Martin Oliner, chairman of the Religious Zionists of America weighs in on the kerfuffle surrounding proposed legislation in Israel that would make it easier for Russian citizens of Israel to become Jews. If your first response is “huh, I thought Israel only allowed in people who were Jews?” it would be a good response but the answer is “no.”
In response to the Nazi’s determination that anyone with one grandparent was Jewish and therefore liable for all kinds of special treatment, the State of Israel’s founders determined that anyone with one Jewish grandparent would be entitled to citizenship. Thus, almost 1,000,000 Russian citizens flooded Israel when the gates to migration from the Soviet Union were opened. But many of those Russians are themselves not legally Jewish.
This creates many Jewish life style issues. To alleviate those issues, conversion is in order. Now, some complain about a perceived difficulty with conversions, and the bill, commonly called the Rotem Bill after its sponsor was introduced to make it easier to convert. Well, the proverbial feathers hit the fan in, of all places, the United States.
Here’s Oliner’s view on the issue taken from the Jewish Press.
The Conversion Controversy: An Orthodox Perspective
By: Martin Oliner
Lost amidst the controversy surrounding the proposal to reform Israeli conversion law is its impact on thousands of former Soviet Jews who immigrated to Israel in search of religious freedom after three generations of Communist-imposed atheism and anti-Semitism. The American Jews who have fomented opposition to the bill are unwittingly following in the footsteps of the former Soviet oppressors.
Take a common-enough scenario, an 18-year-old Israeli-born soldier, the son of Russian émigrés, who eats kosher, observes religious holidays, and is willing to die for his homeland. His parents entered Israel under the Law of Return, but according to Jewish law (halachah) he is not considered Jewish because his mother is not Jewish. He cannot marry in his native land or be buried in a Jewish cemetery.
Under the Law of Return, Israel grants citizenship to anyone with one Jewish grandparent. An estimated 300,000 of the million immigrants from the Soviet Union are therefore not Jewish according to Jewish law. Some five percent, or 15,000, wish to become Jewish, but are stymied because current Israeli law allows only the Israeli Chief Rabbinate to perform conversions. This creates a bottleneck. The rabbinic courts are backlogged with applications, each of which has to be individually investigated and processed.
Jewish law is specific about what is asked of a person who wishes to be a Jew: circumcision for men (milah), a dip in a ritual bath (mikveh) and, above all, a commitment to living a Jewish lifestyle. A rabbinic court (beis din) is convened to ensure that these requirements have been met. Most rabbis - and this includes most Orthodox rabbis - are not conversant in the arcane details, just as most rabbis are unprepared to slaughter an animal according to Jewish dietary law or to circumcise an infant boy. These skills must be specifically learned. Would you hire an outstanding lawyer who specializes in matrimonial law or in corporate mergers to defend you in a murder trial?
David Rotem, is a Member of Knesset representing the political party supported by many Russian immigrants. He introduced a measure to ease the bottleneck by permitting chief rabbis of cities throughout Israel who have passed examinations in order to hold their office to conduct conversions. The bill pertains only to conversions performed within Israel. It vastly expands, rather than limits, the number of rabbis authorized to perform conversions. And it leaves intact the ability of rabbis of all persuasions in America and throughout the world to perform conversions that are recognized in Israel.
To me, the Rotem Bill is laudable. But the leadership of the Reform movement in America opposes it, and has threatened to withhold financial and political support from Israel if the bill passes. It has even lobbied 20 members of Congress against aid to Israel. These leaders claim to represent a majority of American Jewry, but clearly they do not. They may not like these facts:
· Half of American Jews are unaffiliated with any movement, while others are Conservative or Orthodox. Therefore, the Reform movement cannot possibly represent a majority. In fact, the largest group of affiliated Jews is Orthodox.
· With few exceptions, the 900 Reform synagogues are full only on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur while most Orthodox congregations are full every Shabbat. Therefore, the claim even to represent Reform-affiliated Jews is tenuous - the members are uninvolved and are out of the loop.
· Reform rabbis perform conversions without regard to halachah. They count as Jewish children born to non-Jewish mothers. They do not require circumcision, ritual bath, or Jewish lifestyle. Therefore, their opinion concerning who is a Jew is of dubious merit.
· In the United States, even the Conservative Movement does not accept Reform conversions that do not involve circumcision and ritual bath.
These are harsh judgments, but they are indisputable. Now let's look at the religious and political environment in Israel:
· Even if they only attend services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, most Israelis select Orthodox congregations. Non-Orthodox congregations and rabbis exist wherever they find support. There are very few. Why? That's the Israeli choice.
· Orthodoxy is not a monolith but a broad spectrum, ranging from modern men and women in casual attire to Chassidim.
· The two major parties in the governing coalition are secular, and are democratically elected. If they support legislation, it's because their constituents support it, not because of their own theological inclinations. That's how a democracy works.
The president of the Union for Reform Judaism decried Israel's "coercive religious monopoly." Yet the Reform leaders seem untroubled by their efforts to coerce the government of Israel into granting equal stature to their movement, which has very few adherents in Israel. In my opinion, the leadership of Reform Judaism is using the Rotem Bill as a smokescreen to disguise the movement's own shortcomings.
Times are difficult for the State of Israel. Not only the Arab countries, but many in Europe and elsewhere, are engaged in efforts to delegitimize it. Compared to any Arab nation, or many in Asia, Africa or Latin America, Israel's human rights record is laudable. Israeli Arabs and Jews have equal access to the courts. Mosques function openly. Minarets sound. Israeli Arabs and Palestinians wear burqas or any other garb they choose. For American Jews to denigrate Israel is terribly harmful to both countries. To lobby Congress against Israel is simply unforgivable.
Hopefully, the Rotem Bill will be enacted after the six-month moratorium called by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The bill is good for Israel and in no way prejudicial to the interests of any segment of American Jewry. It is inconceivable that Russian immigrants who, for over a half-century, were not allowed to practice Judaism as they wished by the Communist regime, would now be stymied by America's Reform movement, a group with which they have virtually no connection.
Date: Wednesday, August 18 2010 Copyright 2008 www.JewishPress.com
Well, I think this makes sense. What do you have to say?
Stephen M. Flatow
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