Gershom Gorenberg My latest piece on the conversion crisis is on-line, a bit late, at the Hadassah Magazine site. Crisis is too nice a word. What’s really happening is that part of the Israeli state rabbinate has adopted a radical ultra-Orthodox innovation: regarding conversion to Judaism as something that can be annulled. Yes, folks, I [...]
Rabbis v. Jewish Tradition: More on the Conversion Crisis
December 22nd, 2008 · 11 Comments · Judaism and Religion
Tags: Avi Sagi·Avraham Atya·Conversion·Conversion Authority·conversion to Judaism·enter for Women’s Justice·Gedalya Axelrod·giyyur·Haim Druckman·Jonathan Sarna·Law of Return·Rabbinical Council of America·RCA·Shlomo Amar·Zvi Zohar
Does Israeli Equal Jew? On a Shared Israeli Identity
July 27th, 2008 · 6 Comments · Judaism and Religion
Gershom Gorenberg A few days ago, Haim, you responded to a challenge I raised in a post on the conversion battles. Your answer made me realize that I hadn’t phrased the question sharply enough. I wrote: “We need to define a civic Israeli identity not dependent on halakhic status.” You wrote that I was right, [...]
Tags: Brother Daniel·civil identity·Conversion·Jewish identity·Law of Return
Conversion: The American Machers Protest!
July 15th, 2008 · 3 Comments · Judaism and Religion
Gershom Gorenberg If there’s one subject that forces U.S. Jewish leaders to express their views on Israeli politics, it’s “Who’s a Jew.” In previous years, the crises began when it looked like the Knesset would change the Law of Return so that non-Orthodox converts would not qualify to immigrate as Jews. That threatened the legitimacy [...]
Tags: Conversion·Druckman·rabbinic courts·UJC
Ultra-Orthodoxy Cancels Conversion, Sends Modern Orthodox for Reeducation
July 3rd, 2008 · 8 Comments · Judaism and Religion, Uncategorized
Gershom Gorenberg The divide between the ultra-Orthodox and other Jews over who is Jewish continues to widen. In the latest developments, ultra-Orthodox rabbis in both Israel and the U.S. have asserted that conversion is reversible — that a convert can cease to be Jewish if she or he does not live according to halakhah, Jewish [...]
Tags: Conversion·gap year·halakhah·Modern Orthodoxy·ultra-Orthodoxy·Who's a Jew
‘How to Prove You’re a Jew’ – Afterthoughts, aftershocks
March 16th, 2008 · 3 Comments · Uncategorized
“Obama Converts to Judaism” says a headline on Huffington Post, which I found via the eternally alert Laura Rozen at War and Piece. Buffeted by criticism of his controversial Christian pastor while continuing to quell rumors that he is a Muslim, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) took a bold step today to settle questions about his [...]
Tags: Brenda Brasher·Conversion·Judaism·Marc Angel·New York Times·Obama·rabbinate·RCA·religion and state

