Women’s groups petition against possible annulment of conversions
Protests against High Rabbinical Court's intent to annul conversions preformed by Rabbi Drukman increase; women's groups hold rally on court steps in Jerusalem
Will the High Court of Justice interfere with a Rabbinical Court ruling? The Center for Women's Justice (CWJ) appealed to the High Court of Justice Thursday regarding the Supreme Rabbinical Court’s ruling questioning Rabbi Chaim Drukman’s conversions.
The plea was filed by Attorney Susan Weiss, Dr. Aviad Hacohen and YIfat Frankenburg, who told Ynet that “the plea influences the lives of hundreds of thousands of converts and their families, who are living in Israel, as well as tens of thousands of candidates for conversion who are contemplating whether to join our religion.
"It is precisely on the eve of Shavuot, when we read about Ruth the Moabite, who converted and tied her faith with the faith of our nation, that we should be pedantic in following our laws regarding the proselyte.”
Many other social organizations aiding women joined the petition: Naamt, WIZO, Ne’emanei Torah vaAvodah, Mavoi Satum, Emunah, Kolech, Bar Ilan University’s Rackman Center for women’s advancement, the Granit organization assisting women on divorce matters, Shvut-Am Institute and Ohr Torah Stone.
The petitioners are asking to revoke the offensive rulings given by the High Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem and the Ashdod Rabbinical Court to a woman whose 15-year-old conversion has been questioned along with the Jewishness of her three children. The latter have been represented by rabbinical pleader Rivka Lubitch of CWJ.
Other matters included in the plea are the revocation of the controversial rulings stating that all conversions performed since 1999 by Rabbi Chaim Drukman are disqualified; instructing the marriage registrar to register for marriage any one who presents a conversion certificate approved by the Chief Rabbinate, with no further inquiry or claim.
A protest rally under the heading of “Love thy foreigner” took place Thursday night on the steps of the High Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem. The meet included a dramatization of Ruth the Moabite fearing the annulment of her conversion – an act that may cast a doubt on the Jewishness of King David, who was among her offspring.
The event’s organizers explain that the court’s ruling posing a threat to those converted under Rabbi Drukman is “an unprecedented scandal in the Jewish history.”
