The wholesale conversion industry in the special conversion
court in Or Etzion functions in total defiance of the
guidelines issued by the Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi Yisroel Meir
Lau who is currently responsible for the Chief Rabbinate's
Rabbinical Courts. Despite this fact, senior officials in the
Chief Rabbinate have instructed the chairman of the
Conversion Administration, Rabbi Yisrael Rosen, to approve
all of the "conversions" conducted in that special conversion
court. This information arises from an extensive
investigation made by Yated Ne'eman's reporter. Last
week Yated Ne'eman exposed for the first time, the
serious affair in which the Chief Rabbinate approved the
files of 100 "conversions" conducted in the special
conversion court in Or Etzion headed by Rabbi Druckman, after
the cases were delayed for a number of months, due to the
fact that the minimum conditions required by the Chief
Rabbinate were not met.
A year ago, Chief Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau issued guidelines
and procedures to the special conversion courts. In his
letter he wrote: "Upon my assuming the position of the
President of the Greater Rabbinical Court, I have seen it
necessary to examine the activities of the conversion courts.
These courts were established in order to find solutions to
the many who seek to join our Nation, and whose aim is to
accept the yoke of the mitzvos. The purpose of these courts
is to strengthen the conversion procedures in line with the
halocho."
Later on, the Chief Rabbi delineates his manner of relating
to conversions. "Insofar as conversion certificates from
abroad are concerned, we do not relate directly to the
conversion candidates, but to the certificates issued and the
issuers. On the other hand, the certificates we issue over
here constitute approvals of the rabbinical courts. In my
opinion we should follow the same procedure here in Israel,
and the certificates which will be given by the Chief
Rabbinate should be certificates testifying to the
qualifications of the conversion court, without relating to
the conversion candidate. As a result, the formations of the
conversion courts will have to receive the approval of the
President of the Greater Rabbinical Court."
The Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi determines in his letter that
"care must be taken that every one of the sitting courts be
comprised of at least one certified dayan, authorized
by the Council of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. The
remaining members of the court will be rabbonim recognized by
the Council of the Chief Rabbinate, authorized by it serve as
rabbonim. . . . Residents from abroad and tourists will not
be able to appear before those courts [for a conversion],
unless they have received the special approval of the
President of the Supreme Rabbinical Court. Such a certificate
may conceivably be granted only after the applicant has
received a suitable recommendation from the Rabbinate or from
a rabbinical figure known in the applicant's area of
residence."
Despite these clear directives, which made a significant
contribution in this area, the special conversion courts in
Or Etzion continued to convert non-Jews in total defiance of
the guidelines and the procedures. They continued to maintain
their previous composition, which included no member who
authorized as a dayan to handle the conversion
application, and some of which were also performed on foreign
residents and tourists, against the guidelines. The
conversion cases seen by the staff of Yated Ne'eman
point to a very severe situation, in which fictitious
conversions are conducted in wholesale amounts. The the Vaad
Horabbonim Haolami Leinyonei Giyur headed by HaRav Chaim
Kreiswirth has learned that Rabbi Yosef Avior, who
administers the conversion court in Or Etzion, was arranging
for conversions in Europe this week against the decision of
the established local Orthodox rabbinate.
Despite these details, and the many activities of the beis
din carried out in defiance of the guidelines and
procedures of the Rabbinate, senior officials in the Chief
Rabbinate instructed the head of the Conversion
Administration, Rabbi Yisrael Rosen, to approve 100 such
files. Our reporter has learned that approvals of these
applications took place as a result of heavy pressure exerted
by the heads of the special conversion court, Rabbi Chaim
Druckman and Rabbi Yosef Avior, who promised that from now on
they would conduct the court in accordance with the
guidelines. However, in reality, the two continue to operate
their "conversion industry," in total defiance of the
instructions of the Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi.
Our reporter has also learned that Rabbi Yosef Avior
continues to operate a totally independent beis din
for converting minors which functions in defiance of the
guidelines of the Chief Rabbinate, which state that every
adopting family must be obligate itself to educate their the
adopted children to Torah and mitzvos. Prominent askonim
involved in the issue have told our reporter tat the
granting of approvals to 100 conversion cases, as well as
backing the conversion system for minors, has destroyed the
arduous efforts made over the past year to base the special
conversion courts on clear-cut instructions and mandatory
guidelines and procedures.
Reports in the media indicate that the graduates of the
conversion institutes, which operate jointly with Reform and
Conservatives and which were strictly forbidden by all
maranan verabonon and all of the great rabbonim and
poskim of our times, are negotiating with the
conversion court in Or Etzion to accept their graduates, and
reportedly the heads of this court, Rabbi Druckman and Rabbi
Avior, plan to cooperate with these institutes. It should be
noted that the only joint conversion institute was started in
Carmiel, and it has since dispersed due to lack of interest.
An alternative program which is currently operationg in Beer
Sheva is about to close as well.
An investigation conducted by our reporter indicates that all
100 of the "conversion" certificate were signed by Rabbi
Yisrael Rosen, who is the head of the Conversion
Administration in the Chief Rabbinate, in addition to his
other activities as head of the Tsomet Institute for Halacha
that recently developed a "Shabbos cart" that was advertised,
but widely criticized by halachic authorities. However, from
a discussion we held with Rabbi Rosen, we learned that the
procedures regarding the composition of the special
conversion courts are dependent on the approval of another
senior official in the Chief Rabbinate and, after he approved
these conversions, bedi'eved, Rabbi Rosen also signed
them. "It's not up to me," Rabbi Rosen stressed.
Rabbi Rosen also sharply attacked the rabbi of a special
conversion court in the south, who defies the guidelines and
procedures of the Chief Rabbinate. He also noted that the
special conversion court in Or Etzion functions in defiance
of the instructions of the Interior Ministry, which opposes
conducting conversions for tourists and foreign citizens, in
order to prevent the naturalization of foreign workers,
criminals and the like. He said that even though the
Conversion Administration wrote the courts not to convert
those people, Rabbi Druckman and Rabbi Avior ignored their
directives and did as they pleased.
Rabbi Rosen related that in his possession are a number of
conversion records of people whom he warned Rabbis Druckman
and Avior not to covert, but nonetheless, "conversions" were
performed. "I warn about this, even though I am referring to
a Knesset member from my own party, who is behaving in
defiance of the regulations and procedures. They do what they
please, because they say that they are following in the
footsteps of former Chief Rabbi Goren. There are files which
are missing and if it is necessary to examine the issue, we
may have to search for them in Rabbi Druckman's basement. The
situation is intolerable. This is a public sandal," Rabbi
Rosen said.
Prominent rabbonim and dayanim expressed sharp protest
over the backing and legitimization accorded these courts by
various officials in the Chief Rabbinate, and said that these
people are directly responsible for the vast penetration of
non-Jews into the Jewish Nation. "We find it difficult to
imagine the continuation of this disgraceful situation,
especially in light of th fact that these courts function in
defiance of the guidelines and instructions issued by the
Chief Rabbi himself. The time has come to stop throwing sand
in the face of the public, and to eliminate the special
conversion court in Or Etzion, and to examine, in a very
thorough manner what is taking place in the other special
conversion courts. It should also be noted that the
requirements of the Chief Rabbinate with regard to the
operation of the special conversion courts only refer to
administrative matters. Even if those directives are fully
followed, serious doubts could still exist as to the
sincerity of the candidates to fully and properly accept
Torah and mitzvos.
