Conversion Subversion
Geirus – conversion to Judaism – is one of the weightiest institutions there can be. Geirus impacts not only the personal halachic status of those who undergo it, but the status (and marriageability) of untold future generations is profoundly impacted as well.
It is for this reason that geirus is treated in Halacha with extreme caution, for one wrong move or one wrong motive can invalidate the conversion and cause a myriad of the gravest of consequences. Rabbis who perform geirus in these times must be acknowledged as total experts in the enterprise and are expected to uphold standards that will be accepted by all. It is the responsibility of the beis din, the rabbinic court that oversees conversion, to leave no stone unturned in its mandate to assure that every geirus is beyond satisfactory according to all mainstream halachic opinions. We are playing with fire, and to fail to cover all bases is extremely derelict and can result in ruination of people’s lives and the lives of their families and descendants for perpetuity.
Recently, articles and an interview regarding a relatively new conversion project – the Project Ruth Orthodox Conversion Program – were published and circulated. The program’s website states that the conversion is “recognized globally”, yet the fact that this conversion program is not accepted by the Israeli Chief Rabbinate or by any other authoritative rabbinic organization makes one wonder what is going on.
The Project Ruth Orthodox Conversion Program is headed by Rabbi Adam Mintz, whose Orthodox credentials include RIETS semicha (ordination at Yeshiva University’s affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary) and membership in the RCA (Rabbinical Council of America). Rabbi Mintz also led Lincoln Square Synagogue from 1996-2004 and currently serves as the founding rabbi of Kehilat Rayim Ahuvim in Manhattan.
Apparently having shifted gears to an extent, Rabbi Mintz is a now member of the Talmud faculty at Maharat, a women’s rabbinical school in Riverdale, and is the founder and director of 929 English, a nondenominational and pluralistic Tanach (Bible) study program.
The other two members of the Project Ruth Orthodox Conversion Program are Rabbis Avram Mlotek and Jon Leener, both graduates of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT) in Riverdale, which is affiliated with Maharat, where Rabbi Mintz teaches.
The essence of geirus is Kabbalas Ha-Mitzvos – acceptance of the Torah and its commandments – for this is what it means to be a Jew. (V. Rambam Hil. Issurei Bi’ah 13:4, 14:2-3,6; Shulchan Aruch – Yoreh Deah 268:2-3) Hence is Kabbalas Ha-Mitzvos a sine qua non for conversion. Geirus is not a membership induction into a club or a mere ritual formality, but is the actual acceptance of Torah and Mitzvos, literally reenacting the acceptance of Torah and Mitzvos at Sinai by Klal Yisroel, the Jewish People, thousands of years ago.
A recent article in The New Yorker provided a firsthand account of conversion by Rabbi Mintz’ team. The author of the article – a Korean American woman married to an unobservant Jewish man, who is also a Kohen – described how Rabbi Mintz suggested that the halachic prohibition of this Kohen being married to a convert can be solved by having the man “abdicate his claim to the kohen lineage”. The article goes to say that further discussion of this man’s ancestry cast serious doubts on his Kohen status, thereby removing the impediment to the couple being permissibly married as Jews after the woman’s conversion.
The article’s author narrates how Rabbi Mintz and his colleagues who oversaw her conversion remained outside of the room where the immersion in a mikveh occurred. Whereas normative practice for the conversion of women is for the mikveh area to be surrounded by a tarp or the like and for the converting woman, escorted by other women, to wear a robe until entry to the mikveh for immersion, with the beis din (rabbinic court) being present from afar to witness the fully-covered woman descend to the mikveh (by viewing the woman’s head or the like as she goes down to immerse), as required by the Rambam (ibid. 14:6) and Shulchan Aruch (ibid. s. 2), Rabbi Mintz’ beis din was entirely absent from the room and did not witness the author descend to the mikveh. This seems to be in accordance with a very minority position that has been adopted as the ideal and recommended standard in a responsum penned by Rabbi Jeffrey Fox, the rosh yeshiva of Maharat.
