Russians want to resolve conversion crisis

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The annual Harry Triguboff Institute Conference, marking 25 years since the rise of the iron curtain, has been held at the Intelligence Heritage Center in Israel.

Shalom Norman Director General Triguboff Institute ; Dr. Orna Triguboff – Triguboff Institute Board Member ; Efraim Halevy – Former Mossad Chief and Chairman Triguboff Institute

During the conference, chaired by former Mossad head Ephraim Halevy and with the participation of various organizations working on the issues of conversion and verification of Jewish roots, a new study of the immigrant population from the FSU was presented. The study, the first of its scope, was conducted by Professor Zeev Khanin, Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, and with the support of Beit Morasha of Jerusalem, Tzohar, and the Harry Oscar Triguboff Institute.

The study found surprising results regarding the identity and personal status of this population. Over the past two decades, the State of Israel has received one of the most influential immigration movements in its history. The goal of the study was to answer questions concerning the status and identity of this immigrant population, as follows:

1. To consider whether the massive presence of immigrants who are not Jewish according to Jewish law affects the stability of the status of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.
2. To consider whether conversion, which was utilized throughout history as a means of integration into the Jewish community, is the optimal solution for immigrants from the former Soviet Union, or whether the conversion system used in Israel today is no longer the only way to join the people of Israel?
3. To consider why, if conversion is indeed the best of all possible ways to achieve integration, we have not made significant progress in this area; and to consider whether there are alternative ways to establish the status of Soviet Jews of mixed origin in the Jewish collective in Israel and the Diaspora.

Shalom Norman, CEO, Triguboff Foundation: “Absorption of this population has been a great success socially, most immigrants define themselves as Jews and feel part of the collective. At the same time, there has been an institutional failure on the part of the rabbinic system and the Ministry of Interior, in the regulation of the formal status of these immigrants, who expect the government to regulate their status. ”

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin: “Sometimes conversion courts make converts endure the torments of hell, for no reason.”Love the stranger” is not always their guiding motto. Community rabbis must be involved in conversion, and it was a grave error to remove the matter from their jurisdiction- for they are the ones who must welcome and assist the converts in their communities. ”