The Chief Rabbinate-RCA Deal: Two Views

by Rabbi Barry Freundel
Special To The Jewish Week

Crisis often presents opportunity. There had long been discussion among those performing conversions that there was a need for greater uniformity of standards and a more centralized process. Many rabbis were doing conversions across North America and the standards were often so varied that the potential for abuse was very real. Some conversions were reputedly being done for financial reward and some occurred when rabbis were pressured by important members of their congregations to “take care of” the problem of their child who was dating a non-Jew. Some were being done sincerely, but outside the bounds of normative Orthodox halacha.
Two years ago the Chief Rabbinate of Israel publicly indicated that it would not automatically accept conversions performed by American Orthodox rabbis. This announcement

threw many genuine converts into a crisis of confusion and anguish. The RCA, based on the biblical obligation to love genuine converts, concluded that it was time to take the action that had been contemplated for so long by establishing a new and improved structure for conversion practices for North American Orthodoxy.
As a result, the RCA has created a new system for conversion, known as GPS (Gerus Policies and Standards.) It allows a non-Jew to become Jewish in a proper halachic manner, while also dealing sensitively with prospective converts as they navigate their journey into Judaism.
Sadly a few voices within our community have spoken out publicly against GPS. For the most part their criticisms are based on incorrect information and do not reflect the realities of the new system. For that reason, as chairman of the GPS Committee of the RCA, I feel compelled to clarify a number of points for the record, so that the Jewish community, particularly converts and their families, fully understands that GPS is a valuable, necessary and important development.
GPS puts in place a network of regional conversion courts (or “batei din”) throughout North America to supervise the welcoming of new converts. This network consists of pre-existing rabbinical courts for conversion, as well as newly created ones where and as needed.
All of the batei din will operate with uniform yet flexible standards that were first sent to all RCA members for their input. There were very few negative reactions to these procedures and many positive ones. The GPS was then accepted almost unanimously by the RCA members who attended last May’s convention. The range in the religious outlook of the rabbis who were involved in this process covers a broad swath of ideologies across the Orthodox spectrum.
The procedures and standards of the network were composed, finalized and ratified solely by the rabbis of the RCA. The Chief Rabbinate had no input into the standards that were adopted. There simply was no capitulation whatsoever, as has been charged. The new system was implemented, based on the RCA’s decision, and moved forward with the wide support of the rank and file of the RCA for the many inherent benefits of the GPS system.
We are pleased that the Israeli Chief Rabbinate ultimately endorsed the procedures of the GPS. We recognize that some may believe that a different halachic standard should apply. However, the vast majority of the membership of the RCA simply does not agree.
Rabbis who are not serving on the batei din will have a critical role. Every convert will have a sponsoring rabbi to educate and guide him or her throughout. In addition, the courts will consult with the local rabbi (usually, but not always the sponsoring rabbi) about the progress of the candidate. Finally, after the conversion, the sponsoring rabbi will help the convert integrate fully into the community.
The new structure does not preclude members of the RCA from doing conversions outside the system. Individual rabbis can act autonomously if that is their choice. However, the system will take no responsibility for independent conversions.
Obviously, when we create something new, we must also be concerned about the past. Those involved in creating this network are particularly concerned about the emotions that the events described here have generated within those who have already undergone conversion. Many of us have heard the anguish caused to converts when they found their Jewish status being questioned. Thankfully this concern should be alleviated for future converts if they convert under the GPS system.
It is important to emphasize that nothing in this system is designed to change anyone’s previous status as a convert. Those who went through a legitimate process are still Jewish and the regional courts are not charged under this system with reviewing or examining any of these past conversions. Those who are concerned about whether or not they will be accepted in other Jewish communities should consult with their synagogue rabbi as to how they should proceed.
In short, the new network of conversion courts should be welcomed by every Orthodox Jew — and potential convert. There may be some shortcomings in the GPS and we are always open to positive suggestions that will make it better. But these shortcomings are more than outweighed by the many benefits that the new system brings to Jewish life, and to the converts who will join our community. n
Rabbi Barry Freundel is spiritual leader of Kesher Israel Synagogue in, Washington, D.C., and chairman of the Rabbinical Council of America’s GPS Committee.

Taking power away from the rabbis.

