Sephardic Approaches to Conversion 293 Richard Hidary 10
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Contents Contributors ix Series Editor’s Preface xiii Editors’ Introduction xv Adam Mintz and Marc D. Stern Part I: Intermarriage 1. Intermarriage in the Early Modern Period 3 Judith Bleich 2. Diagnosing Challenges to Contemporary Modern Orthodox Families 47 Sylvia Barack Fishman 3. Intermarriage and Jewish Communal Policy : Challenges to Orthodoxy 65 Steven Bayme Part II: Conversion in the State of Israel 4. From “Who Is a Jew” to “Who Should Be a Jew” : The Current Debates on Giyur in Israel 109 Arye Edrei 5. Giyur in the Context of National Identity 151 Chaim I. Waxman v vi Conversion, Intermarriage, and Jewish Identity Part III : History of Geirut 6. Conversion to Judaism in Tannaitic Halakhah 189 Lawrence H. Schiff man 7. Approaches to Conversion in Medieval European Rabbinic Literature : From Ashkenaz to Sefarad 217 Ephraim Kanarfogel Part IV: Current Contemporary Halakhic Approaches to Geirut 8. Modern-day Ashkenazi Psak regarding the Nullification of Conversion 261 Yosef Zvi Rimon 9. Sephardic Approaches to Conversion 293 Richard Hidary 10. Geirus Procedures and Standards Network 329 Yosef Blau Appendix B 345 11. The Contemporary Rabbinate and Conversion 347 Benjamin J. Samuels Part V: The Theological Foundations of Jewish Identity 12. “If You Were A Human Being” A Thought Experiment 385 Shalom Carmy Part VI: Orthodox Responses to New Paradigms of Jewishness 13. American Orthodox Responses to Intermarriage 409 Jonathan D. Sarna 14. The Jewish People – A Yawning Definitional Gap 427 Marc D. Stern 15. Actually Jewish : How Young American Jews See Their Status and How Orthodox Rabbis Respond 453 Yehuda Sarna List of Participants 479 Contributors Dr. Steven Bayme serves as director of AJC’s Koppelman Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations and Contemporary Jew- ish Life Department. He is currently a visiting professor of history at the Jewish Th eological Seminary. His most recent publications include co-editing (with Steven Katz) Continuity and Change: A Festschrift in Honor of Dr. Irving Greenberg, and co-authoring (with Manfred Gerstenfeld) American Jewry’s Comfort Level. Rabbi Yosef Blau is the senior mashgiach at Yeshiva University and its affi liated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Th eological Seminary. He serves on the Manhattan Beit Din for Geirut as part of the GPS of the Rabbinical Council of America. Dr. Judith Bleich is professor of Judaic Studies at Touro Graduate School of Jewish Studies and the Lander College for Women in New York City. She has written extensively on modern Jew- ish history. Rabbi Shalom Carmy teaches Jewish Studies and philosophy at Yeshiva University, where he is co-chair of the Jewish Studies Executive at Yeshiva College. He is the editor of Tradition. Dr. Arye Edrei is professor of law at Tel Aviv University. Dr. Sylvia Barack Fishman is chair of the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department at Brandeis University. Th e author of seven books, Professor Fishman teaches courses on contem- porary Jewish life and is co-director of the Hadassah Brandeis Institute. ix x Conversion, Intermarriage, and Jewish Identity Dr. Richard Hidary is a graduate of Yeshiva University (1997), received semikha from Midrash Sefaradi in Jerusalem, and a PhD from New York University. He is an assistant professor of Judaic studies at Yeshiva University, Stern College for Women. He has published Dispute for the Sake of Heaven: Legal Plural- ism in the Talmud (Brown University Press, 2010), as well as articles appearing in AJS Review, Dine Israel, Encyclopedia Judaica, and Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. Rabbi Robert S. Hirt (series editor of Th e Orthodox Forum Publica- tions), is vice president emeritus of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Th eological Seminary, an affi liate of Yeshiva University. Rabbi Hirt co-edited Shimon Huberband’s critically acclaimed book on the Holocaust, Kiddush Hashem: Jewish Religious and Cul- tural Life in Poland During the Holocaust, and has contributed to Tradition, Th e Journal of Orthodox Jewish Th ought, and other educational publications. Dr. Ephraim Kanarfogel is the E. Billi Ivry University Professor of Jewish History, Literature and Law at Yeshiva University. A fel- low of the American Academy for Jewish Research, Professor Kanarfogel is the author or editor of six books and a winner of the National Jewish Book Award. His most recent book, Th e Intellectual History and Rabbinic Culture of Medieval Ashkenaz, was awarded the prestigious international Goren-Goldstein Prize for Best Book in Jewish Th ought, 2010–2012, by Ben- Gurion University of the Negev. Rabbi Adam Mintz, PhD completed his rabbinical ordination at Yeshiva University and received his doctorate at New York University. Rabbi Mintz is a founder of Kehilat Rayim Ahu- vim, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Manhattan, and an adjunct associate professor in Jewish history at City College, New York. Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon established the Halacha Center to disseminate knowledge about Jewish law around the world. He has writ- ten many books on the sources of halakhah. He is the rabbi of Alon Shvut South, a rabbi in Har Etzion Yeshiva, and the founder of JobKatif. Contributors xi Rabbi Benjamin J. Samuels has been rabbi of Congregation Shaa- rei Tefi llah in Newton Centre, Massachusetts, since 1995. He earned his semikha, as well as his BA and MA, from RIETS and Yeshiva University in the mid-1990s. He is currently the president of the Vaad Harabonim of Massachusetts and serves on its Beit Din. Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna is the Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History and chair of the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program at Brandeis University, and chief historian of the National Museum of American Jewish History. Rabbi Yehuda Sarna serves as the executive director of the Bronf- man Center for Jewish Student Life and university chaplain at New York University, as well as adjunct assistant professor at the Wagner School for Public Service. Dr. Lawrence H. Schiff man is the Judge Abraham Lieberman Pro- fessor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University and Director of the Global Institute for Advanced Research in Jewish Studies. He has served as the Chair of the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York Uni- versity and Ethel and Irvin A. Edelman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies. He is a specialist in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Judaism in Late Antiquity, the history of Jewish law, and Tal- mudic literature. Marc D. Stern, Esq. is a graduate of Yeshiva University and Colum- bia University School of Law. Formerly of the American Jewish Congress, Marc is now general counsel for legal advocacy at the American Jewish Committee. Th e First Freedom Center awarded Marc its Religious Liberty Award in 2012. Dr. Chaim I. Waxman is professor emeritus of sociology and Jew- ish Studies at Rutgers University and senior fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. He specializes in the sociology of religion and the sociology of ethnicity with special focus on America’s Jews, Jews in Israel, as well as global Jewish identity and identifi cation. 9 Sephardic Approaches to Conversion Richard Hidary Ideally, a convert to Judaism should be motivated by a desire “to enter into the covenant, to take refuge under the wings of the Shekhinah, and to accept upon himself the yoke of Torah.”1 In reality, however, many proselytes “convert for an ulterior motive”2 and without full commitment. This paper will trace some of the major approaches to dealing with such problematic cases expressed by Sephardic poskim from the Rambam until contemporary authorities. In general, we should not regard Sephardic halakhah and Ashkenazic halakhah as two insular spheres since poskim from all countries have always read and cited each other.3 There is also no one Sephardic or Ashkenazic approach to conversion as both traditions contain voices of leniency and stringency. Nevertheless, it is possible to detect a major trend among many of the most prominent Sephardic poskim who identify themselves as being part of a Sephardic tradition of leniency in this regard. The Sephardic experience also includes several unique ap- 293 294 Richard Hidary proaches to conversion that may be instructive for all communities facing similar issues. We will begin with a review of the most relevant Talmudic sources that form the basis for all subsequent deliberation. We will then see how the Talmudic law is codifi ed by Rambam and Rabbi Yosef Karo. From there we will jump to modern times focusing on three poskim who have devoted much thought about how to apply the laws of conversion in a secular world. We will conclude with a historical overview of the unique ban against conversion currently in force in my own community. Mishnah Yevamot 2:8 addresses one who converts for ulterior motives: One who was suspected of having relations with a maid- servant who was then freed, or with a Gentile who then converted, he may not marry her but if he did marry her we do not remove her from him. If a man is suspected4 of having had relations with a Gentile woman and the Gentile subsequently converts, the Mishnah rules that he may not marry her ab initio. However, ex post facto, if he violates the law and marries her, the court does not force him to divorce her. Furthermore, as the Talmud notes, she is free to marry any other Jew. This assumes that her conversion, although perhaps initiated by ulterior motives, is valid. The Gemara at Bavli Yevamot 24b elaborates: Therefore, she is nevertheless a valid convert. However, another source states: Both a man who con- verts for the sake of a woman and a woman who converts for the sake of a man, and similarly one who converts for the sake of sitting at the table of kings, for the sake of being among the slaves of Solomon, they are not valid converts, so says R.