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"The subject of conversion has been abandoned": the chief rabbis under criticism Israel today

2022-08-11T11:33:15.489Z


At the "Etim" association, we examined Rabbi Lau and Rabbi Yosef's handling of the burning religious issues • Along with an improvement in the areas of burial and mikvah, a decrease in the consumption of religious services was observed


Improvement in burials, treatment of mikvahs and failure in the field of conversion: nine years after the election of the Chief Rabbis of Israel, Rabbi David Lau and Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, and on the occasion of their entering their last year in office, the "Etim" association examined how they performed their duties, where they performed them faithfully and where they receive a card bright red

When the rabbis took office in 2013, the people of "Etim", an organization that deals with assisting Israelis in matters of Judaism, sent them the burning issues in the religious services - conversion of minors, procedures for clarifying Judaism in the rabbinic courts, burial of the fallen, intrusion into the individual's modesty of immersion in mikvahs and non-recognition in conversions.

This week they returned to the same letter and attached it to another letter they sent to the rabbis, demanding that they use their last year to improve the activities of the Chief Rabbinate on issues that were on the table even then, and some of which are still in a very problematic situation.

First and foremost, the organization points out that the issue of conversion, with an emphasis on the conversion of minors and the non-recognition of conversions outside the Chief Rabbinate, is beyond criticism.

The comments come against the background of an ongoing conflict between Rabbi Lau, who serves as president of the Great Rabbinical Court, and the Deputy Minister of Religion, Matan Kahana, regarding the conversion reform, which in the meantime has fallen off the table due to the disintegration of the government.

Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yitzhak Yosef, photo: Oren Ben Hakon

A decrease in the consumption of religious services

"In the past years, we have witnessed an unfortunate trend of a decrease in the consumption of religious services, alongside a corresponding decrease in public trust in this institution," notes Rabbi Shaul Farber, chairman of Atim. which is constant in the Jewish population in Israel, so that the rate of rabbinical marriages among the Jewish population is about 20% smaller between 2014 and 2019."

"Similarly, we are witnessing the phenomenon of a sharp decrease in the rate of minor converts - in 2020, 443 children under the age of mitzvah converted - a decrease of more than 70% compared to 2014. The trend continues even more strongly. More and more couples decide to have a child through surrogacy, egg donation or adoption, and the need to establish an effective solution for the conversion of these children is critical," they wrote.

The purpose of the current letter is to try to overcome the gaps even before the upcoming elections for the Chief Rabbinate in July 2023. "The road to accessible and respectful religious services is long. In the time remaining in your position, there are several actions that you can take that will lead to the improvement of the services provided. You have the opportunity to raise the profile of the Chief Rabbinate and endear her to Rabbis of the House of Israel," pleaded the rabbis.

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Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2022-08-11

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