Wall Street Journal Mr. Eisen
is chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary.
I believe that Jewish institutions and their
rabbis should actively encourage non-Jewish family members in our midst
to take the next step and formally commit to Judaism.
To
some this may seem a surprising idea. It is well known that Judaism has
not been a proselytizing faith. Historically, Jewish authorities were
wary of potential converts. The rabbis sought to make sure that converts
were motivated solely by devotion to the God of Israel and the desire
to join the people of Israel. Conversion purely for the sake of marriage
was disallowed.[...]
I am asking the rabbis of the Conservative movement to use every means
to explicitly and strongly advocate for conversion, bringing potential
converts close and actively making the case for them to commit to
Judaism. I am asking Jewish leaders to provide the funding needed for
programs, courses and initiatives that will place conversion at the
center of Jewish consciousness and the community's agenda.[...]
This is not something new. They've been doing it for years.
ReplyDeleteActually, many orthodox rabbonim over the years advocated the same thing, within proper limits. The divrei chaim, for one, was very strong about this, urging leniencies in doing such a gerut.