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Last update - 20:46 19/05/2009
High Court rules in favor of Reform conversions
By Tomer Zarchin, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
Tags: Jewish World, Orthodox 

In a historic ruling, the High Court of Justice on Thursday ordered the state to allocate resources to organs affiliated with non-Orthodox streams of Judaism who perform conversions.

"All streams of conversion have the same purpose - the cultural and spiritual incorporation of Israeli citizens and residents into the society and community in Israel," Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch wrote in the ruling.

The panel of judges - which included Beinisch, Miriam Naor, and Edna Arbel - heard a petition which was filed by the Movement for Progressive Judaism, which specializes Reform conversions.
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The MPJ argued that the Absorption Ministry has discriminated against it in its stringent criteria that it uses to determine who is entitled to monetary grants. The state's grant policy is more lax when dealing with private bodies that perform Orthodox conversions, the movement told the Court.

A committee formed in 1997 by the current justice minister, Ya'akov Ne'eman, recommended that an institution for the study of Judaism be established so as to prepare would-be converts for the necessary procedures in the rabbinical courts.

The state sought to accomodate the large number of new immigrants who arrived in the country during the 1990s. Despite holding Israeli citizenship, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of olim are not considered Jewish by religious law.

The Ne'eman committee proposed that the new Judaism institute recognize the three main streams - Orthodox, Reform, and Conservative
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  1.   GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!(END) 15:29  |  Alejandro 19/05/09
  2.   Question 15:31  |  W 19/05/09
  3.   Coversions 15:34  |  Naim S. Mahlab 19/05/09
  4.   Time to Change the Law 15:35  |  David 19/05/09
  5.   Judicially Engineered Judgment 15:50  |  David 19/05/09
  6.   reform is a great religion 16:15  |  sammy 19/05/09
  7.   That loud `thwapping` sound 16:22  |  Mark Lincoln 19/05/09
  8.   re: W`s question 16:26  |  Lauren 19/05/09
  9.   It doesn`t change anything 18:07  |  judith 19/05/09
  10.   Conversion 18:58  |  Bill Yoffee 19/05/09
  11.   W`s Question 19:33  |  Elianah 19/05/09
  12.   Great news for Jews! 20:21  |  B 19/05/09
  13.   sammy are you for real? 20:27  |  Mike L 19/05/09
  14.   Sad day for Isreal 20:44  |  MH 19/05/09
  15.   Historic Day for Israeli Reform Judaism 00:41  |  Carol Roberts 20/05/09
  16.   Reply to 14 00:48  |  Joel 20/05/09
  17.   Indeed # 9 NOT JEWISH 01:39  |  Yochanan 20/05/09
  18.   Judith 02:20  |  Michelle 20/05/09
  19.   reform conversions 03:20  |  tzib 20/05/09
  20.   The Standard is set 20:54  |  avi 20/05/09
  21.   Halacha and Conversion 00:08  |  C 30/05/09
  22.   Reform/Conservative Conversion 11:13  |  LR 03/06/09
  23.   Sorry Sammy 07:16  |  Diana 05/10/09
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