What Is Religious Conversion in Israel?

Last updated on: June 25, 2016 at 6:37 pm by Kermit Zarley

What Is Religious Conversion in Israel? 2016-06-25T18:37:32-07:00 Kermit Zarley

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What is religious conversion? It depends on who you ask. It is different between the three monotheistic faiths–Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Islam, you become a Muslim merely declaring yourself a member of the Islamic faith. In Christianity, there is no agreement on the subject.

In Roman Catholicism, conversion involves first being water baptized, then receiving religious instruction called Catechism, and finally be confirmed by a priest in a ceremony called Confirmation to be a full-fledged Catholic.

In Protestantism, conversion generally is regarded as a matter of believing in Jesus as your Savior from sin and being water baptized in a church. Thus, Protestant conversion, which is synonymous with Christian salvation, is regarded as faith plus water baptism. Evangelical Christians generally think that only faith in Jesus is necessary for salvation, which is synonymous with becoming a Christian, and water baptism is only an outward testimony to it.

But conversion is a more complicated subject in Judaism. Conversion only applies to non-Jews, namely, Gentiles. That is, Jews don’t need conversion to Judaism because they are ethnically Jews. Thus, Judaism is somewhat of an ethnic religion. It is only Gentiles that convert to Judaism. They do so by undergoing religious instruction, similar to Catholic Catechism, practice keeping the Sabbath holy as well as “being observant” by adhering to Jewish dietary laws, etc., and then being issued a certificate of authentication by a Jewish rabbi. This is pretty much the standard procedure in all three of the main sects of Judaism in the Gentile world: Orthodox, Conservative, and Reformed. But when it comes to Judaism in Israel, it gets even more complicated and some would say the waters get muddier.

Orthodox Rabbi Haskel Lookstein is the leading rabbi at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on Manhatten Island in New York City. He is 84 years old and highly respected among his appears. He was educated at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, of Yeshiva University, and ordained there in 1958.

A Gentile woman converted to Judaism by being observant and undergoing Jewish theological education at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun.Rabbi Looksteinthen then issued her a certificate of conversion to Judaism. Soon after that she got engaged to an Israeli Jewish man who lives in Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv. They then attempted to marry in Israel.

In Israel, Orthodox Judaism controls certain things such as issuing marriage licenses and making decisions about burial. And in Israel, Orthodox Judaism is even more strict, thus called Ultra Orthodox. They do not even consider Conservative and Reformed Jews to be Jews. This position causes the biggest question in Israel, “What is a Jew?” (The second biggest question in Israel is, “What is the Land of Israel?” which I write about in my book, Palestine Is Coming.)

This mixed couple–Jewish man and Gentile woman–then applied for a marriage license in Petah Tikva with the intention of living there. The local rabbinical court rejected the woman’s certificate of conversion. The reason given was that the name of the American rabbi, Haskel Lookstein, was not on their official, unpublicized “List” of rabbis who are recognized by the State of Israel to issue certificates of conversion to Judaism. Yet Rabbi Lookstein and his prominent congregation in NYC are Orthodox. The couple then appealed to the supreme rabbinical court in Jerusalem, and it affirmed the decision of the lower court in Petah Tikva.

Last Sunday’s New York Times, from which some of this information is taken, reported that this was the first time such an incident had ever happened and that it arouses the question of why this List of rabbis is not made public and who are the rabbis on the committee that create this List. This rejection of the woman’s conversion to Judaism by the State of Israel raises serious questions in Judaism.

The most prominent New Testament text on Jewish conversion is John 3.1-21. This narrative is related in the NRSV as follows: “Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night [obviously being secretive] and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above [=born again].’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered him, Are you a teacher of Israel, and you do not understand these things?'”

“Are you a teacher in Israel” should be “Are you the teacher in Israel,” for the Greek text has the article. Thus, although there are no other ancient Jewish documents that affirm this about Nicodemus, according to this biblical text Nicodemus was a prominent Torah teacher in Israel. Yet he did not understand what Jesus was saying about religious conversion. Jesus was saying that it is a matter of the heart. Like the wind, it cannot be literally seen with the eyes, so that it is not an outward act.

Thus, Jesus could not have meant, as the Catholic Church teaches, that Jesus’ words, “being born of water and Spirit,” refers to water baptism. Rather, I think as Professor Ben Witherington explains, that Jesus referred to a pregnant woman’s water breaking as a sign of her baby about to be born, thus the new life coming into the world. The same thing happens by the Spirit when a person experiences the New Birth of spiritual conversion.

I believe this born again experience is further defined in John 3.14-15. There, Jesus purportedly said, “just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness [see Numbers 21.4-9], so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Jesus here referred to his impending crucifixion in which he would die a substitutionary death for the sins of the world. So, to truly believe this of Jesus is to obtain eternal life.

So, Jesus told Nicodemus that although he was a prominent Torah teacher in Israel, he needed to have an inner conversion experience in order to obtain eternal life and thereby enter the kingdom of God. Was this some kind of new teaching by Rabbi Jesus? Certainly not. That is why Jesus indicated astonishment that he Nicodemus was a Torah teacher and yet did not understand about being born again. That is, Nicodemus should have known this about conversion that is caused by the Spirit of God and is stated in the Jewish scriptures.

Where? Sometimes it is said of the nation of Israel, and other times it is said of the individual. But even when said of the nation, it also applies to the individual. Moses first said it concerning the individual man: “Circumcise then your heart, and stiffen your neck no more” (Deuteronomy 10.16; cf. Jeremiah 4.4). Ezekiel said, “get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!” (Ezekiel 18.31). He later adds on behalf of God, “I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them” (Ezekiel 11.19; cf. 36.26-27).

So, according to the Jewish Bible and Jesus, true religious conversion towards God is a matter of the human heart that is accomplished by means of God’s Holy Spirit. How do you tell if it happens, since it is a matter of the inner soul of a person? The former Pharisee the Apostle Paul explained, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new. All this is from God” (2 Corinthians 5.17). I submit that is the way religious conversion should be everywhere in the world, including in the State of Israel.

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