With the Barry Freundel scandal fueling debate about Orthodox conversions in America, dueling JTA Op-Eds take on the efficacy of the Rabbinical Council of America’s centralized conversion system, known as GPS.
Rabbis Avi Weiss and Marc Angel argue that centralizing conversions makes abuse of power more likely, causes converts extra emotional distress, undermines local rabbis and makes it more difficult to handle all those who want to convert to Judaism.
On the flip side, the RCA’s Rabbi Mark Dratch argues the RCA system provides more guarantees to converts that their conversions will be unassailable, does not block individual rabbis from performing their own conversions, and is less subject to possible corruption and abuse than a decentralized system. Still, he acknowledges, there’s room for improvement.
