Israeli Court grants non-Orthodox conversions

[sharonbn]

Supreme Court approves several local Reform and Conservative conversions; Case marks first time local non-Orthodox converts granted citizenship

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3066059,00.html

[danholo]

Oh, that's nice. I didn't know that the ISC has a right from G-d to choose who is Jewish.

[sharonbn]

Who has this "right"?

[Ariksan]

I can understand why different branches of Judasim have a problem with the conversion monopoly of the Orthodox, however, they are not innocent themeselves.

"Kim Smith, a member of Rabbi Lebow's congregation, converted eight years ago. Sitting in her Victorian living room in the small town of Cartersville, Ga., next to her husband, Tom Owens, and their 12-year-old daughter, Wallis, she tries to explain how it began. Her path has been a particularly circuitous one: she is Korean by birth, was adopted by a Protestant couple, grew up in California and Arkansas and was raised a Methodist. ''Well, I guess I'm such a novelty anyway,'' she says in her wide Arkansas twang. ''People are like, O.K., she's a Korean from Arkansas, why not Jewish too?''

But she's not being entirely serious, and Tom, who did not follow his wife on her religious journey, tries to put it in context: ''She had a major illness eight or nine years ago. And while she was recuperating, she did some serious soul-searching, asking herself why this happened to her. She started reading books on religion. And then there was the movie. . . . ''

Laugh if you must, but as people like Rabbi Lebow will tell you, in parts of the country with few Jews, pop culture provides an introduction. It turns out Kim saw ''Schindler's List'' while she was sick"

Stuff like this makes me seriously doubt if it is a good idea to accept their conversions.

http://www.pass.to/newsletter/0502McLaughlin.htm

[Mediocrates]

And who annointed you? Fact is, the Orthodox argue amongst themselves about this. They each have their own criteria, aka their own Rabbis and facilities and are unwilling to accept each other's Orthodox credentials either. I know for example Chabad maintains their own list of Orthodox Rabbis who are Orthodox enough, to meet Chabad's rules - basically they accept no non Chabad conversions. Similarly other groups do exactly the same thing. So if they can't agree on standards even amongst each other then they are certainly in no position to determine those standards for anyone else.

[danholo]

Who has this "right"?

G-d? Or do you actually want me to believe that the supreme court studied Torah to reach this decision?

[alexbmn]

I'm sure that people who think that being Jewish is about watching all episodes of seinfeld shouldnt have this right.

[Mediocrates]

It depends on what the criteria for conversion are. If you were to pursue this from the Chabad perspective, the actualy conversion, as it were, is rather trivial. Even your own personal beliefs don't really matter. What's crucial is living Frum. So in that sense their criteria are both very narrow and very broad at the same time. On the other hand you could be a not very shul going observant Jew and have a traditionally Jewish home and push your kids into Jewish education and be mainline Reform or Conservative.


See the key is, and this is important, you have to unpack the reasons for why all these streams are different. Each stream maintains two threads. One, to be a better Jew, and the other, to be a better Jew in that stream. Trust me, Reform, Conservative, etc. are all interested in gathering Jews to themselves, to growing their own stream. They'd just as soon have more like themselves than give up anyone to any other stream. The Orthodox make this distinction a little more crisp. They categorically deny that any other than them are practicing Jews. Period. Extra ecclesiam nulla salus as it were. The other streams are more interpretive on this point. They are willing to agree that there are Jews who are different from themselves but who are still Jews. I suppose the finer point is that for Orthodox, the distance between heresy and apostacy is almost nil. In other streams you can see a little daylight.

[KettleWhistle]

This is just wrong. I am no fan of the Orthodox, and I don't believe in conversions for any reason other than to form a family, but at least the Orthodox had some standards. The Conservatives, and even more so, the Reform, just sign people up to be "Jews." Ridiculous.

[SteveK]

This is just wrong. I am no fan of the Orthodox, and I don't believe in conversions for any reason other than to form a family, but at least the Orthodox had some standards. The Conservatives, and even more so, the Reform, just sign people up to be "Jews." Ridiculous.


Getting warmer. A citizens' registry in Israel requires standards above those of a synagogue's membership roll in suburban America.

[Pushtak21]

BAGATZ MESAKEN YEHUDIM!!!!! :mad:

[sharonbn]

Pushtak, don't bump a thread for the sole sake of venting your frustrations.

[Pushtak21]

Pushtak, don't bump a thread for the sole sake of venting your frustrations.


I have a right to voice my opinion...let it be the fustration of the Israeli Supreme court :D