Many people give little thought to the issue of conversion, and the challenges that people who convert face. In contrast, Rabbi Chuck Davidson, a leader in establishing non-coercive Orthodox alternatives to Israel’s’ Chief Rabbinate for over a decade and the av beit din of an independent conversion court, has spent years researching the halachic background of conversion. In this episode, Scott and Rabbi Davidson address the debate over the halachic requirements for conversion, what is being done in the Israeli Chief Rabbinate about the 500,000 people in Israel who are sociologically Jewish but not halachically Jewish, the argument between Rav Ovadia Yosef and Rav Elyashiv about whether people whose Jewish lineage is unclear should be assumed to be Jewish or not, the social problems that many converts face, the question of which beit din – if any – provides conversions that are universally accepted, retroactive invalidation of conversion, whether a rabbinic court should be welcoming or discouraging to potential converts, and much more.
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Music: “Happy Rock” by bensound.com