Vaad HaRabbonim LeInyonei Giyur, founded by the late Antwerp
av beis din HaRav Chaim Kreiswirth zt"l, once
again says that the large-scale "conversion" of the hundreds
of thousands of non-Jews who moved to Israel in recent years
should not be seen as a solution to their problem, as various
figures associated with the government suggest.
The Vaad's remarks followed the release of the conclusions of
an inter-ministerial committee, given to the Prime Minister
on Monday, that included the setup of a new National
Conversion Administration that would operate as a support
unit under the auspices of the Prime Minister's Office. The
administration would centralize all of the various steps and
stages in the conversion process under one authority and
include an expansion of the existing special conversion
courts with more dayanim and greater funding for various
conversion preparation programs.
According to an earlier report in Ha'aretz the Chief
Rabbinate under Chief Rabbi Amar is slated to set up "a
committee of dayanim" to "assess the various halachic matters
which continue to delay the conversion of tens of thousands
of new immigrants to this day." According to the article the
decision was reached "following an agreement between Chief
Rabbi Amar and the director-general of the Ministry of
Immigrant Absorption, Erez Halfon, on the acceptance of the
recommendations issued by the inter-ministerial committee
that Halfon chairs, which discussed reorganizing the whole
field of conversion."
However an official spokesman for the office of Chief Rabbi
Amar wrote the Vaad HaRabbonim Haolami LeInyonei Giyur
founded by HaRav Chaim Kreiswirth zt"l, in response to
an inquiry, that "the report about a committee of dayanim to
discuss the halachot and leniencies in the conversion
process, or in the acceptance of mitzvos, have no foundation.
There was never any thought of discussing such matters at
all. The opinion of the Chief Rabbi of Israel HaGaon HaRav
Shlomo Moshe Amar shlita, as expressed in a responsa,
is well known: that without acceptance of mitzvos there is no
possibility of conversion according to all halachic opinions.
There is nothing whatsoever to discuss about this. All that
was slated to be discussed was administrative and work flow
matters, and nothing that has to do with the laws of
conversion."
According to the recommendations, the new administration
would be headed by a candidate who would be formally
appointed by the Prime Minister, but in practice would be
hand-picked by the Chief Rabbi and he would set the halachic
guidelines for the new administration. According to some
unconfirmed reports, the director will be former Knesset
member Rabbi Haim Druckman, who is currently head of the
conversion courts.
The Absorption Ministry is "complaining" that the central
problem with the conversion process was the demand by some
dayanim that converts keep Torah and mitzvas in full, and
when it was learned that the children of conversion
candidates had not transferred to religious schools, the
conversions were canceled. "It was important for me to bring
the matter before Rabbi Amar," said Halfon, "and I'm glad
that he has agreed to discuss the issue."
According to Halfon, Rabbi Amar agreed to set up and head a
committee that would include three dayanim who would assess
the issue of mitzvah observance and would try to formulate
clear guidelines. Absorption Ministry officials said that
they hoped that after the committee is set up and the
conversion process is run by a unified authority "it will be
possible to ease the way for converts and even double their
numbers, which are currently below 3,000 per year out of the
300,000 non-Jewish immigrants living in Israel."
The Vaad HaRabbonim LeInyonei Giyur is firmly resisting
efforts to find "solutions" to the problems of hundreds of
thousands of non-Jews who came to Israel in recent years.
"It's impossible to expect people who have no ties to the
Jewish religion to make a commitment to keep Torah and
mitzvos in full, without which the conversion is invalid,
even bedi'eved. Therefore there is no point in
conducting negotiations with Absorption Ministry officials in
the hopes that the setup of the committee would make it
easier for would-be converts."
The Vaad spokesman added that in 5744 (1984) HaRav Shach, the
Steipler, HaRav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and ylct"a HaRav
Eliashiv clearly stated that full acceptance of mitzvos is a
precondition for conversion and otherwise the conversion is
wholly invalid.
The Vaad says conversion must be under the full charge of
talmidei chachomim yirei Shomayim from start to finish
and the beis din system should only deal with earnest
converts.
