The exposure of a wholesale conversion scandal of gentiles, primarily in Marseilles, which has been taking place of late, has shocked the whole world of dayanim and the rabbinate of Europe and Eretz Yisroel. Facts which were brought to the attention of Yated Ne'eman point to three groups of candidates who first sought conversion in Marseilles, and but then went to seek other places as easier paths, even though Marseilles does have a permanent and prominent beis din served by distinguished rabbonim: HaRav Reuven Ohanna; Dayan HaRav Shmuel Malul; HaRav Moshe Schwab; HaRav Saadya Benyoun and Dayan Harav Avraham Der'i, who deal with the full gamut of Jewish court issues including commercial matters, divorce and conversion. This is the kind of beis din that should be dealing with matters of conversion, according to the guidelines laid down by HaRav Eliashiv zt"l.

At a yahrtzeit tisch for the Yeshuos Moshe of Vishnitz which took place last week in the spacious beis medrash in the Vishnitz neighborhood, headed by his son, the present Vishnitzer Rebbe, thousands of Chassidim heard an address by HaRav Yisroel Miller, member of the Shikun Vishnitz Beis Din. Among other things, he recounted memories and facts from the period of his study in Yeshivas Ponovezh and the years following, when the late Admor favored him and guided him along the paths of Torah and avodas Hashem.

This is part of a new series we are publishing entitled "Yesodos Ne'emanim." These are articles originally published in the print edition of the English Israeli Yated Ne'eman, that were selected because they explain basic ideas of Torah hashkofoh. This is the second of a series of three articles that were originally published in 5752 (1992). This first was in the issue of parshas Terumah. HaRav Weintraub was alive then. This is a translation of the original Hebrew article.