Weekly Commentary: Rabbi Gilad Explains Why Unconditional Conversion of Juveniles Only Solution For Israel's Challenge

Weekly Commentary: Rabbi Gilad Explains Why Unconditional Conversion of
Juveniles Only Solution For Israel’s Challenge
Dr. Aaron Lerner 6 March 2022

Can a juvenile convert to Judaism without either the juvenile or the parents
of the juvenile committing to keep the Sabbath and all the other Jewish
commandments?

In an article in the weekend edition of Makor Rishon, Rabbi Yehuda Gilad,
Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshivat Ma’ale Gilboa and the Rabbi of Kibbutz Lavi,
explained that only unconditional conversion of juveniles can save the
Jewish State from an intermarriage catastrophe.

The huge population of “Zera Yisrael”, immigrants to Israel under the Law of
Return who do not have a Jewish mother, and their offspring, are fully
integrated into Jewish Israeli society.

So while intermarriage between Jews and Christians or Moslems is almost
nonexistent, marriage between Zera Yisrael and other members of the Jewish
Israeli society which they belong to are commonplace.

No amount of either effort or money is going to succeed in convincing
secular or even traditional Zera Yisrael to commit to keep the Sabbath and
all the other Jewish commandments in order to convert to Judaism.

On the other hand, making the conversion of girls under age 12 a matter of a
short no-strings-attached ceremony at a ritual bath could end
multi-generational “Zera Yisrael” within Israel.

When this issue is considered from a Diaspora perspective, ravaged by
assimilation and intermarriage, it is easy to understand the inclination to
slam on the brakes as hard as possible with the most stringent of
requirements.

But we are not in the Diaspora.

Israel on the verge of being the longest sovereign Jewish State since the
Children of Israel left Egypt.

And this challenge is a byproduct of the miraculous new page of the Bible
that we are privileged to be participating in.

Will everyone accept this?

The same groups who today reject the validity of conversions carried out in
the IDF will also reject these.

They will maintain lists.

But we would move on from strength to strength.

________________________________________
IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on
Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il