http://blogs.jta.org/ENTRY_PERMALINK_HERE/newsletterconversion/ Mental Notes en-us jberkman@jta.org Copyright 2010 2010-07-15T;23:34:00-05:00 yosefle@netvision.net.il It is very important for all concerned to clarify the issue of conversion. I served as a Rabbi (Orthodox) in the United States for fifteen years before coming on Aliyah to Israel. I served as a Rabbi here for twenty five years. I am open to all Jews and to all movements. However, conversion is not an issue based on pluralistic concepts. It is a question of whom one can marry. In this sense there are two issues which indeed are the most divisive to American Jewry. One is conversion and the other is divorce ans whether the divorce is done with a get (halachik divorce). I experienced more than once the pain of two people who wanted to marry and one of them was not Jewish or was illegitimate (by Orthodox and Conservative criteria) based on the other ones belief. It is not a question of which prayer service to attend or what standard of Kashrut to uphold. The irony is that the greatest divisive element in American Jewry is the question of who is a Jew and ones marital status. The community is becoming one in which “Jews” will not be able to marry “Jews”. The irony of this all is that divisive element is felt most painfully by the Orthodox community. It is very important for all concerned to clarify the issue of conversion. I served as a Rabbi (Orthodox) in the United States for fifteen years before coming on Aliyah to Israel. I served as a Rabbi here for twenty five years. I am open to all Jews and to all movements.
However, conversion is not an issue based on pluralistic concepts. It is a question of whom one can marry. In this sense there are two issues which indeed are the most divisive to American Jewry. One is conversion and the other is divorce ans whether the divorce is done with a get (halachik divorce).
I experienced more than once the pain of two people who wanted to marry and one of them was not Jewish or was illegitimate (by Orthodox and Conservative criteria) based on the other ones belief. It is not a question of which prayer service to attend or what standard of Kashrut to uphold. The irony is that the greatest divisive element in American Jewry is the question of who is a Jew and ones marital status. The community is becoming one in which “Jews” will not be able to marry “Jews”. The irony of this all is that divisive element is felt most painfully by the Orthodox community.

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