Rabbi Kotel Dadon of Zagreb complained "If I can start to convert observant people who have already been coming to my synagogue for the past five years, I can have a minyan," explained. Instead, he faces a catch-22 that is keeping his community from growing.
Only with conversions can he build a viable community, but the poskim (halachic decisors) and batei din (rabbinic courts) of Europe won't convert someone living in a community that lacks the institutions necessary for Jewish life, such as the schools, ritual baths and kosher slaughterhouses required for an observant lifestyle.
"The question is whether Croatia has an infrastructure for Judaism," explained a rabbi familiar with Ehrentreu's opinion. "What is conversion? It's an acceptance of the yoke of mitzvot. If [the aspiring convert] doesn't know what mitzvot are, or cannot fulfill them, how can he accept them?"
And Jews living in small communities have the opportunity to go to the mikveh (ritualarium)? Does that make them less Jewish?
Judaism started with one Jew who converted non-Jews.
Even Chabad states:
Abraham nomadically wandered the length and breadth of the land proclaiming his belief, and he was so successful that he converted thousands to monotheism. His method was one of kindness—he set up a motel and after feeding and watering wayfarers they were introduced to the true belief and blessed G-d the Provider. Abraham converted the men and Sarah the women, and together they successfully brought many souls under the wings of the Shechinah, hence resensitizing the world to G-dliness.
I think the Rabbis could do a lot better.
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4 comments:
This is not really so absurd. Seems some confusion here regarding being a Jew and becoming a Jew. A non-observant Jew in a small community without mikveh, kashrut and education is still Jewish, but a non-Jew cannot become Jewish without these items. This simply means that there has to be infrastructure to support the convert.
People in small communities without mikvot are still Jews, even if they are not fully following Jewish rituals. So BEING a Jew has nothing to do with their observance of mitzvot, right? The problem is that being JEWISH (that is, acting like and behaving like a Jew) is not really possible without mikveh, kashrut and education. The Biblical reference Chabad uses clearly refers to the infrastructure Abraham established to accomplish this task. Remember that Abraham is PRESUMED by our Sages to have followed all the mitzvot, even before the giving of the Torah! With that presumption, Abraham's small community would then have had mikveh, kashrut and education.
Unfortunately the Rabbinic courts cannot do differently, there are many guidelines established over the millenia which they have to follow to make "proper" conversions. Sad? Perhaps. But it means that "valid" conversions will occur in larger, SUSTAINABLE Jewish communities. As has been sadly pointed out by many, much of (if not all) Europe may have NO Jewish future.
Thanks for your comment but my pithy responses:
a. my point about Abraham was that he was one Jew and went around converting. Similarly, there seesm to be places with one or two Jews and the Rabbi would linke to convert more. Just like in Abraham's time there was no minyan or mikveh in Yenimsvelt Canaan or Haran, yet Abraham kept converting, so today in these faraway places. You can't have the infrastructure always first and then Jews, It may need toi be the other way around.
b. Conversion should not be dependent on whether there's a mikveh around as Jews also have that same problem. That is not, IMHO, a millenia-old requirement but one that may be the result of obscurantist-oriented Rabbis who don't like gerim. These "guidelines are not always halachic but ideological (see: Rabbi Druckman).
c. If you want sustainable communities, you need Jews. There are plenty of neighborhoods and places with infrastructure, but no Jews.
Pithy but incorrect.
a. As I noted, your Chabad quote stated that Avraham created a "motel" of sorts. That is the definition of infrastructure. So he had a mikveh, kashrut and education, as they clearly instructed their converts.
b. You cannot convert without a mikveh. Period. There is an old fact: What Jews do first at a new settlement? They build a mikveh, because it is for MORE than just conversion. Yes, some Rabbis don't want to convert, but there are some Rabbis who do. Consequently, over three thousand years there are laws, procedures and practices about HOW to make conversions. You don't have to like it. Remember, you may already be a Jew who does not use a mikveh, but you cannot become a Jew without one. Yes, a mikveh can be a river, ocean, other body of water, but it has to be there and accompanied by enough infrastructure to also have kashrut and education. Don't know why this bothers you so much. This is the Jewish way, and you are not going to change three thousand years of law and tradition by complaining about how our ancestors practice the laws given to them by G-D.
c. Your last point proves my contention. A sustainable Jewish community ALREADY has mikveh, kashrut and education. That is the definition of a sustainable Jewish community. It is the Jews of that community who BUILT those things. You cannot find Jews who are PRACTICING their religion anywhere that they have not built this infrastructure. Yes, you can find Jews with out this infrastructure, and they may even have a minyan, but if they are observant, these three things will exist. You cannot expect observant Jews to convert others without following millinea-old rules in the process.
What? Yes, I read the story. Of course they want to convert non-Jews, there is NO other conversion, right? Only those who are NOT Jews need conversion to Judaism.
To convert people to Judaism, you need a mikveh. That means you need a existing Jewish community that has a mikveh, kashrut and education to make the conversion. The convert has to learn, live as a Jew for some minimum period (~2 years), learn to eat and prepare kosher food and behave like a member of the Jewish community before achieving conversion. So you need the infrastructure in place before you can accomplish these things.
This is why valid conversions are done in established Jewish communities which have the infrastructure to create valid conversions.
You cannot convert to Judisam and then build the infrastructure. How would you learn to live as a Jew with out these things already in place?
This is why he cannot get a minyan or Jewish community, because there are not enough Jewish people already there.
Perhaps you are arguing backwards?
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