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Israel's conversion battle hurts women most
ALICE SHALVI
Special to Jewish News
The historic drama of the conversion law in Israel continues to be played out, and in the heat of battle, we tend to forget those individuals whose personal fate hangs in the balance.
From time to time, the public focuses attention on a heart-rending case of a particular couple or adopted babies who are refused conversion. Fear tactics that tell of a mass of humanity pouring into Israel from underdeveloped countries with the purpose of joining the Jewish people, are also employed. Who is really knocking on the doors of the rabbinate at present asking to be converted? What characterizes this group? What makes it possible for the rabbinical establishment to treat these individuals with inhuman obstinance, to ignore their suffering, to reject any creative idea for resolving the problems?
The answer to these questions lies, it seems, in the fact that 90 percent of the candidates currently in line for conversion are women.
The rising demand for Judaism among new immigrants from the former Soviet Union is not part of a wave of spiritual awakening, but stems from the recognition that the state of Israel does not grant equal rights to all of its citizens. Since Jewishness is passed down from mother to child, women are seeking to rectify the "flaw" of being non-Jewish in order to ensure a better life for their children.
The conclusions of the Ne'eman committee are the fruit of dedicated hard work on the part of representatives of the three main streams of Judaism, who cooperated in order to reach acceptable solutions to the human distress of those refused conversion. The rabbinical establishment scorned the recommendations of the committee, and reacted cold-heartedly - as it always does - to the obvious distress of women.
Having been involved, for so many years, in the struggle against this tightly sealed system, the response does not surprise me. Still, I am repeatedly shocked by the terrible infringement on personal freedom by an Orthodox establishment that enjoys a monopoly over the legal authority in Israel. Not only is democratic rule ignored, but respect for Torah is also flouted.
Because I am a modern, observant Jew, the values of freedom, equality and democracy are inseparable parts of my ethical credo, as important as my belief in the Torah and its principles. I believe that the role of the rabbinate is, specifically, to come up with solutions to current problems and not to erect obstacles. Halacha (oral law) has always been characterized by the fact that it indeed moves forward, as the etymology of its Hebrew name implies.
Judaism has always excelled in a tradition of halachic renewal in light of changes in social norms. When we apply this to the 20th century, there is no doubt that the most radical change of our times is related to the status of women. The liberal Jewish streams determined that, in light of this change, it is impossible to separate the sexes in an integrated society; it is unacceptable to prevent women from assuming the public positions such as that of rabbi; it is unethical to prevent them from studying the Torah, and it is immoral to ignore their personal plights.
The Orthodox establishment in Israel is not only not participating in this historic process of reinterpretation, but, through its obstinance, is actually compounding existing problems.
Alice Shalvi is the rector of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, the Jewish Theological Seminary's Jerusalem campus. This article first appeared on the op-ed page of the Israeli newspaper, Ma'ariv.
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