The topic of Herzfeld's comments was the intra-"Orthodoxy" feuding that has one (or several) rabbis cancelling/voiding/invalidating another rabbi's conversions.
This problem is not unique to the U.S., but Herzfeld focused his attention on the U.S.
Caveat:
1. I am not a rabbi and I don't play one on tv.
2. "Orthodox" in quotes always refers to Ashkenazim.
In one case, Herzfeld cited a woman who was converted according to strict "Orthodox" standards 35 or more years ago.
She lived all her life as an observant Jew. Then one day, she discovered she no longer was a Jew.
What did she do?
SHE did nothing.
The problem: the "Orthodox" rabbi who headed the conversion va'ad (board) was rabbi of a congregation with - gasp - MIXED SEATING !. Never mind that at the time the rabbi was a member of the Rabbinical Council of America, the RCA which, according to Herzfeld, is "a leading Orthodox rabbinic association."
According to R. Moses Feinstein, all Conservative rabbis are atheists, a teacher at their Seminary may not speak before an Orthodox public, and praying in a mixed pew setting, a Torah sin, disqualifies the offending culprit as a witness, a rabbi and judge. Source: The Two faces of Orthodoxy
The true "Orthodox" will shrug and say "Not a problem; she can convert again before a "kosher" rabbi.
Of course that will entail a lengthy conversion process - relearning things she already knows - and a costly conversion process. The rabbis in Israel have it down to a revenue-generating business; U.S. rabbis also are compensated, although being paid to perform a mitzvah is a questionable act.
Now, let say the woman has children.
As with the mother, the children suddenly are not Jewish.
If a daughter marries and has children, they, too, are instant non-Jews.
There is no problem with the marriage; if a spouse is declared non-Jewish, there is no marriage according to rabbinical law. (Torah law thinks otherwise, but never mind.)
Conversion is always the possibility - assuming the new non-Jews are not completely disgusted with the rabbinical fiat.
But consider.
We have a bunch of "suddenly non-Jews" walking around; people who thought they were Jewish and who were treated as Jews.
They witnessed katubot (wedding contracts).
They witnessed gettim (divorce documents).
The question now must be asked: If the once-a-Jew-now-not-a-Jew is one of the required witnesses and there are no "spare" witnesses (typical in both katubot and gettim)
Is the couple married according to rabbinical halacha?
Is the get valid and the couple halachally divorced?
The marriage is not such a big deal. The katubah is invalid and a new one must be written and witnessed.
But the divorce can present problems.
Couple marry and have a child.
Couple divorces; a get is witnessed and given.
Wife marries again, complete with valid katubah.
Wife has another child.
If the divorce was not valid, the wife still is married to the first husband.
She has committed adultery with her second husband - the "kosher" katubah is invalidated because suddenly the get from the first husband is invalidated.
Fortunately the rabbis lack the power to sentence an adulteress to death and her "significant other" to the appropriate punishment.
What about the children from the second marriage? Are the children momzerim; the result of a prohibited relationship?
The RCA claims that it would never retroactively reject conversions and that to do so would be a blatant Torah violation.
Yet, Herzfeld writes, "We now know that the RCA is casting aspersions on prior conversions by its own members. We know this thanks to Karen Brunwasser, who last month wrote about her personal ordeal in The Washington Jewish Week.
Brunwasser spelled out how, despite her "Orthodox" conversion nearly 35 years ago, she was rejected by the Israeli chief rabbi’s office in her initial attempts to establish her Judaism and thereby marry her beloved fiancé. She wrote movingly of the emotional turmoil she went through and how she was concerned that it might affect forever her relationship with the new family she was hoping to join.
In Israel, according to the UTJ Viewpoints web site, ”The Israeli (former) Chief Rabbi Shelomo Amar has disallowed conversions of all Orthodox rabbis other than Haredi rabbis with whom he is familiar. Thus, converts of Orthodox rabbis, serving in Orthodox pulpits, converting Gentiles into practicing Orthodox Jews, are not recognized as kosher converts in Israel. According to R. Amar, he wants stricter standards. R. Amar has failed to publish his stricter standards and he does not articulate what he believes to be the legitimating Torah standard."
