In an interview in the national-religious newspaper
Hatsofe on 17 Av, Rabbi Yisrael Rosen, head of the
Conversion Authority in Israel who had just returned from a
trip to the C.I.S., claimed that he brought his new approach
to conversion to Judaism to chutz la'aretz. This new
approach, according to Rabbi Rosen, calls for taking steps to
accommodate and encourage potential converts. Rabbi Rosen
also claimed that his concept has also been adopted by
chareidi rabbonim, and that his Conversion Authority is even
staffed with chareidi dayanim who share his approach
to conversion in the form of a new beis din that was
established in Tel Aviv that is composed of dayanim
who are graduates of chareidi yeshivas.
In response, the following statement was issued by the Beis
Din Tzedek Legiyur of Tel Aviv:
1. Rabbi Yisrael Rosen serves as the head of a Conversion
Institute and his sole function is to handle the
administrative affairs of the country's conversion system. He
is not authorized to convert non-Jews. Only botei din,
which derive their authority from the Chief Rabbinate, may
conduct conversions.
2. Maranan verabonon have always opposed setting up
conversion courts outside the confines of the permanent
botei din, since usually the purpose of these external
botei din is to "accommodate the conversion
candidates," as Rabbi Rosen himself states.
3. There is no heter permitting any compromise on the
halachic requirement of conversion, and certainly not
due to "current sociological problems and hardship." Under
all circumstances, the motives of a conversion candidate and
the sincerity of his intentions to observe Torah and mitzvos
in full, must be thoroughly authenticated before a conversion
can be performed.
4. There is no such thing as "dayanim who are in favor
of conversions" as Rosen states. Every G-d-fearing
dayan is willing to convert non-Jews according to
halachic guidelines. A dayan who performs
conversions without fulfilling these demands is accountable
for allowing non-Jews to penetrate the Jewish nation, since
the failure to completely and genuinely accept the yoke of
the mitzvos renders a conversion invalid, even
bedi'eved, as HaRav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and HaRav
Yaakov Yisroel Kanievsky, zt"l, and ylct"a
Maran HaRav Eliezer Man Shach and Maran HaRav Yosef Sholom
Eliashiv stressed in a statement issued in 5744 (1984).
5. According to the official guidelines of the Chief
Rabbinate, one may not convert non-Jews (including minors) if
it is not absolutely certain that they will fully observe
Torah and mitzvos after the conversion. To our great dismay,
various extraordinary rabbinical courts engage in conversions
without ensuring the minimal halachic conditions. The
Vaad HaRabbonim Haolami LeInyonei Giyur headed by HaRav Chaim
Kreiswirth of Antwerp is currently investigating how it is
that scores of conversions performed by unauthorized bodies
which ignored minimal halachic standards were
nonetheless approved by the Chief Rabbinate.
6. A conversion court was established in Tel Aviv with the
encouragement and support of Chief Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau.
This court is staffed by dayanim who are G-d-fearing
talmidei chachomim, and it functions according to the
guidelines of the greatest halachic authorities of our
time. The goal of this beis din is to arrange all
conversions lechatchilo, according to all the
requirements of halocho. This special beis din
is thoroughly equipped to ascertain the intentions of the
conversion candidate, with teams of experts from all over the
world assisting it in its efforts. It approves conversions
only if it is certain beyond all doubt of the sincerity of
the candidate for conversion. Since most regular botei
din in the country lack the means to ascertain the true
intentions of these candidates, they do not engage in
conversions.
7. Rabbi Rosen's remarks to the effect that the beis
din in Tel Aviv is also "in favor of conversion" and
tries to accommodate the conversion candidate is completely
untrue, and it is a pity that these statements were not
checked before they were published.
8. In conclusion, now that we are currently being inundated
by massive waves of non-Jewish immigrants, it is vital to
remain on the alert and to convert only those candidates who
meet all halachic requirements. There is no need and
certainly no obligation to conduct bedi'eved
conversions, and it is certainly not good for Klal
Yisroel under any circumstances and regardless of what
the alternative will be. Invalid conversions must not be
conducted at all. There is no substance to Rabbi Yisrael
Rosen's "conversion tidings," and we are unaware of any
authoritative rav who supports his compromising approach.
Rabbi Rosen does not cite even one halachic authority
who supports him. Heads of the Conference of European Rabbis
with whom we spoke this week expressed reservations over the
misinterpretation of their remarks, something which casts
aspersions on the credibility of all of the other comments
quoted in the article.
9. There is no benefit to an Orthodox rabbi doing an invalid
conversion on someone who would otherwise get a Conservative
or Reform conversion. On the contrary, such bogus and invalid
conversions only mask the true facts and allow non-Jews to
penetrate into Klal Yisroel.
10. The beis din in Tel Aviv was established with the
encouragement and support of the gedolei haposkim to
meet the need of true geirei tzedek who want to
undergo conversion with all the lechatchilo
requirements and conditions, and who therefore deserve to
receive a certificate that is not only recognized by the
Chief Rabbinate of Israel and by the Israeli government, but
also by all chareidi rabbonim throughout the world. The
beis din may be contacted via fax at: 972-2-532-2047;
or by phone at: 972-(0)53-814-200.
