Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has turned to an old friend to assist in advancing the state giyur agenda, Rabbi Chaim Druckman Shlita, who until being forced to retire due to his age, ran the state conversion program.
According to the Yisrael Hayom report released on Sunday, 3 Sivan, the Prime Minister requires some rabbinical assistance as the bill sponsored by MK (The Movement) Elazar Stern faces opposition by chardal (chareidi dati leumi) poskim including HaGaon HaRav Dov Lior Shlita. The chief rabbis of Israel are also opposed to the bill.
The prime minister hopes that Rabbi Druckman will be able to reword the bill in such a way it will be viewed as acceptable by the rabbonim. The bill, if passed into law, will permit rabbis of cities and municipalities to conduct giyur, removing the exclusive authority for overseeing and approving giyur from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. It appears that growing pressure from rabbonim has compelled the prime minister to call for rabbinical assistance in the hope of sanitizing the bill. Rabbonim including Rishon L’Tzion HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Yosef Shlita warn that if the bill becomes law, it will compel the frum community to begin maintaining sifrei yuchasin for the future.
In a recently released publication, Tzohar Rabbonim published a pamphlet addressing the bill, reporting prominent dati leumi rabbonim including Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein, Rabbi David Stav and Rabbi Yaakov Medan approve the bill and support passing it into law. The Chief Rabbinate views the bill solely as an effort to circumvent its authority as Tzohar Rabbonim views itself as an alternative to the Chief Rabbinate.
Rabbi Feuerstein explains that there are many people in Israel today who are from ‘זרע ישראל’ but not viewed as Jews Halachically and something must be done for if now the society that blossoms in Israel will be totally disconnected from Yiddishkheit if not. This situation he fears will threaten the future of the State of Israel.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
Druckman’s conversion factory mass-produces gentiles under the guise of conversion.
‘זרע ישראל’ is as Jewish as the pope is.
They should mass convert Muslims in Israel too, to avoid the same pending demographic crisis where if not a society that blossoms in Israel will be totally disconnected from Yiddishkheit if not.
Nos. 1-3: with your inside knowledge of the conversion institute, it should be no problem to name one gentile who’s been mass-produced. Just one. As for זרע ישראל, the concept is as old as Shas, making it a tad more Jewish than the pope. And if “they” were to mass-convert Muslims, you’d probably accuse “them” of lowering the Muslims’ standard of tsniyus….