The Conversion Dilemma Saga Continues…
Hi All,
If you haven’t checked out The Sephardi Perspective blog on the Jerusalem Post website, I highly recommend doing so. While I live in the U.S., I have been to Israel, and it is my passionate hope to make aliyah one day; as a result, I spend lots of time “in” Israel vicariously through the Israeli media. Anyway… this column provides an interesting look at how Sephardi/Mizrachi approaches to Jewish tradition differ from the Ashkenazi viewpoints we American Jews are often more aware of. The current debacle in the High Rabbinic Court over the conversions presided over by Rav Haim Druckman was recently addressed by Ashley Perry (Perez) in the column, and it shed some interesting light on differences of opinion regarding the status of converts. You should by all means go read the column, but here are some thought-provoking excerpts for your perusal:
The dispute can improperly be described as a dispute between haredi and Dati, between the so-called ‘ultra’ Orthodox and the ‘modern’ Orthodox. However, these are artificial descriptions in the current conflict and the reasons behind it.
The real conflict is between those observant and religious members of society who take into account the whole, and those who see no virtue in relating to society outside of their own highly parochial community. It is between those who see themselves as part of society with all its faults, trying to raise the standard as they see it, and those who have no social responsibility and are glued to the letters on the page of halacha without glancing up to see the living vibrant but imperfect world around them.
He continues…
Rabbi Angel has pinpointed the issue at stake. The fact remains that there is a problem and there are brave rabbis who feel that we have to confront the issue head on rather than ignore it and shrink back to the confines of the Bet HaMidrash (religious study hall).
The same people, who do not serve in the army, do not undertake national service, rarely work and don’t pay taxes should not be in charge of issues dealing with the state and its future.
As you may have guessed, the theme of this post on The Sephardi Perspective seems to be suggesting National Zionist revolution, which, frankly, I have a hard time discounting… the author goes on with a quote from Rav Binyamin Lau’s editorial “Free Israel!”:
“Religious Zionism has so far been restrained in its criticism of the ultra-Orthodox, out of a feeling of respect for the Torah sages and a desire to maintain a united religious camp. No longer! In honor of the state’s 60th birthday, we must free Israel, strengthen the Zionist camp - including among the religious - and establish religious services and religious courts that are fundamentally identified with the values of the country in which they operate.
There are many rabbis in Israel who served in the army, sent their children to the army, and are full partners in all the challenges of Israeli society. The country deserves to have religious court judges who are committed to its future and its fate, and to free itself of judges estranged from the public.”
Hmmm. interesting. But what really snagged my attention was this one:
A previous Sephardi Chief Rabbi, Benzion Uziel ruled on a similar issue of conversion in the early years of the state:
“A would-be convert is informed of the basic principles of Judaism, namely, the unity of God and prohibition of idolatry, and that is what we dwell upon; whereas regarding the undertaking to observe the mitzvot, we only mention a few of the mitzvot and emphasize that ‘Before your conversion you were not culpable for violating such things as eating non-kosher foods, etc…The Beit Din does not need to know whether he will observe them. Otherwise you would close the door on all conversion, since we can never know what he will do. From this it is clear that conversion is not dependent on any future observance.
From the words of our sages it is clear that as long as the convert is sincere in his wish to convert, even though he may very well not be strictly observant once converted, it is still a mitzva to convert him.
Our sages went so far as to state that God exiled His people for the purpose of bringing more people into the fold. In our age, to place obstacles in the way of converts is a dereliction of our responsibility.”
It seems to me that this approach could end not only the Great Ashkenazi Haredi vs Everybody Else Conversion Crisis, but it could lend a new perspective - if not legal position - on the converts of non-Orthodox communities. Rav Eliezer Berkovitz (read a great article about his thinking here, courtesy of Azure Magazine) argued that non-Orthodox converts should be accepted for the sake of Jewish unity, and his philosophy is similar in many ways to that expressed above.
I have often thought that converts have an advantage in that we do not have familial ties to one tradition or another within Judaism, and it might be easier for us to approach Judaism from many different perspectives. Whether or not this is true for everyone, I hope you’ll consider checking out The Sephardi Perspective from time to time, and let us hear what you think about the current post!
