During a meeting with representatives of the United Jewish
Communities, Keren Hayesod and the Jewish Agency last week
Prime Ministry Ariel Sharon said he would work to shorten the
conversion procedure "to ease the hardship of people waiting
a long time to complete the process." Sharon said the change
would become feasible once the Interior Ministry was taken
out of the hands of a chareidi party, referring to Shas. The
Prime Minister also said structural changes in the public
sector, including the elimination of the Religious Affairs
Ministry, "would accelerate the process without contradicting
the Law of Return and the principle of conversion according
to halacha."
A spokesman for Vaad HaRabbonim Haolami LeInyonei Giyur,
founded by the late HaRav Chaim Kreiswirth, said, "Sharon's
remarks are particularly grave in light of the current
situation. Six months ago Sharon stated his view that the
conversion procedure should be accelerated. At that point his
remarks had minimal impact whereas now, with the setting up
of a secular government, Sharon wants to interfere with
religious matters as well. There is a pressing need to take a
firm stand [against him]."
During the past two years the conversion system under the
Chief Rabbinate has declined considerably. According to a
high-ranking official in the conversion system, nearly the
entire apparatus is in the hands of "the national-religious
camp." One established av beis din at a regional
beis din said the special conversion botei din
are measured according to the number of conversions they
perform.
Now Sharon is liable to further increase the number of
conversions performed without any background checks to
evaluate whether the candidate indeed intends to keep Torah
and mitzvos.
The Vaad says the chareidi public should stand firm to
prevent invalid conversions from entering Kerem Beis Yisroel,
even if they bear "Orthodox" certification. The involvement
of inshi delo ma'ali in the conversion system will
force the chareidi public to detach itself from the existing
system and set up separate communities.
MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni said, "It appears that indeed from the
start Sharon wanted a secular government with a destructive
bent and with the sanction of a certain party dubbed a
religious party. Chareidi representatives will have to stand
firm every day against every action taken by this malignant
government, and to preclude the Prime Minister and the Mafdal
from carrying out their dangerous objectives."
