In a landmark decision, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the government must recognize conversions to Judaism performed by Reform and Conservative rabbis in Israel and not just Orthodox ones.
The justices cautioned that they were ruling only on the narrow question of how converts were to be listed in official government records, not on the larger issue of who is a Jew. But their decision has far-reaching implications.
By recognizing the legal consequences of religious acts performed in Israel by non-Orthodox rabbis, the ruling could provide an opening wedge for diminishing the unchallenged power of the Orthodox rabbinical establishment.
Israel is a largely secular society, but the Orthodox rabbinate has had a monopoly on matters of faith. That provision was made half a century ago by the country’s founders to ensure the religious establishment’s support for the project to restore a Jewish homeland. It has led to conflicts with Jewish communities in other countries, most notably the United States, where the majority of observant Jews are Conservative or Reform.
Those conflicts were reflected in early responses to the Supreme Court’s decision.
“It’s an important victory,” said Rabbi Eric Yoffie, head of the New York-based Union of American Hebrew Congregations, which represents more than 900 Reform synagogues. “At the same time, this does not mean we have equality under Israeli law.”
Yisrael Meir Lau, one of Israel’s two chief rabbis, decried what he termed the court’s interference with religious traditions centuries older than Israel itself. He warned that “the decision will totally confuse those converts whose conversion is not according to [Orthodox] Jewish law.”
Wednesday’s ruling was on the issue of under which citizenship status Jewish converts should be listed on their Israeli official documents. Responsibility for enforcing the court’s decision falls on Interior Minister Eli Yishai. Yishai is a member of the Shas Party, which represents the Orthodox community. Its support is critical to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s coalition government.
Yishai said he was looking into the possibility of identifying converts on their IDs as “Reform Jews” or “Conservative Jews.” Such a decision could exacerbate tensions with U.S. Jews, some of whom are cautiously celebrating the court’s ruling as a vindication for their religious sensitivities.
“It has been humiliating for American Jews, who have done a great deal for Israel, that their brand of Judaism is not considered good in Israel,” said Rabbi David Clayman, the American Jewish Committee’s representative in Israel.
The issue of conversion has been a hot potato in Israel, which in recent decades has received many immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Some found their standing called into question, for example, because their mothers weren’t Jewish, a requirement according to Orthodox religious law. Orthodox rabbis have strict standards for conversion, leading some immigrants to seek an alternative officiant.
The situation was further confused by an earlier court decision giving force to Reform and Conservative conversions, provided they were performed outside of Israel. Wednesday’s decision drops that distinction.
The practical consequences of the court’s ruling are limited to the issue of identification papers. It apparently does not affect other thorny questions of rabbinical authority in a country where the only Jewish marriages considered valid are those presided over by Orthodox rabbis. Rabbi Avraham Ravitz, a member of the Knesset, said Orthodox rabbis would continue to refuse to marry couples not considered Jewish by Orthodox standards.
The court also specifically said that, in its current ruling, it was not addressing the question of who is eligible for acquiring Israeli citizenship according to the country’s Law of Return for Jews living in other lands.
“This ruling need not decide the legal question,” the justices wrote, “of whether Reform or Conservative conversion satisfies what is required by the Law of Return.”