The New Yorker article cites some general background information about Rabbi Mintz’ conversion beis din:
His beth din has regularly converted gay, lesbian, and transgender people, and their children. A few of the rabbis who work with him have presided over same-sex weddings. Though Jewish law has not traditionally recognized such unions, Mintz said that a rabbi’s choice to officiate them “in no way disqualifies” him from legally conducting an Orthodox conversion.
Please keep reading for discussion of the first of these issues. The latter issue refers to Rabbi Avram Mlotek’s officiating at gay weddings. (Please also see this article and this one, as well as this article, about various other rabbis affiliated with YCT and the Open Orthodox movement officiating at gay weddings.)
The most detailed description of Rabbi Mintz’ conversion standards comes directly from Rabbi Mintz himself. In a lengthy interview on Talkline with Zev Brenner, Rabbi Mintz declared (starting at 11:20 in the interview) that conversion of active homosexuals is not a problem, explaining that even though Halacha requires that a convert accept the Mitzvos in their entirety, a person whom the beis din knows is violating the Torah and plans to continue violating it poses no problem for conversion if the person orally accepts the Mitzvos upon conversion and does not vocalize a rejection of any of them. When challenged on this point (14:30), that by definition an active homosexual is not accepting the Torah’s prohibition on his lifestyle and hence is not accepting all of the Mitzvos, Rabbi Mintz asserted that acceptance of the Mitzvos by an active homosexual prospective convert simply means that he accepts that the Torah prohibits homosexual behavior – and not that he accepts this prohibition upon himself. (This is clearly a very weak and incorrect point, and a de facto admission by Rabbi Mintz to the illegitimacy of his conversion standards.)
Immediately after this (14:50), Rabbi Mintz labels the RCA’s position against converting homosexuals and Rabbi Hershel Schachter’s ruling not to covert the children of homosexual couples as “political decisions” and “not halachic decisions”. Rabbi Mintz proceeds to explain (18:25) that if he knows that prospective converts will not keep Shabbos or will knowingly and willfully violate any other rules of the Torah due to lack of commitment to these Mitzvos, he would convert them nonetheless so long as they orally declare upon conversion that they accept all of the Mitzvos.
Rabbi Mintz further asserts (31:08) that geirus standards are communal-based and depend on each society, and are not uniform, elaborating several times during the interview that since (openly) gay people are accepted in Orthodox shuls in his neighborhood, conversion standards must match this attitude.
How many people are converted by Rabbi Mintz’ beis din each year? Rabbi Mintz revealed (29:10) that in the course of the past year, he converted 200 people in New York City, in contrast with the RCA’s conversion network, which presided over 200 conversions throughout the entire United States during the past year.
I believe that the tone of this article has been pretty diplomatic and matter-of-fact thus far, but I cannot hold back from stating that Rabbis Mintz, Leener and Mlotek are committing rabbinic malpractice of the highest order via the Project Ruth Orthodox Conversion Program, and that their extraordinarily objectionable endeavors constitute colossal ziyuf ha-Torah (distortion of the Torah) and are bound to irreparably harm the people they purport to help. Numerous Orthodox communal rabbis have shared horror stories about the heartbreak and tears of people who were always told and believed that they were Jews but whose Jewish status (and marriageability and more) was later rejected once it was determined that the conversion which they or their parents or grandparents underwent was not in accordance with mainstream Halacha.
More than perhaps any other area of the Torah, geirus must be performed to exceptionally high standards and be unimpeachable. To do otherwise is to play with fire and to jeopardize the lives of countless well-meaning people who deserve better.
