Behind the Headlines: A Seat At The Conversion Table
Posted By Gary RosenblattBehind the Headlines: A Seat At The Conversion Table
As reported in The Jewish Week last week (read the article here), The Rabbinical Council of America, the largest group of Orthodox rabbis, has reached an agreement with the Chief Rabbinate of Israel allowing the two groups to work together on conversions.
Our headline ("RCA Seen As Caving On Conversions") was widely criticized by member rabbis here, and perhaps correctly, as less than objective. They argued that their main consideration was not their status but that of the converts themselves. These rabbis say the new agreement assures that after two years of on-again, off-again negotiations between the two rabbinic groups, those converts who settle in Israel, having been approved by new RCA rabbinic courts, will be fully accepted by the rabbinate in the Jewish State.
That is true, but at what price?
The RCA has long prided itself as a big-tent organization for a range of Modern Orthodox rabbis, and it is they who study and work closely with potential converts over a process of many months in their communities. Under the new system, though, the two Yeshiva University rabbis with overriding influence, while highly respected halachic experts, are on the right of the spectrum.
And with only 36 RCA rabbis now deemed by the Chief Rabbinate as qualified for conversions, most of the men and women on the path to conversion will no longer be able to complete the process of study with one rabbi, with whom they tend to build a strong bond.
The new system would appear to strengthen the "old boy" network where the rabbinic judges here will look most favorably on candidates whose sponsoring rabbis they know best. And the decision to centralize the system diminishes the authority of the hundreds of RCA rabbis who are not among the 36 approved by the Chief Rabbinate.
In addition, there is no guarantee the agreement will be binding going forward.
Whether or not they will admit it publicly, Modern Orthodox rabbis in the U.S. know full well that the office of the Chief Rabbinate has lost much of its remaining dignity and respect in recent years, beset by sexual, financial and other allegations.
Indeed, one could argue that virtually the only rabbinic group in the world that gives deference to the Chief Rabbinate is the RCA. After all, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis are not recognized as clergy by the Orthodox-controlled Chief Rabbinate, and charedi and chasidic groups see the institution as a political pawn of the Zionist government.
That is why it seems ironic that the Chief Rabbinate tends to give the RCA a hard time, questioning their rabbis' bona fides, but then who else can the Chief Rabbis pick on?