Rabbi: Informing on friends acceptable if assimilation prevented
Head of Beit El Yeshiva deems all means of preventing marriage to non-Jewish women kosher; favors reporting fictive conversions at Interior Ministry
Are all means to prevent a Jewish man from marrying a gentile considered kosher?
According to a ruling by Rabbi Zalman Melamed, head of the Beit El Yeshiva and one of the most prominent rabbis in the Religious Zionist movement, the answer is yes.
Thus, the Halacha (Jewish law) even permits a person to go to the Interior Ministry and report a case in order to prevent a fictive conversion.
In a question posed to Rabbi Melamed via the yeshiva’s internet site, the surfer presents his internal conflict regarding how he should contend with his good friend who fell in love with a non-Jewish woman.
“My good friend traveled to Brazil and fell in love with a complete gentile. He brought her to Israel and intends on converting her.
“She said she was planning on traveling in Israel for a few months so that they wouldn’t deport her, but if I notify the Interior Ministry that she is planning on staying here permanently, she will be deported.
"I know that I will cause my friend grief and I am afraid that I will be denounced nonetheless. I want to do this in order to fix things, and I think that my friend fell in love with her for the wrong reasons and that the conversion will only be fictive. What should I do?”
The inquirer also noted that he had already taken measures and checked with the Interior Ministry if it is possible to report such cases and was answered affirmatively.
In answer to the question, Rabbi Melamed ruled that the inquirer should report the case to the Interior Ministry, “and in this way you are doing great justice to your friend and saving him from sorrow.”
The rabbi also said that “this relationship is not good, not only from a Jewish standpoint but also on a personal level.
“There are good chances that love won’t last and will become disastrous. This is because the relationship is external and is contradictive to his internal being,” explained Rabbi Melamed.