Shabbat Shalom,
Yair
Yair — very nice. I’m presently reading Rabbi Angel’s book on Orthodox conversion, and it’s really brilliant and has a lot of the historical citations and implications of conversion, including the thoughts of Uziel. Hopefully after I finish reading I can add more to the argument. Have you read the book?
Hi Chavi,
I haven’t read that one yet, but I will make it a point to find it and read it, it sounds pretty interesting. How did you find out about it? I’m going to check for it right away…
Thanks! Shabbat Shalom,
Yair
This was a very interesting read, Yair. I’ve been reading about this issue from many different perspectives, and this was one of the kindest, gentlest takes I’ve seen yet. I share Perry’s (and R’ Druckman’s) liberal approach to converting Israelis without demanding a vow of 100% observance for two main reasons: 1) The Talmud only says the potential convert must be taught some of the major and minor mitzvot, not all of them. It wasn’t until 1874 that the first case went on record of a convert being held to 100% observance. And 2) the people converted by R’ Druckman’s court are not strangers to Judaism, but returnees, in a sense. Perry wrote something in the comment section after his article that I thought was particularly resonant: “Rav Uziel gave a very important responsa [sic] on this issue when he declared that the lesser of two evils is the better path. When all these non-Jews could intermarry with Jews, this is a far worst [sic] sin than converting a non-Jew who may not keep the halacha. Especially as many of these people are the descendants of Jews [...]. ‘You did not bring back those who were driven away, and those who were lost you did not seek’ (Yehezkel 43:4).”
I only disagree with one thing Perry writes, and it’s minor. In the first two paragraphs you cite in your post, he challenges the assignment of labels in this controversy, claiming that it’s not modern v. haredi Orthodox Jews who are battling this out, but tolerant, worldly, socially involved individuals versus those who do not participate actively in the world outside their closed communities. Perhaps this distinction is clear to people outside the Israeli Orthodox world, but to my ears, he has only substituted definitions for labels. In Israel, religious Zionists often feel caught in the middle, appreciated by no one. To secular Jews who are suspicious of (or hate) religious Jews, we are lumped with the haredim. To haredi Jews, we might as well be secular, or non-Jews. Yet the values that motivate the dati leumi (religious Zionist) world, inspired by Rav Kook, are Jewish unity, appreciation of the value and contribution of all Jews to our society, and a generally live-and-let-live attitude. We accommodate the dietary choices of people to the right of us in order to celebrate simchas as one. We contribute the greatest number of soldiers to the officer’s training school to serve and protect the country we love. And we take the attitude that making conversion palatable and easier (while still within the confines of halacha) is good for the Jews and Israel. I agree with Perry that if the haredi community played a greater role in Israeli society, it would be viewed as having greater authority to make far-reaching decisions that affect that society. My concern with the attitude adopted by the haredi members of the High Rabbinical Court is that mitzvot trump midot (positive qualities). The prophets cry out against this (including Amos 5:22-24), claiming that without justice, ritual is meaningless. And to create a world in which converts live in uncertainty and doubt, wondering when some infraction will be reported to a rabbi and their Jewish status revoked, is a gross miscarriage of justice.
I don’t know where this will lead, or how it will be resolved. I only hope we merit to see justice restored to such an essential part of Israeli society.
Shalom Shim!
All I can say about your post is NACHON! I sort of noticed the labels/definitions thing you mentioned, and I certainly appreciate the position of Dati Leumi folks with respect to their place in the minds of the Haredi community and the secular community. Sort of caught between a rock and a hard place in a way. BTW, as far as I am concerned, nothing says ahavat Yisrael like joining Tzahal…. and should I, b’ezrat Hashem, have the opportunity to make aliyah, I will gladly serve.
Your point about the prophets crying out against putting ritual ahead of midot is certainly timely for me this morning. While I was davening Shacharit under my huge birch tree in the sun (finally! warmth in northern Minnesota!), my attention was drawn especially to the teaching by Yochanan ben Zakkai about our atonement being secured, in the absence of the Temple, by deeds of loving kindness. Since that was spoken by the prophets when the Temple stood… per your quote of Amos… I wonder if that hasn’t been the key all along.
Anyway, thanks for your as-always-insightful comments!
kol tuv,
Yair
Yair,
Than you for the mention on this blog. However, I am actually male. I understand the confusion as in the U.S. Ashley is predominantly a female name.
