things are scandalous and remind me of grim times indeed.

Someone in the know regarding conversions told me that he asked some rabbis about this secret code embedded in the “Act of Court.” He claimed he does not know what Yaakobi is talking about. What's going on here? Can the legal adviser to the rabbinic courts please explain?

Comments

[jochanan]

The fact that there is more toleration for Chabad messianism in Orthodox circles than there is for the Conservative movement because Chabad makes it life easier for Orthodox Jews by providing services sure makes you go 'hmmm...'

[Isa]

For Converts...
LIE LIKE A RUG!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ben]

Fire every rasha/rabbi who participate in convert abuse conspiracy. Remove their undeserved smihas. Publicly shame the evil doers for braking basic Torah commandments.

This Rabbis have one common problem - cruel heart. According to Talmud, this fact pretty much disqualifies them from being Jewish.

Are these Rabbis Jewish? These Rabbinic perverters of Judaism, would look less of a suspect if they a ham cheeseburger in their mouths and a prostitute on each hand.

[Isa]

I have a friend who later had to get divorced... Who later after he was married found out that his wife was adopted in Israel.
The father in law (soon to be ex) brought to the Beth Din the adoption document and no where did it specifically say the baby is Jewish. The rabbis said they never saw a document like that before and this Beth Din was in a MAJOR North American city. They wrote a document a special way in naming the woman . I think is was like (name) "who is called" (name), so if she wants to be married then the next rabbi will have to figure it out.
I think my friend's wife was one of those kidnapped Yemenite babies 1. She looked sort of Yemenite 2. Her adoptive parents went through the 'camps' and could not have children of their own. My friend never found out why they couldn't have children. I think both were sterilized and pleaded with Israeli authorities for a baby and perhaps they were many more couples in this predicament and thus started this 'kidnapping business'

[Simcha]

Sadly, 'Yaakobi is probably correct about the Beit Dins total authority to do what ever it wants under Israeli Law in issues of personal status. This means that only they under Israeli Law can decide whether a Jew is able to marry or get divorced. Only they can decide who is a Jew for the purpose of marriage and divorce. They can even determine that a Jewish couple who divorced civilly in another country or got a Conservative Get remained married in the eyes of Israeli Law for the purpose of remarriage.

They may not be acting in accordance with halacha or morality but they have that power and authority fantastically under the authority granted to them by the Knesset under Israeli C I V I L Law.

[Jakes]

It's a serious flaw in the Israeli system that they have this power.

It's funny how the conversion can be retroactively annulled upon divorce. Not only are these rabbis ignoring that the converts went through Halakhic conversions, but that the ger was also married in accordance with Halakha. Then 10 years later, when divorcing, they find out the converting bet din was wrong as was the rabbi who married them. Sick.

[Ben]

Observing actions of Haredi abusive rabbis I begin to understand why at the end of 19th - beginning of 20th century a sizable majority of Jews have left Judaism.

[confused]

Posted by: Simcha | February 04, 2010 at 10:41 AM

“ They may not be acting in accordance with halacha or morality but they have that power and authority fantastically under the authority granted to them by the Knesset under Israeli C I V I L Law.”

Then the solution is to take “CIVIL LAW” out of the hands of the clergy. The “State of Israel” has always left religious observance to the clergy therefore Israel doesn’t have the major intertwining of marriage and law that exists in the states, remove the religious marriage requirement from all couples benefits and substitute some kind of state document that needs to be signed by both people. No more issues with the clergy interfering with the government granting citizenship or benefits. If any two people of any religion/gender want to shack up and get government benefits that’s the governments decision, if the clergy doesn’t like it they can preach against it.

[Simcha]

To confused:

There are many who agree with you but there are not enough Israelis willing to vote for enough Knesset members with the political nuts to change the law. The chareidim and even the religious zionists who think the religious status quo should remain as is are far too important to Israeli government coalition building whether with left wing or right wing parties than those who would be willing to change it.

I also do not think that enough pressure would come from the US to change it.

So think of something else or come to the only real conclusion that after evaluating the reality of Israel and the Orthodox rabbinate today a rational informed person can come to.

[iubelo]

Two things I don't understand:
1)If a convert happens to have a Jewish father,will he still be called ben Avraham or ben-his father's Jewish name?
2)When converts have to prove their being Jewish,do they get a conversion certificate,or a certificate stating they are Jewish period.

[BaltimoreYid]

jubelo,

My wife is a giyoret & she has a certificate from the beis din saying so.

[Jakes]

iubelo
Wouldn't it be ben Avraham since halakhically his father is not related to him. But I'm not really sure.

[confused]

“So think of something else or come to the only real conclusion that after evaluating the reality of Israel and the Orthodox rabbinate today a rational informed person can come to.”

How is this for reality, any rabbi that is willing to interpret halcha to order based on who is signing their paychecks is unfit to be called a rabbi. So if the rabanut starts toeing a line set by the Knesset/court on any issue of halacha then they just undermine their own legitimacy.

But please enlighten me as to your conclusions you reached.

(note: My personal opinion on the issue is that its disgusting, but im not a rabbi so I have no opinion on what the proper halacha is, I just believe that the rabbi’s have to be free to decide halacha without state interference.)

[A E ANDERSON]

ממנפשך !!!!! If she's not Jewish, no get is required. And if a get is issued, that means she is Jewish! This is so utterly basic and elementary... קדושין are not תופסין between a Jew and a non-Jew. From what Talmud do these funny haredim derive their neo-halakha???

The point is even more compelling when the divorcing convert is the female: the male commits no adultery when consummating relations with other, otherwise permissible women, whether he marries them or not, or whether he engages in the charade of issuing a get to a non-Jewish woman beforehand. משא"כ relations for the woman without the benefit of get are necessarily אשת איש.. but only if she is Jewish.

And if she is not Jewish, it hardly stands to reason that any מצות עשה of ספר כריתות falls on the man because she cannot definitionally be his wife in halakhic terms.

There is also no basis to for a Jewish man to issue a get to a woman מספק that she is Jewish. The very idea that a get might be issued מספק is would, moreover, itself be an admission that the woman is potentially Jewish... and must be treated as such with regards to all religious matters which equally entail the fulfilment of or transgression against biblical precepts.

Some haredim strike me as pathetically lacking in אהבת ישראל. On one hand, they will adhere to the most minute of humras in, say kashrut. But when a lifetime of mitzvot hangs in the balance (i.e., a person's Jewishness), the person who would die rather than drink halav stam has no problem tossing away the sum total of another person's mitzvot and basically saying, "God doesn't love you as much as me."

Who is some smelly shlemliel haredi to say that his ritualistic mitzvot are better, more binding, and more pleasing to God than the simple kindnesses of an unlearned, far-less observant convert? Are the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov already forgotten?

[Yosef ben Matitya]

these so called rabbis with their secret codes of oppressing converts, are neither rabbis, nor jews.
maybe, they are devil worshipers!