A stay of execution

A stay of execution is no victory. It is up to all of us to keep the pressure on. This bill must die. And if you are curious why:

“The bill’s controversial third clause states that anyone who “entered” Israel as a non-Jew (and did not have a father, grandparents or spouse who was Jewish and therefore was not eligible for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return) and converted to Judaism at some later date, whether in Israel or abroad, would not be eligible for automatic citizenship.”

So if someone went to Israel, fell in love with Judaism and decided to convert, but happens to believe that Halacha dictates an equality of the sexes in Synagogues and so converts Conservative – they are going to be DENIED Israeli citizenship.

And if any Orthodox people think this is not their argument, the same is true for their converts as well. Any convert will be scrutinized, and I can assure you that Modern Orthodox conversions will be declared null as well.

Hell, the chief rabbinate could just decide not to recognize the conversion of anyone outside of Israel who had had the poor judgment to visit Israel as a Gentile.

Folks this bill speaks to a deeper flaw in modern Israel. The power of the chief rabbinate must be abolished altogether. Judaism of all types should be recognized without state coercion. Power has corrupted the Haredi/Dati Israeli rabbinate – it needs to end. Separate our beautiful faith from the trappings of the state…and watch it flourish.

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Rabbi Jonah Geffen

Jonah joined J Street following two years as Rabbinic Fellow at B’nai Jeshurun in New York City. For nearly ten years Jonah has dedicated himself to teaching and promoting the cause of peace as refracted and understood by the Jewish tradition. He served as Senior Coexistence Educator for Kivunim: New Directions, was a senior educator for the Pardes Center for Judaism and Conflict Resolution’s Rodef Shalom program, and has been a trip facilitator and leader of the Peacemakers’ Beit Midrash with Encounter. Jonah spent his freshman year of college on Young Judaea Year Course, was a Kollel Fellow at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, a summer fellow at Yeshivat Hadar, and a CLAL Rabbis Without Borders Fellow. Born and raised in Manhattan where he graduated from the Heschel and Fieldston Schools, Jonah received his BA in History and Jewish Studies from Indiana University, studied with Rabbi Dr. Marc Gopin earning an MS in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University, and received an MA in Jewish Studies and Rabbinic Ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary.

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