Religious Affairs Minister Dr. Zerach Warhaftig promised the Knesset yesterday that his Ministry would set up a national rabbinical court this year to handle conversions to Judaism. Reviewing the work of his Ministry, Dr. Warhaftig said the number of converts to Judaism this year was about one-third higher than last year, mainly due to the influx of immigrants from the Soviet Union. Some 750 files of applicants for conversion had been opened this year compared to 478 last year, he said.
He also reported that the Ministry arranged circumcisions for 1000 children and adults who arrived from countries where the brit mila ceremony could not be conducted, Dr. Warhaftig said his Ministry was publishing works in the Russian and Georgian languages on Jewish religion and Jewish thought.
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