Despite being appointed to the role just over a month ago, Rabbi Benayahu Bronner, who heads Israel's conversion authority, has yet to meet with Chief Rabbi David Lau. Lau also serves as president of the Great Rabbinical Court of Appeals and has made clear he has no plans to authorize Bronner's conversions.
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In his first interview since entering the role, Bronner told Israel Hayom he has asked to meet with Lau but has yet to speak with him in person. "I understand there are delays. I believe it will ultimately happen," he said.
Bronner now holds one of the most sensitive positions as concerns matters of religion and state. He will need to reconcile the views of government representatives, chief among them Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana, with opposition to conversion reform. As part of the reform, municipal rabbis would establish their own conversion courts, which would be headed by Israel's Ashkenazi and Sephardi chief rabbis.
Attempting to allay concerns, Bronner said: "We need to calm down. The law is good. The Halachic law is being made into law" and noted "the Chief Rabbinate will control the reform. We should have made this law over 70 years ago.
He said, "The reason for the opposition is, among other things, due to the law coming from a complex government, and there are Haredi and religious parties that are not in it. People are not versed in the law and are getting their information from uninformed opinions in the media. I believe the religious services minister is acting in Heaven's name. We can and should argue but not harm anyone personally. He's being wronged."
Bronner clarified that under his leadership, there would be no compromises on the need to observe Jewish laws at the time of conversion.
"The Halacha is Halacha, and it will not change. The conversion process is not a simple process because people are meant to change their lifestyles. It's off-putting. There is no perfect system, but I think a majority of rabbinical judges are carrying out their work faithfully. People think they can come one morning and convert and leave with a conversion certificate, but that's not how it works," he said.
As for the conversion of children, Bronner said: "Minors are the next generation, and if we're talking about preventing assimilation, obviously we need to invest in that. There is a dispute as to whether to convert minors when their parents don't convert. I personally think I would leave this to the discretion of the rabbinical court. Each case should be considered on its own merits."
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