I sit on a Beit Din for conversion in Israel. Like all religious courts, it consists of three rabbinic judges. We meet once a month to help people become Jewish. One of the three likes to jest that we actually help Jews become Jews.
Many who need our help are called ‘Zera Yisrael’, meaning their father is Jewish and mother is not. They’ve been raised as Jews in Israel, served in the army, and have had no other religious affiliation. Our role is to add the halachic element to their already existing Jewish identity.
However, one of our recent candidates was different.
At first glance, you would never know anything was out of the ordinary. The individual in question could pass for any other Russian immigrant that we’ve seen hundreds of times. But his story was unusual to our court. His father was a collaborator.
When I read his letter of intent, the phrase “Mishateph P’ulah” was unknown to me. My formative years were spent in the United States, having only made Aliyah at age 30. The head of the court explained that this meant his father had worked as a spy with the Israeli Security Agency and thus the family had been relocated to Israel in a type of witness protection program.
From his earliest memories, the candidate had lived among the Jewish people. Although the family knew they were Muslim, the mother raised them as practicing Jews. They celebrated Jewish holidays, he attended Jewish schools and, in his own words, “only knows how to pray to the God of Israel.”
The candidate’s journey to our Beit Din had begun many years prior. He had been through other conversion programs that for one reason or another had not panned out. Now his wedding to a native Israeli woman was just around the corner, so his status needed to be finalized.
Through his learning, this convert had been living a Halachic lifestyle. He prays three times a day, wraps Tefillin, and observes Shabbat and Kashrut. This too was unusual for our Beit Din. Unlike other institutionalized courts, we don’t demand our candidates to lie. We recognize that conversion for people raised in Israel is more of a change of Halakhic status than a life-altering shift in identity. We make sure they understand the notion of reward and punishment but their religious observance is between them and their Creator (just as with Jews from birth).
Our candidate knew that when keeping Shabbat, he had to do one forbidden act until his conversion was finalized.This is a traditional practice throughout the learning process. At the same time, he also understood that he wasn’t fully obligated to keep Shabbat at all until his conversion was completed. A year and a half prior to his day in court, some of his friends were headed to a dance party on Shabbat. He was tempted to join them but at the last minute decided to honor his commitment to the day of rest.
That party was the Nova Festival on Oct 7. “I didn’t fully understand Ahad Ha’am’s quote, ‘More than the Jewish People have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jews’ until that day,” he told us.
The decision to convert this individual was one of the easiest we ever had to make. His commitment to the Jewish people and Jewish living is an example for all of us.
Just before the candidate took on the yoke of heaven, the head of the court informed him of some standard protocol. “When you come out of the Mikveh you will be obligated in all of Jewish law, just as the rest of us.” “Conversion is irreversible.” “The world is rife with antisemitism that Jewish people have had to pay the ultimate price for throughout history. You know all of this and you still want to become Jewish?”
Just then my phone received a notification: “Three dead, eight injured in suspected terror attack in Kedumim.” The juxtaposition was impossible to overlook. Here we sat opposite an amazing man, who wanted nothing more than to join our ranks, while others from his region wanted nothing more than to kill us — and soon him as well.
The convert answered in the affirmative. He understood his responsibilities and the dangers the Jewish people face and yet he still wanted to become one of us. He stood up, and read the traditional text marking his first step to becoming part of the Jewish nation.
Upon coming out of the Mikveh, one of the other rabbis read a traditional prayer, imploring God to protect this new covert on his Jewish path. Never had these words had more meaning to me than at that moment.
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