By the way, there are reams of sources on this issue from the Sephardi world and tended to be more accepting of converts generally because of the general worldview.
Regards
Ashley
Shimshonit,
Something largely missing from the “religious-secular” debate are the “traditional” Jews. According to recent polls, this group is actually the largest of all the groups and I would suggest is largely populated by Sephardim.
In the Sephardi world labels and separation of the communities is largely absent. If you ever go to a Sephardi synagogue in Israel you will see haredim, dati’im, masoretim and youths who will probably go to a night-club straight after kabbalat shabbat. And they all stand side by side with no separation.
In the Ashkenazi world, labels are everything and it is very sad that each synagogue belongs to one group or another.
I work with and was in the army with many Sephardi (and a few Ashkenazi) haredim who contribute to society as much as the next person. This is the reason that I wanted to dispense with the terms.
Regards
Ashley Perry (Perez)
Ashley,
I appreciate your clarifying your points in the above comment. I clearly missed a large piece of what you were driving at in your article. I believe your point about traditional/masorti (lower-case m) Jews is probably true, and it is unfortunate that Sephardim and Ashkenazim don’t cross paths more often—your description of a Sephardi shul sounds very appealing.
Thanks also for having your wedding photo on the Web so I could Google you and check whether you were a man or a woman!
Best,
Shimshonit
Ashley,
Thanks for your feedback, and my apologies on the wrong gender guess… I’ll edit the post ASAP. I really enjoy reading “The Sephardi Perspective” columns, as they are very well done and they provide a view of a major aspect of the Jewish world that is not typically represented in American Jewish communities. I recall reading an essay written by a Sephardi rabbi who received smicha from RIETS at Yeshiva U, and he conveyed having his Jewishness viewed suspiciously at first because he either didn’t like, or had never tried, gefilta fish :)! Anyway, thanks for your original column, and I look forward to reading more!
kol tuv,
Yair
HI Yair
Thanks for FYI’ing us on the Sephardi article, it was a great read.
I was planning on doing a more detailed comment but it’s bedtime and I’m beat so I’m going to be brief…
I can’t speak for the rest of the country but we have a large Sephardic Community here in LA. Actually I believe it is the second largest Sephardic community in North America.
Me and the wife hang out with mostly Sephardic Jews and although Tamara is of Ashkenazi heritage, our observance has a definitely Sephardic flavor to it. In fact I would even say that the Conservative movement (and there is evidence to support a close relationship between the Sephardim and CJ in the past) and especially our shul seem to embody many of the same qualities found within Sephardic communities. There are of course differences but what can I say, I see so many similarities when it comes t o Tradition and approaches to Jewish Observance and living.
As a side note; I have been known to jokingly say that although my biology might be closer to Ashkenazi my Neshamah is definitely Sephardic. LOL!
Oh also, I am not sure if I ever posted anything about this before but a while back ZEEK did a great article titled “A Sephardic Answer to Modern Jewish Identity,” which I highly recommend checking out.
Hey Avi,
One reason Conservative/Masorti Judaism seems to have Sephardi traditions woven in may have something to do with the fact that a big component of our worldwide community comes from Argentina, and one of our movement’s Rabbinical schools is in Buenos Aires (Seminario Rabbinico, check our their site here.) I’ll check out that Zeek article.
kol tuv,
Yair
Yair, agreed I am sure that plays a role. However I also think a lot of it has to do with the movements commitment to pluralism, halachick and/or otherwise. Also the diversity I see (for example in my shul,) when it comes to levels of Observance. Okay, well you won’t see any Haredi at my shul on Friday night but you will see pretty much everything from committed Shomer Shabbat Orthopraxy on the right to cell-phone carrying Reform types on the left. I can only speak for myself here but I think it’s great!!!
Hey Avi,
I think that diversity sounds great, and it’s an approach we DESPERATELY need as a People I think. The more places that become like that, the better!
kol tuv,
Yair
Yair, I probably should clarify that although all of those people are likely to be actual on Friday evening. They’re also probably going to be attending different minyanim which are held at the same shul. So I guess that’s one (or at least potential) marked difference between my shul and a Sephardic one. However, in terms of Kiddush, study and community socializing I would say that it probably plays out in a similar way.