Comment appended to post Thursday, August 19, 2010 5:25 PM
I was changing the Comments status and I happened to see one of the comments from the "early days" of this blog.
The comment was from Rabbi A.Z. Haber in response to "About those Avot" (http://yohanon.blogspot.com/2008/05/about-those-avot.html).
The discussion was about converts to Judaism who made a name for themselves, notably in one of the Talmuds.
Rabbi Haber thought the person was Yehudah ben Torsa, but it turned out his answer was "close, but no cigar." The good rabbi followed up his initial comment with a correction, and with the correction, a story - which is why this entry is about converts.
Rabbi Haber wrote, in his update comment that "Actually it was Yochanan ben Torsa from a Yerushalmi and the Midrash (Pesikta Rabbasi 14):(The rabbi was a colleague of Rabbi Akiva; thus, this story probably took place in the era right after the destruction of the Second Temple)."
Once there was a Jewish man who owned a cow with which he plowed his field. He and the cow would rest, however, on the holy Shabbos, the day which is dedicated to the Creator.
This Jewish man went through a difficult period where he was forced to sell the cow to a non-Jewish neighbor. The new owner plowed with it for six days. On Shabbos, he also took it out to plough, but it lay down beneath its yoke. He began to beat it, but the animal would not budge from its place. Seeing that his efforts were in vain, he went to his Jewish neighbor and said, "Come take your cow, for she grieves after her former master. No matter how much I beat her, she refuses to budge from her place."
The Jewish man realized that the cow refused to work because it had been taught to rest on Shabbos. He said, "I will get her to stand up." When he came, he whispered in her ear, "Heifer, heifer, you know that when you were mine, you plowed all week and rested on Shabbos. But now because of my sins, I was forced to sell you, and your new owner is not Jewish. Therefore, I beseech you, stand up and plough." She immediately arose and began to plough.
The new owner said, "I beg you, take back your cow. But before I leave, tell me what did you whisper in her ear? I wore myself out with her, and even beat her, but she did not get up."The Jewish man told him what he had whispered in her ear.
Immediately, the other man began to tremble when he realized that this cow, who did not have human intellect, recognized the Creator. He therefore proclaimed, "How can I, a human being whom my Maker formed in His own image and to whom He gave intellect, fail to recognize my Creator?"
Straightaway, he went and converted to Judaism. Eventually, he became an accomplished Torah scholar who was known as Rabbi Yochanan ben Torsa (Yochanan, son of a cow), and to this day, our rabbis cite his rulings. Why is he called the "son of a cow"? It is because the elevated behavior of this cow led to his spiritual rebirth.
You can read more from Rabbi Haber at http://www.torahlab.org/outoftheloop/
If we can assume this is not a "sepur savta" (grandmother's take), here we have a person who knew - at best - only ONE - count'em, one - mitzvah, keeping Shabat, and he was converted. I'm sure the mikveh and brit came immediately after the man's decision.
A conversion in line with Ramba"m. A conversion in line with Hillel. A conversion in line with halakah.
Did the convert-to-be study for 6 months to a year? No indication of that.
Did the convert know all the major and minor mitzvoth, both the positive and the negative commandments? Not likely.
Did the convert agree to accept all 613 mitzvoth, even though there is no way any one person can practice them all? Hardly.
The Moabite convert - did she know all the mitzvoth? Obviously not - Naomi still was teaching her when they arrived back in Israel. Still, she was good enough to be the mother of kings.
What about Tzipora, Moses' wife. The Torah tells us she knew some mitzvoth, certainly about brit melah, but what about kashrut? That came with Sinai and Sinai came after the brit (a mitzvah that dates to Abraham's time). Yethro, Tzipora's father, allegedly converted after telling his son-in-law to set up an administrative system in the wilderness. Did he spend six months to a year studying with the rabbis?
When we accepted the "yoke of the Torah" we were standing under Har Sinai. Since the rabbis of today can't hold the mountain over a prospective convert's head, perhaps that is the reason for the extended study period. Perhaps not.
I understand the reluctance of some rabbis to accept a person who wants to convert - do they want to convert to be a "bagel Jew" - one who worries only about man's relationship with man at the expense of man's relationship with G-d?
I also can understand the reluctance of some rabbis to consider a person who wants to marry a Jew a suspect candidate. 'Course that doesn't speak well for the Jew who wants to marry the non-Jew . . . will the Jewish partner abandon Judaism once the glass is crushed (or the light bulb broken)?
But I cannot comprehend why the rabbis - and here I refer to the present religious establishment in Israel - insist on making conversion so difficult . . . and beyond the requirements of the Torah and it's luminaries. Is this a money-maker for the rabbis? How much do they charge a prospective convert for lessons? Do they charge by the hour or the lesson or do they charge for the course? Is it even proper to charge? A mohel isn't allowed to charge - demand a fee - for his handiwork. He is allowed to accept a gift. Both the mohel and the rabbinical board (va'ad) welcome a person into Judaism; why should the rabbis make a profit from a mitzvah. (Maybe we should pay our kohanim to bless us every morning for doing what the Torah commands them to do.)
The current religious establishment in Israel - both Ashkenazi and Sephardi/Mizrahi - bring no honor to the rabbinate, to Israel, or to Judaism.
One final thought: Maybe the "establishment" could learn from colleges and universities that let students "CLEP out" of some classes by proving the students already have the knowledge they would learn in class? The colleges and universities still charge, albeit a lesser fee, for the testing; if the rabbis had something similar, rather than lose income, they probably could make a greater profit by freeing up classroom space for other candidates.
COMMENTS ARE WELCOME in English and Hebrew.
Yohanon Glenn
Yohanon.Glenn at gmail dot com
From R. Haber, Thursday, August 19, 2010 5:25 PM
I am flattered to be quoted and you make (as always) a good point. I would rush to point out that almost every field recognizes the need for protocol. One year of study seems like good protocol. The only danger is when people confuse protocol with halacha. Protocol can change on a case by case basis; halacha generally cannot.
As an aside, I would humbly suggest that very few of us would be Hillelians on this subject. The chutzpadik attitude of the fellow who demanded to learn it all on one foot or to become Cohen Gadol would have gotten him thrown out of any court of any religion or denomination. Even if the halacha is like Hillel, you can't blame the Batei Din for leaning toward Shamai here. Especially when we (presumably) lack Hillel's ability to judge the character of the man in question.
