However, on some things I find myself in agreement with the old men in Jerusalem.
I HAVE NOTHING against Conservative, Reform, Humanistic, and all other variations on the Jewish theme, but I DO have a problem with non-halakic conversions and accepting people as Jews who have a non-Jewish mother.
Unlike the Chiefs, I don’t care how observant a person it at home or in their own social circle.
I also realize that until the Chiefs can strip an “accident of birth” Jew of his Jewish status – it cannot to the best of my non-rabbinical knowledge – the old men should not strip a convert of his or her Jewishness simply because they – as millions of other Jews – elect to ignore the commandments.
I would rather go to a non-observant synagogue where the congregants actually PRAY and PAY ATTENTION to the d’vir Torah lesson than an “Orthodox” synagogue where the men sit and chat or read the paper or – scandal – crane their necks to see who is in the women’s section (and then loudly complain about having to see a woman).
ON THE OTHER HAND, I want to know that my grandchildren will marry Jews who ARE ((halachically) Jews; the child of a Jewish mother (Jewish by birth or Jewish by halakic conversion).
Yes, I know the halakah of conversion is strictly rabbinical. By today’s Chiefs, Ruth was, is, and always will be a Moabite nokaret (non-Jew). Yet, Tanach declares her Jewish sufficient that King David is descended from her. (So was David a Jew or not? A rabbinical quandary.)
While the old men in Jerusalem are trying to rout out converts (via “orthodoxy”) who fail to follow all 613 mitzvoth – an impossibility in any event – they are simultaneously attacking non-Israeli “orthodox” rabbis who, although not on the Chiefs’ list, accept candidates for conversion. Some prominent U.S. rabbis failed to “make the cut.”
Politics does not, in my opinion, belong in religion, but that is what the Chief Rabbinute is all about: politics.
I have family who are heloni – non-observant. It is enough, they believe, that they live in Israel.
There may be something to that – living in Israel most assuredly IS an important mitzvah.
Will the old men in Jerusalem strip them of their Jewishness?
Unlike many rabbis and other professional Jews (e.g., yeshiva “boys”), the non-observant in my family serve – or served – in the army; they live daily under threat of rockets from Israel’s neighbors to the north and south; they work to support their families … their children and grandchildren.
That is NOT to suggest that ONLY helonim work and support their families; there are many observant Jews that do the same.
The Chief Rabbinute is political.
To be elected a chief rabbi (there are two when there used to be one) is a mater of politics; just like non-rabbinical politics, it is not WHAT you know but WHO you know within the rabbinute. (Sounds like the cardinals selecting a new pope, and sans the white smoke, the process is similar.)
The old men are fallible, albeit their followers will deny that.
On the “Sefardi” side, most chief rabbis have been Iraqi. Nothing wrong with that, but one recent chief rabbi told North African Jews their traditions were wrong. He later was obliged to recant.
Chief rabbis have errors of judgment, and – in my opinion, – they need to rethink their stand on halakic conversions and the behavior of the convert. There are many reasons a person might wish to become Jewish but lack a desire to perform all the possible mitzvoth. It’s a steep road to climb, going from a non-Jewish life to a Jewish life. Even ba’ali tshuvah (Jews becoming observant) should start off one new mitzvah at a time. (Those who try to do all the possible mitzvoth from Day 1 often drop out, thinking it is too difficult. It can be difficult, but taken one mitzvah at a time – one step at a time – usually works best.)
I don’t know what can be done with non-halakic conversions and those who claim their Jewish status from their father. (Perhaps the later deserves some thought by the old men in Jerusalem.)
As far as the Law of Return, that should remain strictly within the realm of the civil government.
The Chief Rabbinute is losing the respect it once earned.
It is losing the kashrut war in Israel to another Jewish organization that is equally strict.
It is losing its control of Jewish marriages and divorces; for many years Israelis have gone to Cyprus or elsewhere to marry, now they can find an Israeli lawyer to marry them. Recently a three-rabbi committee found a way to abrogate a woman’s marriage when the old men in Jerusalem – despite putting a recalcitrant husband in jail – failed to force the husband to give his wife a get (divorce).
The sad thing is that as the Chief Rabbinute falls into disrepute, the religion also suffers.
While Judaism is not a popularity contest, the Chief Rabbinute seems intent on alienating Jews in Israel and around the world.
We need chief rabbis in R. Lau’s mold to save the rabbinute from itself.
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