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June 22, 2001/Tamuz 1, 5761, Vol. 53, No.38
Reform set to approve conversion standards
JULIE WIENER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - In another break with its past, the Reform movement is poised to adopt new guidelines that endorse traditional rituals for people converting to Judaism.
Two years after the Central Conference of American Rabbis' "Statement of Principles" reversed the historic 1885 Pittsburgh Platform - a strident rejection of tradition and ritual - the Reform group is expected to overturn an 1893 resolution that described conversion rituals as unnecessary and meaningless.
The new document will be voted on June 27 at the CCAR convention in Monterey, Calif.
Among the suggestions in "Guidelines for Rabbis Working with Prospective Gerim (converts)" are that prospective Jews immerse in the mikvah, undergo at least a symbolic circumcision and appear before a beit din, or panel of rabbis.
In addition, communities in New Jersey and the Denver/Boulder area, among other areas, have created Reform rabbinic panels to oversee conversions.
While there is little hard data about conversion, anecdotal reports describe a significant increase in the number of people undergoing Reform conversions, something Reform leaders attribute to outreach efforts targeting spiritual seekers as well as gentiles married to Jews.
With growing interest in conversion putting increased demands on rabbis' schedules, the Reform movement recently began training volunteers to work with prospective converts, said Dru Greenwood, director of the Reform movement's Union of American Hebrew Congregations' outreach and synagogue affiliation department.
While promoting ritual, the guidelines reiterate the Reform movement's longstanding rejection of the traditional notion that conversion should be discouraged. Instead, they call for an attitude of "joy and encouragement" while urging rabbis to ensure that prospective converts are aware of the challenges of being a Jew.
The guidelines also urge congregations to welcome and integrate prospective converts, calling for conversion to be seen as a long-term process involving study, participation in synagogue life and commitment to certain observances.
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