Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: obiezione di coscienza (per Rosetta)

Me la ripeti quella realistica proposta della Segre? Sembravi tanto
convinta che fosse realizzabile. Eri così carina quando raccontavi al
mondo intero le meraviglie dell'ebraismo blasé neh
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245184921517&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Zionist rabbis break law for converts
Jun. 24, 2009
Matthew Wagner , THE JERUSALEM POST
Modern Orthodox rabbis have organized to violate the law to help
converts who are unable to marry because they are not recognized by
haredi chief rabbis of cities.
"I know several Orthodox Zionist rabbis of cities who agree to
register converts for marriage even when neither the convert nor his
or her partner live in the rabbis' cities," Rabbi David Stav said on
Wednesday. He is a senior member of Tzohar Rabbis, a group of moderate
Orthodox rabbis.
"I can't reveal any of the rabbis' names because they are
lawbreakers," added Stav. "And I don't want them to get in trouble."
Registration for marriage includes determining whether or not both the
bride and groom are Jewish according to Orthodox criteria. Only Jews
are permitted to marry in the Rabbinate.
According to the Chief Rabbinate's directives, a city rabbi is allowed
to register a couple for marriage only when either the bride or the
groom lives in the rabbi's city or the wedding takes place there.
Otherwise, the directives do not empower a rabbi from one city to
register a resident of another. Also, every couple is obligated to pay
a marriage tax to their local religious council that helps fund
services offered in their city.
However, for many years haredi rabbis of several localities -
including Rehovot, Petah Tikva, Ashdod and Beersheba - have refused to
automatically accept the Jewishness of converts converted by the
Conversion Authority, which is headed by Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo
Amar.
In a recent conference in Jerusalem organized by Eternal Jewish
Family, a haredi organization pushing for a more stringent supervision
of the conversion process, several haredi city rabbis declared they
would not register converts converted by the Conversion Authority,
which operates under the auspices of the Chief Rabbinate.
These rabbis said they would insist on scrutinizing every convert, no
matter where his or her conversion was performed.
The interrogation is meant to determine that the convert embraced an
Orthodox lifestyle. Those who have not might not be recognized as
Jews.
These haredi rabbis, following in the footsteps of leading haredi
halachic authorities such as Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, have
declared that anything less than a full acceptance of Orthodox
strictures at the time of conversion followed by concrete proof of
adherence to an Orthodox lifestyle after the conversion renders the
conversion invalid. Many converts who refuse to submit to the scrutiny
of haredi city rabbis are unable to marry in Israel.
In contrast, Zionist city rabbis unquestioningly recognize conversions
performed by all reputable Orthodox conversion courts. They have been
stepping in to help these converts.
"If we don't help them they are liable to end up living together
without marrying or going abroad and marrying in a civil ceremony,"
said Kiryat Shmona Chief Rabbi Tzfania Drori, who acknowledged that he
registered residents of other cities.
Rabbi Seth Farber, head of ITIM, a non-profit organization that helps
people navigate the Chief Rabbinate's bureaucracy, said city rabbis
should be compelled to register all converts converted by the Chief
Rabbinate.
"These rabbis are employees of the Chief Rabbinate and they receive a
salary from the State of Israel. Therefore they have a duty to
recognize conversions performed under the auspices of the Chief
Rabbinate," Farber said.
"If their intellectual integrity does not allow them to recognize
conversion performed by the Conversion Authority then they should
resign."
Technically, city rabbis are obligated to adhere to decisions made by
the Chief Rabbinate's governing body. One of these decisions, dating
back to May 2000, directs them to receive without question converts
converted by the Chief Rabbinate.
However, this directive has been ignored and haredi city rabbis have
continued to appropriate the authority to investigate the authenticity
of the conversion before registering a convert for marriage.
According to attorney Mordechai Eisenberg, head of the Movement for
Fairness in Government, a watchdog group specializing in religion-
state issues, said it was unrealistic and unfair to expect rabbis to
compromise their halachic opinions.
"You can't expect a rabbi to register someone as a Jew when he thinks
that person is not a Jew," he said.
A bill backed by Chairman of the Knesset Law Committee David Rotem
(Israel Beiteinu) might solve the problem by empowering every city
rabbi to register converts regardless of their place of residence.
Efrat Chief Rabbi Shlomo Riskin said that while it was true that
conversion was a serious process that included the acceptance of the
commandments, in Israel the reality was different from in the
Diaspora.
"If someone falters after the conversion process and fails to maintain
an Orthodox lifestyle [in Israel], he or she still maintains his
Jewish identity in the national sense. He does not assimilate into non-
Jewish society."
According to Riskin, there are two aspects to conversion. The
religious aspect entail acceptance of an Orthodox lifestyle. But the
second aspect of conversion, which is symbolized by immersion in the
ritual bath, is national.
"A person who converts is reborn into the Jewish nation. The mikve
water is symbolic of the embryonic fluid. And when a convert remains a
citizen of Israel, serves in the army, [he or she] identifies with the
plight of the Jewish people and ties his or her destiny to their
fate."
There are about 300,000 immigrants from the former Soviet Union who
are not Jewish according to Orthodox criteria but who have integrated
into Israeli society.
"If we don't adopt a more open, user friendly approach to conversions
that will encourage more non-Jews to convert, we will be facing
rampant intermarriage within a generation," Riskin said.

 mondo intero le meraviglie dell'ebraismo blasé
il tuo complesso d'inferiorità verso la turiner judentum è qualcosa di
commovente. Del resto non tutti hanno la disgrazia di nascere in
Brianza. E' un handicap che taglierebbe le gambe a chiunque. Poi si
finisce come Berlusconi...

 il tuo complesso d'inferiorità verso la turiner judentum
mah, come ripeto da qualche tempo: non sembra destinata a durare
molto. Altrove, le comunità ebraiche non hanno quel problema.