The IRF Supports the New Beit Din for Giyur in Israel
August 11, 2015
The International Rabbinic Fellowship strongly supports the establishment of the alternate Beit Din for conversion led by leading rabbinic figures in the world of Religious-Zionism including Rabbi Nachum Rabinovitch, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Rabbi Yaakov Medan, and Rabbi David Stav.
We call on the Chief Rabbinate of Israel to work together with these conversion courts and accept the conversions of these batei din which are in line with the views of many rabbinic authorities.
We value and support efforts to make halakhic conversion into Am Yisrael in the State of Israel and around the globe more accessible and welcoming. This is especially important in light of the great challenge facing the Jewish state in absorbing hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are Israeli citizens, proudly serve in the IDF and contribute to Israeli society. Many of these immigrants have a Jewish father, but are not halakhically Jewish. This is a critical time in Jewish history that demands halakhic sensitivity. We therefore welcome the establishment of the alternative Beit Din.