“These Are the Names of Israel” – How Does One Enter the List?
We have dealt with helping Jews being accepted and encouraging the conversion of those with patriarchal Jewish lineage. Now we will deal with the question of how to approach the challenges of conversion. No broad elements of the religious community in Israel treat conversion as a highest priority endeavor, with groups viewing other things as higher on the national agenda. To change this, the political leadership of the State of Israel and Torah leadership need to embark on a program that turns the spiritual absorption of olim, especially those from the Former Soviet Union who require conversion, into a major national project. Passiveness with the illusion that matters will work out by themselves, runs the real risk of assimilation within the Jewish State.
