Rate of conversions up 50 percent
Rabbi Haim Druckman, Head of Conversion Administration, presents government with dramatic rise in approval of requests to convert to Judaism as a result of change in ministries' policy
An increase of approximately 50 percent in approvals of conversion requests in Israel in 2005, compared to 2004, was reported by Rabbi Haim Druckman, Head of the Conversion Administration at the Prime Minister's Office, in Sunday's cabinet meeting.
"The change in the conversion policy has led to impressive results within nine months, but another 300,000 non-Jews are living in the State of Israel and they constitute a difficult social problem which requires a solution," explained Rabbi Moshe Klein, Deputy Head of Israel's Conversion Administration.
According to the data presented to the government, 5,546 people have received conversion certificates in the first nine months of 2005, compared to 3,599 in the whole of 2004. The increase is estimated at approximately 54 percent.
In the cabinet meeting, Rabbis Druckman and Klein explained that the change in the policy does not contradict the conversion policy according to Jewish law, which has been implemented up to now. However, the factors related to the conversion process were combined under the definition of a more humane policy, and this dramatically raised the rate of the eligible people. They referred to the joined activity of the relevant courts with the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, the Jewish Agency, Judaism studies institutes, as well as private bodies.
According to Rabbi Klein, in Israel today there are over 300,000 non-Jews who immigrated to Israel by power of the Law of Return and, at least some of whom are interested in converting in order to acquire the Israeli citizenship, in addition to the thousands of foreign workers and members of the Muslim and Christian populations who live in Israel and wish to convert.
"This is a national problem of the highest level, which has to do with a difficult social problem in Israel," Klein said. He added that by power of the new easing policy approximately 190 members of the lost tribe of Menashe were converted in the past month by a delegation sent to north India.
And the complaints continue
However, alongside the impressive data presented by the Prime Minister's Office, severe human cases of people whose conversion requests were denied are still occurring in Israel.
One of the stories, which belongs to Ibrahim, a Muslim citizen, was published recently in the Bambili website.
"I am an Arab-Israeli citizen. Already two years ago I wanted to convert and approached the Tel Aviv rabbinate. Time goes by and the requests pass from one rabbi to another. It turned into a conversion nightmare for me," Ibrahim said.
"At the previous time he asks me to bring a character reference and then he says that he wants to check with the Shin Bet, and I ask him how long will it take you? And he tells me half a year. Then my nerves exploded, and I told him: I am more loyal to this country than you and the Shin Bet person. Besides, the Shin Bet person doesn’t do anything according to Jewish law and doesn’t understand religion," he continued.
"I approached the state comptroller and the Department of Religious Affairs. But the person who will check my complaint is of course an ultra-orthodox and he is God's landlord and the one who decides instead of God that the secular are atheists, let alone if I am an Arab," he added.
"I don’t have to tolerate the disgust of the ultra-orthodox. My desire to convert to Judaism has developed since childhood. Even today, when I am 43-years-old, I am still determined. However, I fear that I will not be able to face cruel institutions," Ibrahim concluded.
Conversion Administration officials said that they were not familiar with this particular case, but that the man is free to submit an organized complaint and it will be dealt with as soon as possible.
"It is true that there is a compulsory system of checks, which sometimes includes working opposite the Shin Bet. But we have established an entire array which receives dozens of complaints and opens doors to those who really and truly wish to convert and are good people and citizens," one official added.
"There is no reason why someone who really wants to convert, and meets the criteria, will not be able to do so today in a much more rapid and efficient way than in the past, as proved by the data presented in the cabinet meeting today," he concluded.
