Rabbinate faces losing its monopoly on conversion
THE ISRAELI state rabbinate’s monopoly over Jewish conversion has received another blow after a court ordered the Interior Ministry to recognise the privatecourt conversion of an Israeli citizen.
The ruling, which was passed in August but only made public this month, concerned the case of a woman who performed her conversion with the Modern Orthodox Giyur Kehalacha. Its Beth Din has been operating for the past three years under the residency of Rabbi Nahum Rabinowitz, a former dean of Jews’ College in London.
Giyur Kehalacha’s court runs on Orthodox lines but is more flexible with conversions, particularly for young children, than the state-run Beth Dins dominated by Strictly Orthodox rabbis.
Israel’s High Court had ruled in 2016 that the govermnent must recognise such “private” conversions, but bureaucratic and political obstruction meant the lower court’s backing was necessary in this case.
The state rabbinate and Israel’s Charedi parties oppose recognition of private conversion courts.
Following the 2016 High Court ruling, Shas Leader and Interior Minister Arye Deri tabled a law that would have enshrined a state monopoly on conversion but failed to find coalition backing for the law.
Instead, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed a committee under former Justice Minister Moshe Nissim to present recommendations for overhauling the conversion system.
However, the committee’s report — which included setting up a new system of conversions which would be independent of the rabbinate — was shelved.
While the latest ruling has forced the Shas-controlled Interior Ministry to register “private” converts as Jews, it does not address one of the biggest obstacles facing converts — getting married in Israel.
The rabbinate also has sole control of marriage and there is no civil marriage law, meaning those who converted privately risk not being recognised as Jews when they try to get married.
The establishment of a private Orthodox conversion court was a major rebellion against the rabbinate’s hegemony, coming after years of frustration at the treatment of prospective converts by the existing Beth Dins.
Some Modern Orthodox rabbis are already performing weddings privately, without the rabbinate’s approval, including of converts who my not be officially recognised as Jewish. But this is technically illegal under Israeli law and risks a major breach within the Orthodox community, which supports the state rabbinate in principle.
But some rabbis have been saying that the rabbinate been “lost to the Charedim”, predicting that the establishment of an independent Modern Orthodox marriage organisation is just a matter of time.
A monopoly on marriage is still in place