Thursday, July 16, 2009

Chief Rabbi Amar validates cancelled conversion


JPost

In an encouraging sign for converts whose Jewishness has been questioned by the haredi-controlled rabbinic establishment, Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar ruled this week that a conversion annulled by a Haifa Rabbinic Court was perfectly kosher.

Amar's ruling was handed down on Tuesday, just in time to allow the convert to wed the woman of his choice in a Jewish ceremony that was slated to take place Wednesday evening in Haifa.

More than 15 years ago, S.V., the groom, was converted as a child along with his mother by a Haifa Rabbinic Court, headed by former chief Sephardi Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron.

However, several months ago, when S.V. attempted to register for marriage at the Haifa Religious Council, he was rejected. The local registrar referred him to the local rabbinical court to verify his conversion.

The Haifa Rabbinic Court ruled that S.V.'s conversion was invalid since he had abandoned an Orthodox lifestyle when he reached bar mitzva age.

S.V. appealed to the Supreme Court against the rabbinical court decision. However, this past Monday the Supreme Court ruled that S.V. had to first exhaust his option of appealing to the Supreme Rabbinic Court before the Supreme Court could get involved.

The next day, S.V. appeared before Amar and two other judges: Rabbi Ezra Bar-Shalom, the son-in-law of Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, and Rabbi Zion Buaron.

The panel ruled that S.V. was a full-fledged Jew. [...]

3 comments :

  1. Shvil Hazav: 1
    Kanoyim:0

    It looks that common sense is making a comeback , Rav Amar is rejecting the kannaus of Tropper and wanna be shermanator. Maybe Tropper now will stop revoking conversions of women who sometime wear pants, want to go to college and reject his controlling frumkeit . You know Tropper ? some people do not have Kaplan in their life who will pay for all their expenses and want to have a trade and have paranssa.

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  2. It's interesting though that you would consider this to from the kannous team!:

    "Rav Sternbuch (Teshuvos V'Hanhagos 5:322): Concerning a marriage to a baalas teshuva. We have cases coming before us of a ben Torah marrying a baalas teshuva and then afterwards it is discovered that the bride's mother was a giyorus who never observed mitzvos. It is reasonable to assume that the mother had no intention of observing mitzvos at the time she converted. The Poskim says that therefore the mother was never a convert and thus she is still a non-Jew and obviously so is her daughter the bride'.

    The only thing is that if yould call RAV STERNBUCH the kannoi (who says to a bride about to get married to reconvert for she is a non jew although she observed mitzvot all the time) you would lose any of of the legitiamcy in your war against RT! So you must constrain yourself when Rav Sternbuch's name is invovled. But since you do use his respect to rail against Rt (for he is the only Rav that came against rt) so how can you call RT a kannoi for revoking the conversion of someone who did not keep mitzvot at the conversion and foolwed the dayanim at the conversion?

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  3. WAIT!
    I have read your comments. I am in my 4th year at the Haifa Beit din in a very nasty divorce process. I am a convert.
    Of course, my ex-husband is doing everything he can to make the beit din rule against me on property/custody because I am not religious enough, and a convert, etc etc.
    He is far less religious than me, although from a powerful rich family. His Judaism has never been questioned.
    Given that I conceived a child from another man (non-Jewish) before the get was officially given, and my ex's "religious" venom, is it possible that the beit din will rule that I - and my children - are no longer Jewish???
    If so, what happens to the divorce issues- won't we then get moved to the civil court to decide custody and property?

    ReplyDelete

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