[amicusEJf (the defender of Eternal Jewish Family) asked:]
"Are you suggesting that - ex post facto - the Bedatz would not accept the gerus of an intermarried spouse that had been performed under the auspices of R' Smuel Eliezer Stern, for example, of R' Wosner's Beis Din? Has this actually ever happened?"
A number of young men and women from our community who are the children of women who were converted for marriage have gone to learn in Israeli yeshivas and seminaries. From what I have personally seen, none were eligible to marry a Jew in Israel and were explicitly told so.
The only shidduchim I have seen among these families have been with others in the same boat. There are very few observant Jewish men who would marry a woman who is not accepted as a Jew in Israel.
I have also been told by my own Rav in Israel that I may not make shidduchim for people who are offspring of women converted for marriage, even with others in the same situation.
Do you know if any of the children of women converted for marriage by Rav Wosner or Rav Stern have been able to marry in Israel?
I personally think that it is very misleading if American Rabbis will perform conversions that will not be accepted in Israel. If you are not a Jew in Israel, what good is the conversion?
There is a very interesting dialogue on http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteunder "Conversion Consensus III"
The RCA issued as part of its statement :
"All conversions performed by RCA member rabbis that were considered valid in the past will continue to be considered valid in the future."
In response to this:
Certainly nothing either in the new procedures or this new statement of the RCA should give the convert any comfort.
The Chief Rabbinate might have rejected the conversion before (isn't that what started all of this?) and, by all appearances, may very well still reject the conversion now.
The purpose of the RCA/Chief Rabbinute accord was to establish a procedure whereby RCA conversions would receive recognition in Israel.
And, unless the Chief Rabbinate falls, it would seem to me that this is a problem that not only faces these converts but their descendants.
In light of all this, it does not seem unreasonable to request a letter from the Chief Rabbi's office stating that EJF facilitated conversions will be recognized in Israel without question now and for future generations.