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5 Jewish L. Rep. 1 (1992)

handle is hein.journals/jwlrpt5 and id is 1 raw text is: TOURO COLLEGE JACOB D. F FUCHSBERG LAW CENTER Chaim Povarsky, Director Institute of Jewish Law Advisory Council Dov Frmer Menachem Genack Howard A. Glickstein Aaron Kirschenbaum Sidney Kwestel Daniel Lander Nahum Rakover Ronnie F. Warburg Executive Committee Neil Afran Elinor Braitman Jacques M. Farhi Sidney Kwestel Jeffrey Roth Rena Seplowitz Steven Steinhart Daniel Subotnik Edward M. Taylor Dr. Bernard Lander, President Touro College Howard A. Glickstein, Dean Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center Marriage Motivated Conversions in the United States and Israel Conversion as a Legal Issue Institute of Jewish Law Jewish Law Report Editor: Dr. Chaim Povarsky July 1992 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Contemporary Marriage-Motivated Conversions II. Activities of the Institute III. The Latest Word a. In Academia b. In the Literature CONTEMPORARY MARRIAGE-MOTIVATED CONVERSIONS BY DR. CHAIM POVARSKY Over the past several decades conversion for marriage purposes has become a common phenomenon, particularly in the United States, with its large Jewish population. Although Jews in the United States are generally interested in keeping their Jewish identity, a large number marry non-Jewish spouses. Since Jewish law does not recognize intermarriage, many of these mixed couples marry in civil ceremonies, with each spouse continuing to keep his or her religious identity. Occasionally, however, non-Jewish spouses seek to convert to Judaism. While some have religious motivations, many seek to convert either to comply with the Jewish spouse's wishes or to establish a more harmonious marital relationship. Large numbers of conversions of non-Jewish spouses also occur in Israel. Numerous religiously mixed couples are among the hundreds of thousands of immigrants Israel recently absorbed from the former Soviet Union. Many of the non-Jewish spouses seek conversion not out of religious conviction but in order to integrate into the Jewish society. Conversion of non-Jewish spouses - despite the problems it raises, as discussed below -eliminates several religious and national concerns. Generally, this conversion prevents or ends illicit relationships under Jewish law between the Jewish and non-Jewish partners. In the United States, this conversion also prevents the possible loss of mixed couples to the Jewish community. In Israel, the conversion of the Russian immigrants prevents the mingling of non- Jewish spouses with the Jewish society and the consequent difficulties of identifying the religious affiliation of these immigrants and their descendants, primarily for marriage purposes. On the other hand, in the United States, easy availability of conversion for non-Jewish spouses that may encourage intermarriage is a concern. There is no such concern regarding the Russian immigrants in Israel. The validity of these conversions in Israel and the United States, and conversion in

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