Rabbi Marc Angel
and Rabbi Avi Weiss
Special to The Jewish Week

The Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Rabbinical Council of America have concluded an agreement on conversions that will allow the two groups to work together. This solves a problem that reached its peak when Israel’s Sephardic chief rabbi, Shlomo Amar, announced in April 2006 that he would no longer automatically recognize conversions performed by RCA rabbis.
According to the terms of the agreement, the Chief Rabbinate approved a list of about 15 RCA rabbinic courts and approximately 40 rabbinic judges whose conversions will be accepted. From this point on, only conversions done by these rabbis or tribunals will be recognized. Any rabbi who wishes to be added to that list needs the approval of two leading Yeshiva University rabbis representing the RCA and one from the Chief Rabbinate. The RCA and the Chief Rabbinate also agreed that all conversions previously performed by rabbis other than the 40, are subject to re-evaluation by the head of the RCA’s Beth Din of America.
This agreement is deeply disturbing on many levels. What is most troubling is that conversions, done years ago with the informal backing of the RCA, are now being scrutinized. This, we believe, strikes at the very ethical fabric of halacha. Over the years, thousands of people have been halachically converted and now they and their children, and for that matter, their marriages, will all be questioned. The pain that this will cause the convert, a person whom the Torah commands to love, will be unbearable.
Indeed, the RCA’s capitulation to the demand of the Chief Rabbinate to scrutinize past conversions done by its members raises the strong possibility that down the line the bar may be raised even higher. Already, the Israeli institution no longer represents the centrist, Religious Zionist ideology, but is, in effect, made up of religious appointees of the haredi world. Years from now a new, more extreme Chief Rabbinate may very well pressure the RCA to question “sanctioned” conversions being done now.
Not only is the convert’s status questioned here, but the respected position of the local rabbi is also at stake. The policy sends a clear message that rabbis who have Orthodox ordination and are not among the chosen 40 do not have sufficient knowledge, judgment and wisdom to perform conversions — and they never have.
The irony here is that congregational rabbis have a greater understanding of the issues surrounding conversion than those who are primarily situated in the Beit Midrash. These synagogue rabbis who are “in the trenches” with the potential converts have a unique understanding of the situations and conditions that affect their respective constituents. As is displayed on their ordination documents, these rabbis are sent to spread Torah to their communities and have been invested with the trust, power and weight of our Torah to help shape the Jewish world. This decision undermines their mission.
If this agreement was meant to develop a mechanism of oversight, there are other ways in which this could have been accomplished. One proposal could have been that junior rabbis in their first three years do conversions under the guidance of senior rabbis. Additionally, the RCA could have questioned individual rabbis whom they suspected were doing conversions improperly.
We are not the first to raise concerns about the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. Over the last few years, there have been legitimate and important Orthodox voices in Israel that have raised opposition to its rightward trend and its hard-line position concerning conversions in Israel. Now, through its deal with the RCA, the Chief Rabbinate is dictating its specific conversion standards to those living thousands of miles away in the United States.
Rather than extend the Chief Rabbinate’s reach to the diaspora, the RCA should display confidence in its loyal members by declaring that their conversions are valid and acceptable in the eyes of God and halacha. This should be our posture as we move forward together with like-minded voices in Israel.
This was a moment of truth. The criteria on conversion as drafted by the RCA/Chief Rabbinate are the most stringent and do not reflect the range of legitimate halachic opinions. The approach insists, for example, that parents converting an adopted child commit to 12 years of yeshiva education. But suppose parents are only prepared to make an eight year commitment; suppose they are committed to sending their child to a community day school; suppose, as is a growing trend in our Jewish world, they simply cannot afford tuition; and suppose their child has a learning disability and must be sent to a secular school?
We have received reports that such potential converts have already been turned away. Will past conversions, such as these, now be nullified retroactively? And what guarantee is there that the current agreement will be binding under succeeding chief rabbis?
If these standards become the criteria for who is a Jew, it means there will be only one voice — enforced by just two rabbis — speaking for Modern Orthodoxy in America.
The first issue is the question of who is overseeing the overseers: What are the criteria for appointment? What makes these 40 judges competent and hundreds of others not? What communities do they represent? Are the appointments based on merit? On politics? On being dedicated students of particular rabbis?
In addition to putting so much power into a limited number of hands, the RCA has chosen as its representatives two YU rabbis who speak for the right-wing of Modern Orthodoxy — effectively abandoning the organization’s trademark commitment to providing a home for both right- and left-wing voices. With its cowering to outside dictates, the RCA appears to have opted to reflect the haredi-controlled voice of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate instead of insisting that the broad spectrum of Modern Orthodox positions be part of the solution.
What makes this chapter especially sad is that the new arrangement not only undermines the power of the local rabbi as teacher and spiritual guide, but even worse, puts fear into the hearts and minds of many wonderful converts who are upstanding Torah-observant and God-fearing Jewish souls. n
Rabbi Marc Angel is rabbi emeritus of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York and past president of the RCA. Rabbi Avi Weiss is senior rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale and longtime member of the RCA.

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