Rabbanut Monopoly on Weddings

Yizhar Hess wrote an article complaining about a nice Tzohar Rabbi who performed at a wedding of a nice young non-religious couple. Everything was fine, until the groom told the Rabbi that he wanted to use his army commander as a witness on the ketuba. The Tzohar Rabbi, nice as he was, refused to allow this person to be a witness, on the grounds that he does not keep Shabbat.

There are a few points in this article that are worth discussing:

1. One of the problems of the law in Israel requiring every Jewish person to get married through the Orthodox Rabbanut is that many (most) of them are not committed to halacha. And some will end up divorced without giving a 'get'. This creates a problem that any subsequent children born to the divorcee are considered mamzerim in halacha.
One solution which I have heard (quoted in the name of an anonymous godol) is to use non-kosher witnesses for any wedding when the officiating Rabbi is concerned that the marriage will eventually be disolved without a get (which according to some means the majority of non-religious weddings). This theoretically solves the mamzer problem, but causes many other sins by both the couple (living together without a chuppa etc) and the Rabbi (dishonesty and not providing the service he was employed to provide).
Rav Bakshi-Doron (Techumin 25 p. 100) writes strongly against this custom.
So in fact, the Tzohar Rabbi was being both honest and trusting in insisting on only using kosher witnesses. (Even though I understand the emotional trauma this caused). For this reason, when I was a Rabbi I had a rule that the Chazan and I were the witnesses at every wedding we performed. In this way nobody was embarrassed or questioned about their observance. Of course, in Britain there are also witnesses for the civil documents, which can be signed by anyone, so the couple can give their friends a special part in the wedding ceremony. There is no equivalent 'kibud' in Israeli weddings.

2. In the article Hess writes about 'Gur' (the non kosher witness):

How absurd. Gur could have been a tax evader, an abusive employer, or even a rapist, but the rabbi didn’t care about any of that. He wouldn’t have bothered to ask about his character. A good Jew, one who is fit to be a witness, can only be someone who observes the Sabbath (in the Orthodox manner). A secular Jew, no matter if he is one of the righteous few, a talmid chacham, or a bona fide Jewish hero, is unfit. Women, by the way, even if they are Sabbath observers, are considered unfit to be witnesses from the outset, simply because they are women.

Really? Who says that a tax evader, rapist or other criminal is a kosher witness for a ketuba? Unfortunately there is an assumption that if someone dresses the part they also follow all the rules. But it is clear that a thief may not be a witness. And witnesses should do teshuva from any sin before signing the form. Perhaps if we could somehow change the perception that Orthodox Jews are tolerant of theft, tax avoidance, abuse and rape, we could avoid a lot of chilul Hashem.

3. Rav Bakshi-Doron (ibid.) writes in conclusion:

The issue of Orthodox marriages, to our sorrow, is not only not desired by a large segment of society, but has become a symbol of thsoe who hate Torah. They have made it into a shovel to dig against everything holy, claiming religious coercion. The question remains: Is it not better to do away with the law forcing Orthodox marriage, in order that the concept be not degraded? The greatest degradation is that enormous pressure is brought on Dayanim and Rabbis to permit that which is forbidden, or to convert people who do not want to be Jewish. Also the issue of annulling marriages to avoid mamzering causes desecration of the Torah, when we rejoice at finding invalid marraiges this avoiding the problem of adultery (and mamzerim).

This was written 8 years ago. The hatred of Orthodox has only increased since then. The numbers of questionable conversions and dodgy marriages continues to increase daily. The halachic problems and chilul Hashem caused by forcing Orthodox marriages are surely greater than allowing people the option of a civil marriage.

If the government forced people to marry through the Orthodox Rabbinate, it must also force the Rabbinate to convert people for marriage (which is forbidden by the Shulchan Aruch). Allowing civil marriage will do away with insincere (and potentially invalid) conversions, and will greatly lessen chilul Hashem in Israel.

If it were up to me, I would advise the government (and the Rabbinate) to allow civil marriages. But in exchange, conversions and divorce should remain firmly in the hands of the Rabbinate, without political pressure. (As to the question of Agunot - that is for another post. But things are slowly improving there due to sensible use of government legislation).

