Rabbi Yuval Sherlow, a senior member of the Tzohar organization, calls on the Chief Rabbinate to cooperate honestly in order to resolve the disputes regarding the conversion law.
In response to a similar call from the chief rabbis earlier this week, Rabbi Sherlow says that if the parties sit together a common solution will be found.
After months of a frontal attack on Religious Minister Matan Kahana's conversion reform, the two chief rabbis sent a letter to the committee shortly after the law was approved by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation, calling for a joint body to formulate agreements on the issue.
"We do not take lightly the fact that the purpose of the law is to facilitate the conversion process, but as has already been said, 'your intention is desirable but your actions are undesirable.'
"Making a decision on this sensitive and important issue by ignoring the position of the chief rabbis and the judges of Israel as well as all the great men of the Torah, is a rupture of the people and will inevitably lead to the establishment of separate communities in Israel. "The unity of the people and not to cause separation and rift in the people."
Chief Rabbis Yitzhak Yosef and David Lau, alongside Jerusalem City Rabbi Shlomo Amar, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
In an article written as part of the "Zikim" seminary to convey the teachings of Rabbi Sherlow, the rabbi noted that this is a blessed move if it is indeed an honest proposal.
"The Chief Rabbinate's call for the establishment of a 'common body' that will propose an agreed-upon bill - has been written here many times, as a way to go from the beginning of dealing with the subject.
"We are in a difficult problem for many non-Jews according to Halacha, and yet they are an integral part of Israeli society. This is the biggest challenge facing Halacha in the Land of Israel today. The conversion law will not fully solve this challenge. Not only is the Knesset not "Halacha states, it is also not intended and is not capable of making people want to convert," wrote Rabbi Sherlow.
"The answer is not in one place. It is partly imposed on local communities; it is partly imposed on those who practice conversion; it is partly imposed on the creation of the desire to convert on the one hand, and on the importance of halakhic Jewish identity on the other."
"The discussion about conversion has deviated from its place, and instead of discussing ways to do all this - it has changed from the discussion 'Who is a Jew' to a discussion 'Who is a rabbi?' It has also become a political debate. ", The rabbi concluded.
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