One of the flagship reforms of the Minister of Religions, Matan Kahana, is in the field of conversion, where he claims that a real revolution is needed.
According to him, half a million immigrants from the Commonwealth of Independent States are not Jews, so it is necessary to make the conversion courts accessible, and also allow city rabbis to convert.
However, a new survey conducted by the "One Nation" organization among hundreds of immigrants reveals that not only is the reform not bringing the hundreds of thousands of non-Jews in Israel closer enough to Judaism - in some ways it is even alienating them.
A survey conducted by a sample institute among 508 immigrants, including about 21% who are non-Jewish or unsure of their status in the eyes of the rabbinate, shows that only 13% are interested in undergoing some conversion process, about two-thirds of the children, compared to 79.6%. Who replied that they were not interested in going through the process.
39.3% of the respondents answered that they are not interested in going through the process because they are Jews, and 37% answered that it is not necessary or that they are not interested.
13% are interested in conversion.
Minister Matan Kahana, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Surprisingly, it is precisely the reform that is causing a decrease in the desire to convert, and a massive increase in uncertainty.
Only 12.7% answered in the affirmative to the question of whether they would consider converting as a result of the reform, compared with 66.2% who answered in the negative, and 21% who answered that they did not know.
Of those who answered in the negative, 56.8% answered that they do not consider conversion necessary, or are not interested in it.
Accessibility will not suffice
One of the main claims of the "One Nation" organization, which initiated the survey, is that the Minister of Religions speaks over the heads of the immigrants, and is not interested in their views regarding the reform.
As evidence, they bring up the fact that Minister Kahana's solution to the problem is to make the conversion accessible to potential converts.
But in the survey only 5% of the respondents answered that the reason why they do not convert is that the process is difficult, along with another 5%, who answered that they dislike the rabbinate.
It should be noted that some of those surveyed identify a solution to this problem in the reform, since regarding the question of why not convert after the reform, only 2.9% answer that the process is long, and 1.9% answered that they dislike the rabbinate.
However, this does not seem to be the problem preventing people from converting.
Moshe Ben Simhon
Respondents were asked whether they would perform Jewish customs after the conversion reform.
According to Halacha, a person who converts has a duty to accept the mitzvos and duties in Judaism.
45% answered that they would keep kosher, 15% answered that they would agree to avoid traveling on Shabbat and 25% said that they would pray in a synagogue.
10% responded that they would not observe any custom.
"Narrow political interest"
"We went out to survey because we wanted to confirm the gut feeling in the Russian-speaking community, which some people speak for. As a native of Moscow and a Russian-speaker, it was clear to me that these would be the results," says Leah Aharoni, director of Am Ehad in Israel.
"Minister Kahana claims that only if it is easy for the 500,000 non-Jewish immigrants from the Commonwealth of Independent States - they will convert, but this is clearly not true. He uses this card out of narrow political interest, in order to overthrow the rabbinate, "We need to find a solution for half a million people without going over their heads, and take into account their desires and needs."
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