Status of Jews before Matan Torah and Why Jews Stink

I will be giving a shiur next Shabbat, and I want to speak about the machlokes between Ramban and 'the French Rabbis' (quoted by Ramban) about the status of Bnei Yisrael before Matan Torah. Ramban is commenting on Toras Cohanim (cited by Rashi) at the end of the Parsha which states that the 'blasphemer,' who was the son of a Jewish woman and an Egyptian man, converted.
The French Rabbis (i.e. baalei Tosefot) claim that before Matan Torah Jewish identity went through the father, and only after the Torah was given did the Jewish people follow matrilineal descent. For this reason the 'blasphemer' had to convert.
In other words the descendants of Avraham remained B'nei Noach, with extra 'stringencies' of being part of Avraham's covenant. But they did not take on the 'leniencies' of being Jewish until after the Torah was given.
Ramban argues strongly on this, and claims that from the time of Avraham the Jewish people had unique laws and were no longer considered to be B'nei Noach at all. Therefore Ramban says that there was no need for the 'blasphemer' to convert. So the midrash must be referring to the 'conversion' at Mount Sinai of all the Jewish people.
Parshat Derachim is a book written by the author of Mishne L'Melech, which builds almost entirely on this idea of whether the Jews were considered Jewish before Matan Torah or not.
So that is the outline of my shiur for next Shabbos (if you are a woman and wil be in Har Nof next Shabbos afternoon you are welcome to come. The shiur will be in 16 Brand at 4:45 - I think).
Over Shabbos I was rereading Stephen Jay Gould's 'The Mismeasure of Man' and he refers to Sir Thomas Browne's 'Pseudodoxia Epidemica' which is a
One of the chapters there debunks the myth that Jews stink. After demonstrating that Jews in general to not smell, and explaining that their eating habits and hygiene habits are unlikely to cause them to smell, he adds another point, which is that Jews are so assimilated and intermarried, that it is impossible to make any biological claim about Jews. There are many Christians who are biologically Jewish and vice versa. Therefore any claim about Jews, based on their ethnicity, is necessarily false.
This is a point that is worthwhile for us to always remember, especially with debates about 'who is a Jew'. The attributes of a Jewish person are not determined biologically, but through halacha, and through our behaviour. The 'blasphemer' became infamous not because of his parentage, but because of how he acted. Yichus is all fine and dandy, but the key thing is how we act.
Of course if it were true that Jews do smell, it would solve the conversion crisis in a minute. The Beis Din could just train sniffer dogs, and would know whether or not a convert is sincere, and whether or not the Beis Din that converted them was kosher.

Its not easy to convert

Statistics show that it is difficult to convert!!

The latest recommendation from the Imigration Ministry to the Israeli government is speed up the conversion process.

Look at these facts:
300,000 non-Jews living in Israel:
I thought it was twice that number - 1 million people made Aliya from the former Soviet Union, of whom 60% were not Jewish. Where are the other 300,000? (perhaps they left the country already?)
Why did the government not think about this when it encouraged so many non Jews to move to Israel? Did they not think that Israel was a Jewish country fifteen years ago? The truth is that the Aliya from FSU was designed to counter the demographic imbalance with both the Arabs and the religious Jews. The government was terrified of having either an Arab majority or a religious majority in the country. The cunning plan was to bring in non Jews (the vast majority of whom had no intention or desire to become Jewish). A little bit like the Old Lady who swallowed the fly! The plan worked. Now what?


6000 begin a conversion process each year, but only a third complete it:
Should we blame red tape and bureaucracy? Or perhaps the vast majority (98%) don't want to be Jewish?
Perhaps two thirds don't complete the process because they are not yet ready to become Jewish, or because they were only converting for ulterior motives, and didn't follow through with the conversion?

Some are forced to wait 3 months for their certificate! Three months! It takes longer than that to get a drivers' license or a tax rebate. Doesn't seem like a long tme to me.

The statistics don't say how many of those converts continue to lead a Jewish life after conversion. Apparently that should not be an important factor in decisions about conversion.

And why does the government care that more people should convert? “The conversion of non-Jews is both a national and strategic mission, and is vital for the future of the State of Israel." Which word is missing from this sentence? 'religious/Jewish'. Conversion is national and strategic, but not about Judaism any more.

Why don't they make a new kind of conversion where people have to learn and practice 'national and strategic' topics, and we'll call them 'Israeli' instead of Jewish?

I am very much in favour of helping people who sincerely wish to become Jewish, and who are planning on remaining Jewish and observant after they receive their conversion certificate. I have tremendous respect for people who change their lives and their futures by becoming Jewish. And there are systems in place for such people. They are the 2000 who convert each year.

But the State of Israel cannot make people 'national and strategic' Jews by creating a new department. That won't maintain the Jewish character of the country.

And why can't they just remain as non Jews and be good B'nei Noach? Since biblical times Israel has had a large non Jewish segment of society who supported the Israelites and helped them economically. Why should we force people to become Jewish?

‘Converting non-Jews vital for Israel’s future’

Immigration and Absorption Ministry recommends establishment of a new conversion authority was recommended by the Immigration and Absorption Ministry as the solution to help thousands of immigrants convert to Judaism each year.

The ministry made its recommendation in a report sent to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Monday.

The recommendations included adding more rabbinical judges to conversion courts, removing bureaucratic obstructions, and introducing a special committee headed by the Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, to deal with halachic issues.

Presently, Israel is home to about 300,000 immigrants who arrived in the country under the Law of Return, but are not defined as Jews according to the halacha. Each year, about 6,000 of these immigrants undergo the conversion process, but only a third of them succeed in completing it.

The ministry’s report revealed that applicants are forced to deal with many different bodies in the conversion process, all of whom have different administrative policies. Also, applicants who eventually make it to the end of the conversion process (30%-50% drop out during the preparation stage) are forced to wait over three months before receiving their conversion certificate.

According to a poll by the Immigration and Absorption Ministry, the majority of immigrants said an easy conversion, along with openness and acceptance towards applicants, could encourage an increase in conversion.

“The conversion of non-Jews is both a national and strategic mission, and is vital for the future of the State of Israel. We have to enable citizens who are interested in converting, to fully integrate with the nation and Israeli society,” said Immigration Absorption Minister Jacob Edery.