Five Orthodox Jewish organizations have proclaimed May 10 as an international day of prayer and assembly to call upon the Knesset to include the words “according to halacha” in Israel’s Law of Return.
The five groups, in a joint statement, decried the Law of Return which, it said, “allows for non-Jews to be registered as Jews without the benefit of a conversion performed according to the dictates of Jewish law (halacha). As a result, many hundreds and perhaps thousands of non-Jews are now masquerading as Jews, while actually never having left the faith and gentile life style into which they were born and reared.”
The statement added: “We therefore believe that there is but one alternative to rectify this
tragedy. That is to insist on the inclusion of the words ‘Giyur K’Halacha’ in the Law of Return. This will insure that only those individuals who are sincerely interested in becoming Jews by conforming to the laws connected with conversion will be recognized as Jews. It will close a widening gap which threatens the structure of the Jewish people.”
The statement was signed by the Rabbinical Alliance of America, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, Rabbinical Council of America, National Council of Young Israel and the Council of Young Israel Rabbis.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
