The campaign to undermine the authority of botei din and rabbonim to issue halachic ruling which adhere to the traditions handed down through the generations and based on established rulings by gedolei Yisroel shlita has been stepped up at the behest of various figures — particularly on the issue of conversion.
Before Pesach, a High Court appeal was filed against Rabbi Yosef Chaim Blau, the chief rabbi of Ashkelon, Rabbi Yehuda Dovid Wolpe, the chief rabbi of Rishon Letzion, Rabbi Yosef Sheinin, the chief rabbi of Ashdod, and the Chief Rabbinate, to compel them to register non-Jews for marriage even if they are clearly unprepared to fully and earnestly accept the yoke of mitzvas at the time of the conversion.
The appeal, which stretches over nearly 20 pages, completely overlooks the matter of a genuine acceptance of mitzvas by the conversion candidate, without which any conversion is invalid under all circumstances.
In response to the appeal, Judge Meltzer gave the respondents until this week to submit their response to an interim order requiring the respective rabbonim to accept all "conversions."
The legal advisor to the botei din, Rabbi Shimon Yaakovi, submitted a detailed opinion firmly stating that if any doubt arises regarding the validity of a conversion, the rabbonim are vested with the authority to send the applicants to a beis din for clarification.