Rabbi Gordimer raises very valid and crucial questions about the waiving of Halachic standards by RMintz and the validity of conversions that he has performed
The biggest issue is does one believe a potential ger who mouths the correct answers as to why they want to enter kanfei hashechina but there is an amorous interest with a Jew. Does one “believe” the recital of belief. FWIW I am aware of many Rabbonim including MO who will not get involved in any Gerus where there is amorous intent. As one once told me halacha permits depending on intent, but I’ve been a Rav for decades and just don’t believe protestations to the contrary. Reality is rarely do the gerim practice what they promise when there is an amorous relationship involved. Not a matter of knowing halacha-a matter does one believe what one is told when very unlikely to be told the truth.
In contrast, here’s an article by Liel Leibovitz, who (correct me if I’m wrong) isn’t (yet) fully religious, who refreshingly lays down the bare facts: We should not be misrepresenting what Orthodox Judaism is or watering down its requirements just to get more supposed adherents.
https://jewishaction.com/welcoming-october-8th-jews-home/what-jews-really-want/
Would that many Orthodox rabbis had his convictions.
Nachum – I am almost certain that Liel Lebovitz is now fully religious. This is based on his discussion with R. Dovid Bashevkin on an episode of the 18Forty podcast and on other things that Mr. Lebovitz has written.
I stand corrected; good to hear.
Of course, you’re raising a name I had in mind…
The program’s website states that the conversion is “recognized globally”, yet the fact that this conversion program is not accepted by the Israeli Chief Rabbinate or by any other authoritative rabbinic organization makes one wonder what is going on.
Sounds like false advertising. What happened to מִדְּבַר־שֶׁ֖קֶר תִּרְחָ֑ק?
While Kohanim can’t just opt out, these shysters should be made to opt out of the rabbinate. The rabbinic bodies that harbor such trash should act now, with gusto, or these are still part of the problem.
To my knowledge, the RCA has not said anything that suggests they have a problem with the conversions that Rabbi Mintz is doing.
They actually passed a resolution in response- that such rabbis can’t mention RCA affiliation- but I can’t find it.
The R CA supposedly works in tandem with the Beth Din of America exclusively on Gerus issues .Some rabbonim in certain communities claim not to be bound by the BDA guidelines but IIRC the RCA is supposedly working together with the BDA on issues of Gerus
Didn’t stop leading RY from participating in a geirus BD not part of BDA.
It would be fair for an interview of those who perform true Orthodox acceptable conversions such as Rabbis Romm, Ribowsky, Fried, and those who prepare them such as myself to be interviewed to let people know the standards of acceptable conversions.
What Rav Gordimer has written here is markedly softer and gentler than what a more no-holds-barred writer could have written accurately. This article speaks for many hundreds of RCA rabbonim, all Igud (RAA) rabbonim, and most if not all Young Israel rabbonim. I am such. The Project Ruth “Conversion” Program is a manifest Ziyuf HaTorah and a civilly tortious fraud on the consumer. Anyone who would undergo a “conversion” process with them would be rejected by so many mainstream Modern/Centrist Orthodox institutions that (i) their kids would not be accepted for bar/bat mitzvah participation at most or all normative shuls, (ii) they and theirs would not be accepted as prospective spouses to date by most or all authentic Orthodox Jews, (iii) most or all mainstream normative Orthodox rabbis would refuse to conduct a chupah for them and (iv) they would not be permitted to be buried alongside their deceased Jewish spouses in most or all normative Orthodox Jewish cemeteries. It is incumbent to warn the public. about Project Ruth “Conversion.” Hopefully, any people who would go there will first “Google” and find this article and any others that can serve as warnings. They are a fraud on the public by claiming widespread Orthodox recognition.
There are Rabbis who refused as a matter of principle to even accept a free will gift from a ger. Interesting reason that as part of Bes Din can’t take gifts from a person who they have to judge-the sincerity of what he tells them.
I found out from the only surviving member of the 3 that never accepted a penny from anyone but unless ger was very wealthy they would pay milah, tvila fees. They didn’t do many gerus-they refused to get involved in any situation where there was an amorous interest involved. BTW -all of the 3 were members of the RCA and probably best described as MO/Centrist. All were talmidim of RYBS