July 24, 2008

United Jewish Communities, the national umbrella organization of the federation movement, took the unusual step last week of asking an Israeli prime minister to intervene in a brewing Israel-Diaspora crisis.

The details are complex, but at issue is a decision by Israel’s top rabbinical court to crank up their scrutiny of state-authorized conversions. The result, UJC officials and Jewish leaders of all stripes fear, may be the nullification of thousands of official conversions undergone by immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union. That’s a blow to North American Jews, who have invested millions of dollars in the Jewish education and absorption of these olim.

UJC has asked Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to bring sense and clarity to the conversion process. Olmert responded in a letter that he is committed to the cause and would seek “concrete results” by November.

The prime minister’s words are welcome but must indeed be backed by “concrete results,” such as finding a new director of the conversion authority who is sensitive to the needs of the immigrants and the sensibilities of the Diaspora. Israel offered a haven for oppressed Russians and their offspring, and partnered with the Diaspora in bringing these disenfranchised Jews home. They should be welcomed with open arms, not a cold shoulder.

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