The Israeli High Court's ruling recognizing non-halachic conversions performed in the country is not only a radical departure from the Jewish religious tradition bequeathed to all Jews but a body blow to true Jewish unity.
The court's decision is both misleading and dangerous.
Misleading, because conversion is not a secular change of status; it is, inherently, a religious one. And dangerous, because bestowing legal status of any sort to "conversions" that lack the essential elements that have defined geirus for millennia can only confuse the Jewish public and increase disunity.
We in the United States have watched in anguish how non-halachic "conversions" have created a plurality of "Jewish peoples" here, with predictable and lamentable impacts on the ability of halacha-faithful Jews to marry many who were raised in non-Orthodox Jewish communities. We fear the specter of any similar bifurcation taking place in Israel.
And so we call on members of the Knesset to recognize that the High Court's ruling threatens to further exacerbate similar societal disunity in Israel. The Knesset should craft and pass legislation clarifying that conversion is an inherently religious procedure, and that defining it is the role of the Rabbinate, not any secular body.
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Applauds Kentucky for Being First State to Adopt IHRA Working Definition of Anti-Semitism
Agudath Israel of America applauds the Kentucky legislature's unanimous adoption last week of the working definition of anti-Semitism formulated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) in 2016. Kentucky is the first state to do so.
The action follows a recent letter from Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who averred that the Biden Administration "enthusiastically embraces" the IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism.
The IHRA's working definition of anti-Semitism is ground breaking, as it gives organizations and governments a baseline for identifying anti-Semitism. Notably, it provides concrete examples of anti-Semitic tropes that involve conspiracy theories, control, and dehumanization, among others. It also recognizes that ostensibly anti-Israel speech is often actually anti-Semitism, and defines the acceptable limits of political discourse when it comes to Israeli and Jewish affairs.
"Agreeing on what is anti-Semitism," said Rabbi A.D. Motzen, National Director of State Relations of Agudath Israel, "is the first step towards combating it. What Kentucky has done here, as the first state to adopt the definition, is noteworthy."
"Agudath Israel has endorsed, in the past, the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act which includes this very definition," said Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, Executive Vice President of Agudath Israel, "and in a time of rising anti-Semitism, we appreciate these steps by the Biden Administration and the Kentucky legislature. We encourage other states to follow Kentucky's lead.
