Replies

I appreciate your response. Still, I disagree with an unstated but significant premise of your argument: that the rules covering conversion (or any other aspect of Jewish law) are subject to change in accordance with what are the essentially political goals of the rabbis.

Thus you state: "If the Orthodox believe that having more Jews is a priority, they will change their rulings to permit easier conversion."

I have no doubt that if I were to ask an Orthodox rabbi to evaluate that statement, he would say something along the following lines: "even if my goal were to have more Jews in Israel, it is not within my power to change the laws of conversion, which are immutable, any more than I could change the laws of kashrut in order to have more kosher food available."

They probably would say they are immutable, in so far as they believe in the interpretations they believe. At the same time, it is within their power to make the interpretation. The only thing that could sway them is a well thought out halachic argument.

There are various sects of orthodox Jews that have different thresholds for conversion. From what I know, most of them require strict sabbath observance above all else. It really depends on which rabbis you assemble to determine if/when you will be eligible. As far as I know, there is no universal application... it's really more a matter of convincing the beit din (a religious court assembled for this purpose), which consists of 3 people (including at least one rabbi) of the sincerity of your application.

There have been attempts in Israel to get the various sects together to agree on a universal methodology, but the Orthodox rabbis wouldn't let go of their political power. In Israel they have full control of these matters.