Countless times the assertion is made that the Rabbinate creates difficulties for converts, and that the conversion process is rigid and burdensome. When a lie is repeated over and over again, it is absorbed into public opinion, which has no tools to examine its veracity.
Is it true that Judaism does not welcome converts?
This week's Torah portion, which recounts the great and sublime occasion of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, is named after a sojourner - Yitro. Several of the greatest sages of the Mishnah and Talmud were sons of sojourners. Throughout the ages, the people of Israel have lovingly welcomed those who came to seek refuge under the wings of the Divine Presence.
Blurring of concepts
But there is a fundamental difference between loving the stranger and turning conversion into a rushed process, emptied of its true content. And this is essentially what all those who press for an abbreviated conversion are demanding – to issue conversion certificates without there being any real conversion here, of joining the covenant that the Creator of the world made with the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. Such a 'conversion' is not an 'easy conversion', but a sad joke, a lie, and a deception.
The confusion and blurring begin even before conversion.
We hear the argument over and over again – he serves in the IDF! She pays taxes! But what is the connection between these things? And does serving in the IDF turn a non-Jew into a Jew? Druze, Bedouin, Christians, Circassians, Muslims serve in the IDF – does anyone imagine that as a result they become Jews? Those who serve in the army, pay taxes, and so on, fulfill their civic duties. What does this have to do with belonging to the Jewish people?
The conversion process has one main goal – to ensure that the convert understands the profound meaning of joining the Jewish people, and that he or she indeed accepts the set of obligations imposed on a Jew. There is no other conversion, and a thousand ceremonies and certificates will be of no use.
It is not a question of an easy or difficult course, a written or oral test. The question is whether the person sincerely joins the Sinai Covenant or is only interested in a stamp, for utilitarian purposes.
Therefore, conversion cannot be quick and abbreviated. The person must learn the essentials of Judaism. Understand the meaning of observing the commandments. He must experience Shabbats and holidays in families that observe the Torah and commandments. He must internalize the fundamental change that is about to occur in his life and stick to it. This is not a matter of bureaucracy, where procedures can be shortened and forms can be dispensed with.
Idle conversions
The great tragedy is that vested interests work to confuse the concepts. People who have no authority to convert appear in public as those who supposedly care about converts. And if you tell the truth, that their 'conversions' are without any validity, they are 'offended', as if you have harmed their status.
But all the false propaganda will not change reality.
With all due respect to the Electricians' Association, it does not have the authority to issue pilot licenses. Nor does the Engineers' Association have the authority to certify doctors. Thus, conversion is a purely halakhic concept, and only a court that is bound by halakhic law can convert, according to the laws of conversion that have been established in the Torah since time immemorial. This is the one and only conversion and there is no exception.
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