Based on a visit to Riga at the invitation of the Latvian
Jewish community, a delegation of rabbonim revealed alarming
findings regarding dozens of false conversions performed
there recently. The delegation included representatives from
the Conference of European Rabbis and Vaad Haolami LeInyonei
Giyur, founded by the late gavad of Antwerp, HaRav
Chaim Kreiswirth.
The visit followed a series of wholesale conversions
performed in the city by Rabbi Uriya of Haifa one month
ago.
The delegation members visited located Jewish institutions,
accompanied by the local rabbonim and community heads. The
visit included the city's only beis knesses, the
single religious school, Yeshivas Riga, which is run by Vaad
Lenidchei Yisroel and Shevus Ami, and the Shamir chareidi
community, where concerted efforts have been made to
memorialize the rich history of chareidi Jewry in Latvia.
The main meeting was held in the general Jewish community
building. Although the primary goal of the visit had been to
improve the situation regarding conversions and to provide
halachic and professional assistance in verifying the Jewish
status of children from the FSU, another important goal was
to strengthen the local Jewish community that remains out of
the 210 botei knesses and botei medrash that
once graced the country.
The most famous of the various kehillos — once
found in 61 different towns and cities — was in Dvinsk,
where the rabbinate included HaRav Meir Simchoh haCohen,
author of Or Sameach, and HaRav Yosef Rozhin, author
of Tzafnas Panei'ach and known as "the
Rogotchover."
The delegation's inquiry revealed that dozens of fictitious
conversions were performed without requiring acceptance of
mitzvas. The rabbonim found only a handful of candidates were
actually suitable for conversion, whereas the vast majority
lacked genuine desire and the dedication needed to complete
the conversion process properly through an uncompromising
acceptance of mitzvas.
The delegation's foremost achievement was the signing of a
binding agreement with the local rabbonim and community heads
to set up a limited conversion system that meets all halachic
requirements, based on the recognition that dozens of false
conversions were performed in the country.
