RCA Agrees to Cave on Conversion

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B"H

Well, Amar has his wish. He is now the de facto Jewish pope. Amar is convinced that being Chief Rabbi makes him some sort of HOLY SOVEREIGN and not the political appointee with no religious power above his station as a regular learned Jewish Rabbi. Shame on Amar. Shame on the RCA.

At least Rabbi Angel has the brains to call the emperors clothes for what they are--the cloak of active imagination and out-of-control power.

M
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Feb 21, 2008 20:19 | Updated Feb 21, 2008 20:27
RCA, Rabbinate reach conversion deal
By MATTHEW WAGNER
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1203605147501&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

In a move that puts an end to the ongoing conversion controversy between the two largest rabbinic organizations in the world, the Chief Rabbinate has agreed to recognize conversions performed by the Rabbinic Council of America (RCA).

The Jerusalem Post has learned from sources in the chief rabbinate that in an agreement to be announced Monday, the Chief Rabbinate approved a list of about 15 RCA rabbinic courts and about 40 rabbinic judges scattered across the US who are authorized to perform conversions.

Courts and judges not on the list will not be automatically recognized.

The RCA and the Chief Rabbinate also agreed that conversions performed in the past by judges who are not included on the official list will need the approval of Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz, the octogenarian head of the Beth Din of America.

In addition, new conversion judges who wish to be included on the official list will need to receive the approval of Rabbi Hershel Shachter head of the Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Theological Seminary in Yeshiva University and Rabbi Mordechai Willig, deputy head of the Beth Din of America and a Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University.

As part of the agreement, Rabbi Moshe Nidam, a representative from the chief rabbinate, will also help approve new judges together with Shachter and Willig.

One US rabbi who supported the agreement said that it was legitimate for the chief rabbinate to demand minimum standards for conversions.

"The Israeli rabbinate is going to be asked to recognize these conversions in the future," said the rabbi who preferred to remain anonymous. "So they have a right to make demands."

Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar, who is responsible for conversions in Israel, sparked the controversy between the rabbinate and the RCA when he announced in April 2006 that he would no longer automatically recognize conversions performed by RCA rabbis.

Amar criticized the RCA for failing to adhere to the most stringent standards in the acceptance of converts. He demanded that all RCA conversion judges come to Israel to pass examinations and was reluctant to recognize conversions performed by RCA judges.

Amar's comments cast doubt on the Jewishness of hundreds of American converts.

RCA rabbis perceived Amar's statements as an attack on their legitimacy and jurisdiction.

Rabbi Marc Angel, a former president of the RCA, who together with Rabbi Avi Weiss, head of the liberal Chovevei Torah rabbinic seminary, plans to set up alternative rabbinic organization called Rabbinic Fellowship, blamed the RCA of capitulating to pressure from the Chief Rabbinate.

In an e-mail message from New York, Angel commented that, "The Chief Rabbinate has taken a narrow and extreme views on the question of conversion, and is now demanding that all rabbis comply with these 'standards'.

"The RCA has, very unfortunately, capitulated to the demands of the Chief Rabbinate. This not only undermines the authority of individual Orthodox rabbis, but creates a climate of stringency, rabbinic bureaucracy and authoritarianism."

Rabbi Seth Farber, head of ITIM an organization that helps converts navigate the Israeli rabbinic, voiced concern that American converts and their offspring would have difficulty proving their Jewishness if they were to immigrate to Israel.

"The overwhelming majority of American Orthodox converts over the years have not had their conversion certified by Schwartz. Children or grandchildren are going to wind up in Israel and their Jewishness will be questioned."

Farber also voiced concern that by centralizing the conversion model the RCA "runs the risk of transforming the conversion from a personal journey to a bureaucratic one, which is precisely the mistake that was made by the chief rabbinate here in Israel."

Rabbi Yitzhak Peretz, an aide to Amar on conversion matters, said that the agreement with the RCA would upgrade the conversion standard in the US.

"Making sure that conversions are performed in accordance with halacha is good for the converts and good for the Jewish people.

"Now all conversions performed by the RCA will be universally recognized by all communities within Orthodoxy."