World Jewish News

The Jewish Agency prepared an accelerated giur program for non-Jewish immigrants from the CIS.

The Jewish Agency is ready for an accelerated procedure of the giur for non-Jewish immigrants from the CIS. It is planned that an Eastern European country will host a special camp where a four week training course on accelerated giur will be conducted.
The course will be conducted by Orthodox rabbis appointed by the Israeli rabbi courts. The course will be considerably faster than its analogue conducted in Israel, which takes six months, as demanded by the Judaism conversation procedure.
The program is planned for 150-200 new immigrants. If the plan functions, the agency's employees suggest that thousands can complete the guir under the program.
Starting accelerated courses is an important step for the agency. The courses are meant to help the new immigrants to overcome the strictness of the rabbi courts of Israel.
Despite the public's pressure, the rabbi courts refused to change the policy and give those recently arrived form the former USSR an opportunity to convert in Judaism.
Despite the promises, the special guir seminar based in the recommendations of the commission, headed by Yakov Neeman, did not significantly change the number of the people to complete the giur.
There are approximately 250,000-300,000 non-Jewish immigrants in Israel. The agency's employees call it a "social clockwork bomb".
Three people are behind this plan. Salay Meridor, the head of the agency, decided to "change the rules'' in dealing with the rabbi courts, accusing them of "inhuman treating" of the immigrants and carrying out of the policy "contrary to the national interests of the state".
The second key person is the prime minister Ariel Sharon, who, last week, told the directory of the agency that settling the problem of "the giur completion is a priority". A competent source informed: "Meridor would not have implemented the plan without the prime minister's assistance."
The third person is Neeman. The directory board has name the committee Neeman will lead to investigate the giur problem and to eventually settle it. There is no doubt that the appointment of Abram Poraz from Shinuy by the Minister of Internal Affairs will ease the implementing process.
To avoid suspicions of the agency's stimulating the immigration from the CIS, it was decided to hold the giur in an Eastern European country, and not in a CIS country. It would theoretically be possible to complete giur under the program in Israel, however for now there is no possibility to avoid direct contact with the rabbi courts.
During the times of the first wave of Jewish immigration from the Soviet Union (in 1970), a similar plan was applied: Israeli rabbis conducted giur for new repatriates outside Israel. However, that program was only partially successful, for many of the rabbis conducting giur were not considered competent enough by the Orthodox establishment in Israel, and the giur was often not recognized. To avoid the same outcome this time, the agency decided to cooperated with rabbis who are considered to be 100% competent; their name are kept in secret, to avoid any kind of pressing from the part of the principal rabbi office.
Efraim Lapid, the Chairman of the Agency, has said that the agency considers the issue of giur as "a very important" one. The Board gathered for a meeting in Jerusalem to discuss the idea with the government and appoint a committee headed by Professor Neeman, who would recommend ways of improving the giur process. Meanwhile, the office of Neeman gives no comments.

Источник: jn.com.ua