[At the end of this post, I propose a significant departure from normative halakhic thinking regarding conversion to Judaism] _____________________________________________________________________________
Historically, radical changes have been an essential element in the survival of Jews and Judaism. This change does not refer to offshoots or 'reformers' from the Jewish establishment but of the mainstream establishment itself in its own recognition for necessary change.
Examples:
- After the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple the sages changed the focus of Jewish worship from sacrifices to prayer and study.
- Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi broke with normative Jewish law and compiled a written record of the Oral Law – a previously forbidden composition in written form.
- The loopholed permission to conduct business with Gentiles beginning in the Middle Ages heretofore prohibited (see paragraph “Laws to Separate Jews from Idolatry”)
- Rambam's creation of a summary of Jewish Practice to simplify the ‘how to’ of observance of mitzvot without concomitant study (Opposition to Mishneh Torah)
- Codification by Shulchan Arukh to reduce variations of Jewish practice (Opposition to Shulchan Arukh)
- Ba'al Shem Tov's creation of Chassidic Movement to break monopoly/elitism over Judaism by strict Torah scholars who rejected Kabbalah.
Applicaton of Radical Change to “Who is a Jew?”
The definition of Jewish identity has also experienced radical change. During the times of our forefathers/foremothers, patrilineal descent was the birthright to being Jewish. Thus, Jacob's 12 sons were the heads of the Twelve Tribes of Israel despite two of the biological mothers (Bilhah and Zilpah) not acquiring foremother status. (For the skeptic and/or scripturally inclined – see Leviticus 24:10 and Rashi on that verse's words “Among Bnei Yisroel”)
In antiquity, the members of a household were defined by the household's patriarch. Women were defined by the dominant male in whose house she lived – a father, husband, brother or uncle. Culturally, patrilineal descent made sense in the ancient world as it was the greatest way to insure continuation of the Jewish people for whomever a man married came to live with his household and became part of his clan/people. Sons brought brides into their own clan and fathers married their daughters into other Israelite clans.
The earliest legal mention of the move to matrilineal descent is found in the Mishnah codified in 200 CE (see last line of Kiddushin 3:12/13). Most believe the move from patrilineal to matrilineal descent occurred during a time when war waged against the Jews threw into question the paternity of babies born to Jewish women.
Critical to this conversation is the fact that prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, a person's conversion to Judaism was defined by living amongst the society of Jewish people (as Ruth says to Naomi – “your People shall be my People, your Gd shall be my Gd” Book of Ruth 1:16), accompanied by the rituals of circumcision for males and ritual immersion for both males and females.
One result of the Destruction of the Temple and the dispersion of Jews throughout the world (70 CE) was that conversion requirements evolved to include a commitment to observance of Jewish law since no Jewish societal milieu existed. When Jews were thrown out of the Land of Israel, lost was the sovereignty of Jewish society. For the next 2,000 years, Jews were hosted by, and lived among, strictly gentile societies.
Fast forward to modern day: though the proportional number of Jews in the world decreases yearly and the number of people opting out of Jewish identification is rapidly growing, I believe the halakhic requirements for conversion to Judaism that have developed over these 2 millennia should remain unchanged in the Diaspora.
HOWEVER, for those people who move to Israel under the law-of-return but do not have halakhic status as Jews; who choose to leave the land of their birth and to come the world’s only Hebrew speaking society; to live by the Jewish (not Gregorian) calendar; who are prepared to serve or have their children serve in the Israeli Defense Forces in order to protect the Jewish State; who take upon themselves the challenges of living in an Israel that is under constant threat because it is a Jewish State...Perhaps a return to the Jewish societal milieu model for those who are prepared to undergo circumcision and ritual immersion should be sufficient for halakhic conversion status.
The interest, desire, and motivation to convert to Judaism for those immigrants who are non-halakhic beneficiaries of Israel’s law-of-return are waning. Though most new immigrants to Israel have the wish to be recognized as Jewish and are willing to participate in a formal conversion process, the requirements of the ultra-conservative Israeli Rabbinate imposes such strictures on applicants that just a decimal-percentage of those wanting to convert are allowed to do so.
The radical difference in Jewish life provided by the State of Israel – a phenomenon unknown in the world for 2,000 years – certainly qualifies for a re-imagining of “Who is a Jew?”
For the health of Jewish identity in Israel and for the untapped potential of Jewish possibilities in the Jewish State…Amen. Selah.
